Отчет Oxfam: Уганде необходимо усилить прозрачность и переработку руды для развития экономики

Oxfam has released a new report on Uganda’s mining sector, calling for greater transparency, stronger revenue systems and fairer benefit sharing. Uganda’s growing mining sector could contribute more to national development if the country strengthens transparency, revenue collection and the way mineral wealth benefits mining communities, according to a new report disseminated on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, at Four Points by Sheraton in Kampala by Oxfam in Uganda, SEATINI Uganda and the Uganda Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (UGEITI). The report, titled The Revenue Potential of Uganda’s Mining Sector, examines mineral production, tax and non-tax revenues, tax expenditures and opportunities for mineral beneficiation and value addition between the 2019/20 and 2023/24 financial years. According to the report, government revenue from mining rose from UGX 13.2 billion in 2019/20 to approximately UGX 78.1 billion in 2023/24. Despite that increase, the report identifies several areas where Uganda could potentially strengthen revenue mobilisation, including compliance, royalty administration, monitoring of mineral production and exports, and oversight of tax incentives. The findings place transparency at the centre of the debate, particularly around how much value the country retains from its mineral resources and how the benefits are distributed. Speaking during the report launch in Kampala, Francis Shanty Odokorach, Country Director of Oxfam in Uganda, said the country’s challenge is not a lack of mineral resources but how those resources are converted into benefits for the wider population. “Uganda does not lack mineral wealth. Our shared responsibility is to turn that mineral wealth into public wealth,” Odokorach said. He said the discussion should extend beyond the volume of minerals extracted and exported to questions about the value retained within Uganda and the benefits reaching mining communities. “This means looking beyond how much we extract and export. We must ask how much value Uganda retains, whether the public receives a fair return, how equitably the benefits are shared and whether mining communities experience meaningful improvements in their lives,” Odokorach added. The report notes that mineral resources are expected to contribute to industrialisation, employment creation, foreign-exchange generation and domestic revenue mobilisation. Mining is also identified as a strategic sector under Uganda’s Tenfold Growth Strategy, National Development Plan IV and Uganda Vision 2040. However, the report says achieving that potential requires strong institutions, predictable revenue systems, responsible investment, effective oversight and meaningful participation by citizens and mining communities. One of the major areas highlighted is the fiscal treatment of gold. The report notes that gold has become increasingly important to Uganda’s mineral economy and has significant revenue potential, while royalties on its production are currently waived. Oxfam, SEATINI Uganda and UGEITI are calling for the government to review that waiver and establish a fiscal regime that balances investment with the public’s right to receive an appropriate return from finite mineral resources. Odokorach also raised concerns about the traceability of gold and other minerals, saying the available systems make it difficult to establish where particular minerals are extracted and processed. He said better tracking could provide clearer information for government and communities. He also pointed to differences between data from the Ministry of Minerals and the Uganda Revenue Authority, arguing that harmonising the information could help districts such as Moroto better understand royalties and improve planning. The report recommends an integrated digital mineral-information system linking production data, licences, exports and revenue payments across relevant government institutions. It also proposes stronger mineral tracking, inspection and valuation systems, improved coordination among government agencies, periodic reviews of tax incentives and increased investment in domestic processing and value addition. Jane Nalunga, Executive Director of SEATINI Uganda, broadened the discussion to the changing global demand for minerals and the need for Uganda to benefit more from its resources. She noted that minerals are increasingly important in the wider global economy, including areas involving artificial intelligence, big data, biotechnology, satellites and drones. Nalunga also argued that Uganda should look beyond simply extracting minerals and exporting them. She called for greater attention to beneficiation and structural transformation so that mineral resources contribute more to domestic economic development. The report says mining communities should also be part of discussions about mineral revenues because they provide land and labour while often bearing environmental, social and economic costs associated with extraction. It recommends transparent mechanisms through which communities and local governments can understand and track the benefits arising from mining. The study covered five financial years and used quantitative and qualitative methods, including questionnaires, key-informant interviews, focus-group discussions, document reviews and field observations. Stakeholders consulted included government ministries, the Uganda Revenue Authority, mining companies, civil society organisations, local governments, mineral dealers, artisanal miners and mining communities. Government revenue from mining increased substantially over the period covered by the study, even as total mineral production declined from about 4.94 million tonnes in 2019/20 to 2.71 million tonnes in 2023/24, largely because of reduced limestone output. The report therefore shifts attention from production volumes alone to the wider question of how mineral wealth translates into public revenue, jobs, local industries, value addition and community benefits. Odokorach said the measure of success should extend beyond extraction and exports. “Revenue transparency must ultimately translate into better outcomes for people and communities,” Odokorach said. “The success of mining should not be measured only by tonnes produced, licences issued or export earnings. It should also be measured by the revenues mobilised, decent jobs and local industries created, value retained in Uganda, communities benefiting, the environment protected and inequalities reduced.” For Oxfam, SEATINI Uganda and UGEITI, the next step is engagement around practical measures that can strengthen mineral-revenue mobilisation, accountability, value addition and equitable benefit sharing. The organisations have called on government, Parliament, mining companies, civil society, communities and development partners to engage with the report’s evidence. The report comes as Uganda continues to position mining as part of its broader development ambitions, making questions around transparency, revenue administration and local benefits increasingly important. For Oxfam and its partners, the central issue is whether Uganda can turn its substantial mineral resources into broader public value while ensuring that communities connected to extraction can see meaningful benefits from the wealth beneath their land.