Chinese capital is a defining feature of Uganda's current mining boom, from Wagagai's gold refinery to Sukulu's phosphates. Ugandan labour organisations tracking conditions at these sites in 2023 report a mixed picture: wages are typically better than the informal alternative, but written contracts, translated safety documentation and functioning grievance procedures remain uneven.
The point is not that any single operator is uniquely problematic. It is that a formalisation agenda worth the name has to include how workers are treated on formalised sites - not only whether the site itself is licensed. The Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, together with the mineral sector regulator, has the mandate to lift that floor.