President Yoweri Museveni’s push for local manufacturing is beginning to deliver results at Bukona Agro-Processors, where a company that previously imported ready-made ethanol cookstoves has embarked on manufacturing the cooking appliances right here in Uganda.
UDC Executive Director Dr Patrick Birungi revealed that the President personally challenged the corporation to ensure that importation of finished cooking stoves is abandoned and instead build local capacity to manufacture them in Uganda.
Birungi made the revelation on Friday during the commissioning of Bukona’s ethanol-petrol blending facility in Malaba, Tororo District.
He said the challenge arose during an earlier engagement with the President, when UDC officials presented their work on the development of ethanol as an alternative source of clean cooking energy.
“The first time we went to see the President, we were actually importing stoves ready-made. And the President challenged us to make those stoves from Uganda,” Birungi said.
He added that the company had since embarked on local manufacturing and was making progress.
“That journey we have started very well making stoves in Uganda and will continue to do that,” he said.
The development offers another example of how government’s industrialization agenda is seeking to replace imported finished products with locally manufactured alternatives.
The shift into clean cooking stove manufacturing complements Bukona’s expanding ethanol business, which has grown from producing extra-neutral alcohol into supplying ethanol for clean cooking and fuel-grade ethanol for petrol blending.
The company is also participating in a Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development initiative aimed at increasing access to clean cooking technologies through subsidized products and results-based financing.
Birungi said UDC was committed to supporting enterprises that stimulate domestic production, create jobs, strengthen value chains and reduce Uganda’s dependence on imports.
He said the corporation’s involvement in Bukona was intended to help the company grow beyond its original operations and develop new products that respond to national development priorities.
UDC acquired a 28.5% stake in Bukona in 2021 when the company was facing financial difficulties, providing working capital to support the revival of operations and enable diversification.
The company’s expansion into ethanol cooking stoves and fuel-grade ethanol has since positioned it within two areas of government priority, including clean cooking and domestic energy production.
Mr Hatimu Muyanja, speaking on behalf of the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, said Bukona was participating in the ministry’s Electricity Access Scale-up Project, under which government is supporting the uptake of ethanol cooking products through a results-based financing arrangement.
He also welcomed the company’s expansion of its cooking stove production facility, saying local manufacturing would reduce reliance on imported products.
Trade, Industry and Cooperatives Minister Sanjay Tanna, who freely provided the land where the plant was built, said the development reflected the importance of turning government policy and investment into practical industrial outcomes.
He said the country needs to strengthen domestic production and value addition instead of continuing to depend on imported finished goods.
Sanjay Tanna described UDC as a strategic government investment vehicle established to support enterprises that may be too capital-intensive or risky for private investors to undertake alone.
He said the corporation’s investment in Bukona demonstrates how public capital could help businesses recover, diversify and attract further investment.
Birungi said UDC would continue working with Bukona to strengthen its operations and explore additional industrial opportunities.
He said the corporation wanted to support the company to become a zero-waste facility by converting production waste into other useful products.
The President’s cooking stove challenge, Birungi said, had already set the company on a path towards local manufacturing, with UDC determined to keep supporting the development of Ugandan industrial capacity. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
