#OutToLunch What Uganda’s CEOs can learn from Boda Bodas

By Denis Jjuuko

Last week, two companies with operations in the country organised a small event that largely went unnoticed. At the event, the chief executive of the telecom company received a fully electric car from a car dealer. The telecom has joined a few other organizations in Uganda that are starting to green their mobility. A few hotels and recreation centres have been operating fully electric golf carts for a while but like the news event mentioned above, they are largely unnoticed.

Does this signal the future of fully electric cars in Uganda? Perhaps it is a starting point. If you believe in symbolism. The telecom may be testing the depth of the river at least with one foot. If plans go well, we could see the company transitioning to green mobility. Already, telecom masts are being powered by solar thereby reducing their carbon footprint. But getting into cars is a big step forward that could make a significant impact on the economy.

If companies go into fully electric vehicles, they will reduce their reliance on fossil fuels but also significantly reduce the cost of doing business. Most importantly, fully electric vehicles need the charging infrastructure and professionals to work on them. Mechanics will have to upgrade their skills and so are drivers. Ugandans will have to overcome the fear of the unknown. So electric vehicles will require us to plan our trips better.

In many western countries, deadlines have been set for the transition to electric vehicles. Many are looking at 2030 as a deadline to shift to these technologies. Forwarding looking companies are not waiting for 2030 or whatever deadline Africa will set (most likely internal combustion engines will just become obsolete) and then start scrapping around for electric cars. They are starting now to manage the transition so that by the time internal combustion engines become outdated, they are already in a position of strength.

The government needs to do the same by starting to switch to electric vehicles so that it isn’t caught up in a race against time to electrify its fleet. I believe that at one stage, aid (or is it called budget support nowadays?) will be tagged on how electrified the government fleet is. For about three years, the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority used Kiira Motors’ electric buses transporting its staff between Entebbe and Namboole. The buses were fine. Can’t this be piloted all over Kampala?

Yet unbelievable as it may sound, the boda boda industry is shoulders above everyone when it comes to electric mobility. Some entrepreneurs have been turning boda bodas into electric ones and have set up battery exchange centres in many parts of Kampala. What can we learn from the bodas?

Uganda entrepreneurs who love setting up fuel stations should be looking at this sector. If telecoms, religious and development organisations are starting to buy fully electric vehicles, who is going to repair and maintain them? Outside their offices, where will they charge from? Who will drive them?

Is the Uganda National Road Authority working on roads with electric vehicles in mind? Because of batteries, electric vehicles are heavier than other vehicles which may put a strain on road infrastructure if the transition isn’t planned well.

When we discovered oil, our universities rushed to start oil and gas academic programmes. I am not sure how far they are on electric mobility MBAs. Yet the mobility sector is huge in terms of creating and sustaining jobs. Mobility is a big driver of economic growth.

As we learn from Bodas and a few forward-thinking organisations, the United States, European Union, and China are positioning themselves for a war on batteries for electric vehicles. The US is providing incentives for battery makers that are unsettling the European Union and China.

Meanwhile, China which has built significant capacity in this sector, has acquired more than 40 percent of cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Cobalt is very crucial in making batteries.

Africa has a lot of minerals that are crucial for the automotive industry but we are net importers. As other countries are positioning themselves to take advantage of electric mobility, we are busy giving our minerals away.

We are happy to claim that industrialization isn’t our comparative advantage. How did China gain this comparative advantage? They only became serious about 45 years ago. We claim that agriculture is our thing but we go to Russia to beg to allow Ukraine, a country at war, to feed us. Africa again is giving away its resources for others to develop. We have an abundance of rare earth minerals in Busoga yet the region is one of the poorest in the country. We should be dominating electric vehicles and we still have a small window to do so.

The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

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#OutToLunch: Invest in a residential house or start a business? It is your profile that matters

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Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: Uganda’s businesses can also celebrate 50 years like Afrigo

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Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: Hoima City Stadium provides a blueprint for Uganda’s infrastructural development

OutToLunch: Hoima City Stadium provides a blueprint for Uganda’s infrastructural development By Denis Jjuuko Ugandans may be consumed with what is taking place at the Mandela National Stadium at Namboole where Uganda is hosting some continental matches alongside their Pamoja partners Kenya and Tanzania. The three East African countries are jointly hosting the African Nations Championship (Chan), the precursor to Africa Nations Cup (Afcon), the continental soccer showpiece, which will take place in 2027. Hosting Afcon has always been largely the privilege of west and north African countries. This is the first time that East Africa will be hosting the soccer extravaganza. To do so, there was a need for stadiums and other infrastructure that meet the continental or even international standards. Namboole has been upgraded hence the ongoing Chan tournament. But what is also catching many people’s attention off the refurbished Namboole pitch is something that is taking place some 210km away in the oil rich city of Hoima. When Uganda was awarded the co-hosting rights of Afcon, many people wondered where would the tournament be held. Only Namboole had a chance of meeting the requirements albeit with some major modifications. New stadiums had to be built. Ugandans laughed hard and memes started flying on social media. Not because they are unpatriotic as some people quickly label those with divergent views. They had seen a project too many that couldn’t get done on time. They saw Uganda spending many decades constructing the 21km Northern Bypass that by the time it was completed, some cheeky people had started calling it a Bypath. They had heard endless stories about many infrastructure projects. The Jinja-Kampala Expressway, the Mpigi-Kampala Expressway and even easy to do small-small projects like Kyaliwajjala-Matugga road take forever to be done. They had become skeptical given the years it has taken Lubowa Specialized Hospital to get the building beyond the plinth wall. Airport terminal buildings? Another day please. They expected Hoima City Stadium to follow a similar path. Perhaps, because this involves some continental body in the Confederation of African Football (CAF), organisers of Afcon, the country finally awarded a contract to somebody who seems to know what they are doing in SUMMA, a Turkish outfit that has built a reputation for building stadiums in Africa and handing them over in time. What they have done since construction commenced in Hoima in September 2024 is sort of a miracle by Ugandan standards. With a budget of US$129m and constructing a 20,000-seat stadium, they have shown that a project can be worked on as scheduled. And I say this well knowing that they haven’t completed the job. Given the progress that they have made, there is no doubt that they won’t complete the job ahead of schedule. The Hoima City Stadium contractor is perhaps new in Uganda and hasn’t caught the usual bug. They have not blamed the rains like most contractors do. They have not said they can’t get materials because of the war in the Middle East or Ukraine. They haven’t blamed forex fluctuations. They haven’t blamed the invisible Powers from Above. They haven’t claimed local politicians are against the project. They have said nothing about witchcraft. They have not said Ugandans are lazy, don’t want to work and report for work while clutching sachets of illicit beverages. They have not said they can’t work at night. They have not said there is no budget or some release from the Ministry of Finance delayed. They have not appeared at any parliamentary committee to beg for this or that. Nobody has seen a letter from them asking the president for this or the other. They have simply gone on with the assignment. They have shown that Rome can be built in one day if we focused on it. That government infrastructural projects can be started and worked on as scheduled. And since we love benchmarking, the SUMMA project manager, once has finished their assignment, maybe should go on a workshop spree, teaching our contractors and their supervisors that projects today shouldn’t take as much time as building St Peter’s Basilica or the Notre Dame. And it isn’t difficult to complete projects on time. If you see an official whose desk is full of files, don’t then make him the project manager. If he can’t read the files on his desk on time, how would he manage a project that needs to be delivered on time? If money isn’t available, then don’t embark on launching the project. And hire a competent contractor. Hoima City Stadium is providing a blueprint we must all embrace. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

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