Uganda has inaugurated its first large-scale gold mine, a US$250 million (1.79 billion yuan) Chinese-owned project in the eastern Busia district, marking a milestone in the nation’s efforts to become a leading gold producer and exporter.
Owned by Wagagai Mining (U), the Wagagai Gold mining project spans more than nine square kilometres and is designed to refine gold to 99.9 per cent purity.
The plant, which is now operational, will process 5,000 tonnes of gold ore per day and is expected to yield around 1.2 tonnes of refined gold annually.
This figure represents a dramatic increase compared to Uganda’s total domestic gold output of just 0.0042 tonnes in 2023.
President Yoweri Museveni, who officially commissioned the mine, underscored the importance of value addition in the minerals sector.
“In order to wake up in the minerals sector, we must have full value addition for all minerals like gold, lithium, tin, among others,” Museveni said in remarks released by his office and reported by Reuters.
He added that revenues from gold exports would be channelled into infrastructure projects, including energy generation and the country’s railway system.
Uganda is currently investing US$3.1 billion (Ush11.03 trillion) in a standard gauge railway to improve transport efficiency to the Kenyan coast, aiming to lower costs for exporters and importers.
As a landlocked country, Uganda sees the project as integral to unlocking broader economic dividends from its mineral wealth.
Gold has become Uganda’s most lucrative export commodity in recent years.
According to central bank data, exports earned the country US$3.4 billion in 2024, accounting for 37 per cent of total national export revenue.
Much of this came from the re-export of gold imported into the country, as domestic output has historically been limited to artisanal mining.
Despite this progress, Uganda remains far behind Africa’s top producer, Ghana, which generated US$11.6 billion from gold exports in 2024.
To close this gap, the government has introduced a series of reforms, including a 2022 mining law granting the state a mandatory 15 per cent free carry stake in all mining ventures.
In October 2024, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development announced plans for a state-owned mining company to manage the government’s equity interests — a move modelled after Tanzania’s approach to safeguarding national mineral wealth.
The launch of the Wagagai project signals a shift in Uganda’s mining policy from small-scale extraction to industrial-scale production.
Officials hope that large-scale operations, coupled with greater domestic refining capacity, will ensure Uganda captures more value from its abundant reserves of gold, copper, cobalt, and iron ore while boosting economic growth.
