You became the CEO of UNOC in August 2016, taking the helm of a very important company at a transformative time. What have been your biggest milestones thus far, and what is your underlying vision for this company and Uganda’s oil sector?

For me, there have been two major milestones. The first is that when I started, I was employee number 1 – not a common position to be in. Now, we have 27 staff members that are all Ugandan. Working with a really young, vibrant team and being able to see the company grow from one to 27 has been a huge milestone. Seeing Ugandans that are excited about this sector and excited about working in Uganda has been the biggest achievement. The second would be developing our vision, mission and strategic plan around the core projects we need to deliver. We have to look after our people and get systems and processes in place. The big milestone for me was developing that, and now we’re actually implementing it together as a management team. It’s been great to see it come to life and to see value starting from a small growing team and the impact it’s having on the projects and the people we engage with. Those would be two of my highlights: good people with good strategy. Our vision is really about being an innovative, profitable company. If we’re profitable and generating good money for our shareholders, our ministry of finance and our ministry of energy, then we know Ugandans will benefit. We are focused across the value chain, so we don’t just do the upstream. This isn’t just about me and the company; it’s about what we’re doing to benefit all Ugandans.

Around a decade ago it was discovered that Uganda has huge deposits of gas and some 6.5 billion barrels of oil, of which 1.4 billion is recoverable, leading to the establishment of UNOC in 2015. What is your mandate and strategy to manage this massively important natural resource?

We are actually mandated by law, which is very specific in terms of the petroleum sector. There are about nine points, which I would like to summarize into two areas. First off, we handle the government’s commercial interests. Like any good company, we should make money for our shareholders and that would lead to a dividend that would go straight to the petroleum fund. The fund is very much focused not on consumption, but on development and infrastructure. Our first mandate is that we have to represent the government’s interests.  The blocks, the refinery and pipeline will generate as much income as possible so that we can benefit Ugandans. The other mandate concerns national participation and how we are driving it. For me, it’s who we employ through UNOC. We also need suppliers and companies that we can purchase goods and services from. This is an incentive to work with Ugandan companies or companies with Ugandan interests in mind without having to compromise quality or performance. If we get the oil and gas sector right, we will develop fields, build a refinery, get revenue that will go into the petroleum fund and develop infrastructure. But the real key is what’s beyond oil and gas. Oil and gas is finite. It will run out at some point, so we can’t just be looking at that as the only sector that’s booming. It’s about what this sector can subsequently develop in terms of contribution to infrastructure, development, and other part(s) of the economy such as agriculture and tourism. One great thing is that oil and gas has a very high standard of operation because you’re dealing with health and safety. Standards need to be very high and that will transfer beyond oil and gas. A lot of other companies will have to supply food, equipment and logistics, and those can be Ugandan, so you’re actually going to see much broader development. We’re doing oil and gas right because it’s one of the catalysts that will take Uganda to middle-income status.

UK-based company Tullow Oil has been involved but announced it is selling off its stakes in Uganda’s oil discoveries, while the UK government is continuing to support development in the sector. What impact has Tullow had on Ugandan oil and gas?

I came back to Uganda in 2015, and there has been a long history of the oil and gas sector prior to my coming. Tullow Oil has been a big part of Ugandan oil and gas sector development. There’s been a lot of interaction over the years in terms of an ongoing commitment and relationship in terms of development and training – that’s always been there with all of our international companies. Some of the people we’ve hired at UNOC used to work at Tullow, which is great. We’ve benefitted from all the rich experiences that they are bringing, so the legacy and impact of Tullow in Uganda will go on for very many years.

The plans to develop a 60,000 barrel-per-day national refinery to add value to the product and serve Uganda and the region has been widely praised. What is the importance of this for Uganda’s economic future?

The refinery will have a 60 per cent private and 40 per cent public stake, and hopefully we’ll have a lead investor selected by the first quarter of this year. The reason we are going for a 40 per cent stake is that it’s a very commercially viable refinery. Uganda is in a unique position in that even though we’re landlocked, we’re land-linked, so regional access to South Sudan, DRC Congo, Burundi, Tanzania, western Kenya, and even the local market within Uganda makes this a very viable project. The returns on the refinery are in the double digits, even in very conservative scenarios. What that spells is good revenue, and revenue means that UNOC can give shareholders better returns. Better returns lead to more money in the petroleum fund, and more money in the petroleum fund means more investment in infrastructure development projects. That’s a direct link, but you also have to have suppliers for food and all kinds of other services. This will be an opportunity to see Ugandan companies grow beyond just oil and gas. Projects like this can have a huge impact. The real benefit of this refinery is that it’s very viable, and it’s a real regional asset.

The Ugandan government and other players are looking to raise $3.55 billion to develop the East African Crude Oil Pipeline to the Tanzanian port of Tanga. What has the response been so far and why would it be win-win for both the country and investors?

The intergovernmental agreement between Uganda and Tanzania has been signed, the two presidents recently laid a foundation for the pipeline, and we are now in the process of working on post-government agreements, which will then lead to agreements with shareholders. Obviously, there will be major contractors, minor contractors, public tendering and bidding for different activities. There are also many opportunities for both local participation and international participation. We’ll need skillsets that can be sourced both locally and globally, and that’s going to lead to revenue generation. Through the national company, Uganda will have a stake in the crude oil pipeline that will benefit from the revenues that will be made.

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In 2017 the British Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Uganda led a delegation of business representatives from the UK Energy Industries Council, and they were very impressed with the investment opportunities in Uganda’s energy sector. What were the consequences of that visit and what specific investment opportunities are available?

From my understanding, the trip went very well. Having lived in the UK for a long time, it’s good to see ties being strengthened. It has always been there and it’s in our history, but I think oil and gas offers Britain a renewed opportunity. I’ve also been invited to go and speak in the UK, so there’s an ongoing conversation, and I’ve stayed in touch with some of the partners who are looking for investment opportunities as we put out tenders out to see what options are available. There are three key areas in term of investor opportunities. One of the advantages that UNOC has is that, by law, we can directly apply for a licence for an exploration block. We’re a new, small company, so we’ll need to find a joint-venture partner who can bring in more technical and financial muscle. Through the partnership, we hope to develop an exploration block which will hopefully lead to development and production. We’re doing analysis, and we’ll hopefully go out to public tender, which will be open to UK companies as well as companies across the world. It’s all very exciting. We’ve also been given the responsibility to develop a green-field storage terminal in an area just west of Kampala. It’s roughly 300 acres and would be a huge storage terminal for strategic reserves as well as commercial activities. We’ll need a joint-venture partner again for that. The third opportunity is with the area around the refinery — there’s an international airport, and there’s going to be land available to develop an industrial park. UNOC will be looking for a joint-venture partner to help us develop and manage the park, constructing infrastructure such as shared facilities, water and sanitation. We’re in the process of putting together the bids and the criteria we’re looking for and then that will be opened up internationally.

Is there anything else you would like to add that would be of interest to readers of the Telegraph?

We’re a private limited company, so we’re looking for good private sector investors from the UK and from all over the world. Come to Uganda and see what’s happening – it’s an exciting time, a new frontier for explorations. It’s where any companies looking for new challenges and opportunities should come.