Uganda is set to issue new oil and gas exploration licenses in the 2025/2026 fiscal year (July-June) to attract more investments into the sector.
The east African country’s last licensing round, launched in 2019, concluded early last year. It handed out the last two of five blocks on offer.
“Accelerating investments in oil and gas will be instrumental in contributing to faster growth of Uganda next financial year,” Matia Kasaija said in a speech laying out priorities for the country in the 2025/2026 financial year.
To achieve higher investments in the petroleum sector and overall growth, the government would issue additional exploration licenses to increase production volumes, he said.
Uganda plans to start commercial production of oil next year from existing fields in the Albertine Graben basin in the country’s west.
The government says only about 40% of the Graben has been explored so far, where an estimated 6.5 billion barrels of oil have been found.
France’s TotalEnergies, with 56.7% equity, is the majority owner of the fields, and its other partners include China’s CNOOC 0883.HK and state-run Uganda National Oil Company UNOC.
Kasaija also said Uganda’s debt load remained “sustainable,” despite credit downgrades by rating agencies. He said the country was committed to maintaining its debt-to-GDP ratio below 50%.
In late August, Fitch downgraded Uganda’s rating from B+ to B, pointing to “reduced access to concessional financing, high domestic borrowing costs, and a drop in foreign exchange reserves.” This move came after Moody’s also lowered Uganda’s rating in May from B2 to B3, citing “diminished debt affordability.”
