President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and Tanzanian President Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan have launched a new chapter in Uganda-Tanzania energy cooperation folowing the signing of a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at accelerating regional petroleun infrastructure, industrialisation and cross-border trade.
President Museveni, who arrived in Dar es Salaam yesterday for a two-day working visit, was today received by President Samia at State House, where the two Heads of State held a tête-à-tête to discuss matters of mutua interest and ways of strengthening bilateral cooperation
The two leaders later witnessed the signing of an MoU between the Uganda National Olil Company (UNOC), the Tanzania Petroleum Developmens Corporation (TPDC) and Vitol Bahrain E.C. to jointly develop the Tanga Regional Energy Hub.
The partnership builds on the East African Crude 0il Pipeline (EACOP) and is expected to transform Tanga into a regional hub for petroleum storage, refining, logistics, trading and distribution. It will also complement Uganda’s oil and gas projects, including the Hoima refinery, while enhancing energy security, expanding export opportunities and strengthening trade across East and Central Africa.
Speaking during the signing ceremony, Uganda’s Minister of Energy and
Mineral Development, Dr. Monica Musenero, described the agreement as powerful demonstration of regional cooperation and a reflection of the long -held vision of the two Presidents to build a united and prosperous A S
“For a long time, Your Excellencies have advocated for a unitec V driven by common interests and shared trade. While we often speak abou, these aspirations, action speaks louder than words, and today we are privileged to witness a giant step towards joint development with our sister nation, Dr. Musenero said
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She welcomed Vitol Bahrain into the partnership, saying collaboratior between the two governments and the private sector would accelerate regional economic transformation.
Dr. Musenero said the projects ander the partnership go beyond infrastructure development and are strategic instruments for industrialisation.
“These are not merely infrastructure projects. They are strategic investments that will create jobs for our young people, deepen regional trade and strengthen the logistics systems that support our economies,” she said.
She stressed that Uganda remains committed to maximising value from its petroleum resources through downstream industries rather than exporting raw commodities.
“We must ensure that we are not simply trading these resources as commodities. “We need to extract greater value by developing secondary and tertiary industries, building the knowledge economy and creating high:
skilled jobs in engineering, operations, maintenance, laboratory analysis and management,” she added
Dr. Musenero revealed that feasibility and front-end engineering desigr studies for the proposed refined petroleum products pipeline and storage terminal are progressing well and are expected to be completed later this year.
She also disclosed that feasibility studies for the proposed natural gas pipeline linking Uganda and Tanzania are at an advanced stage and are expected to be concluded by October 2026.
Beyond petroleum, she highlighted progress on the planned Uganda-Tanzania 400kV electricity interconnector, noting that Uganda concluded negotiations with the World Bank in March before securing US$250 million in financing in June for its section of the proiject
