In 2011, the Government of Uganda supported a study to examine how the country may benefit from the participation of Ugandans and Ugandan firms in the petroleum activities. The focus of the study was to identify the opportunities, gaps and challenges posed by the petroleum industry, and to recommend necessary measures to maximize the benefits of national content otherwise defined as National Participation.
In its final report of September 2011 entitled ‘Enhancing National Participation In the Oil and Gas Industry in Uganda’, the study made a total of (20 twenty) recommendations in the areas of institutional framework, capacity building in people, enterprise development, facilitating national participation, and monitoring national content achievements. The recommendations included, among others, to:
- Establish a Government body for National Content enhancement
- Define and operationalize how National Content shall be measured
- Have the Oil Companies commit to National Content development
- Have an Oil and Gas Industry Suppliers Association established
- Ensure that the National Content Policy is an integrated part of the National Development Plan
- Strengthen the capacity of vocational training
- Establish Training Centres by the International Oil Companies (IOCs)
- Establish institutions of excellence for higher level of education
- Develop an adequate capacity building program for the industry
- Encourage teaming between Ugandan and foreign firms
- Establish an SME program for the petroleum sector
- Structure contracts to align with domestic capacity
- Apply a holistic approach to monitor national content
- Establish a system for how to evaluate national content performance
