You see, the fifth Uganda Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative report shows the money moving: the value of mineral production rose by 87 per cent to Shs464.7 billion in 2023/24, up from Shs248.5 billion the year before, with export earnings rising faster still.
01The part nobody is celebrating
Of the twenty extractive companies selected for the exercise, only four returned the full reporting templates. When most of the sample does not file properly, the reconciliation that is supposed to give citizens confidence is built on a thin base.
02Why it matters for the treasury
Truth be told, the sector's contribution to GDP has stayed modest even as production nearly doubled. Without company-level payment disclosure you cannot tell whether that is geology, pricing, transfer arrangements or simply payments that never arrived.
03What should follow
Reporting under the transparency framework needs a consequence attached, whether that is licence renewal conditions at DGSM or publication of the names of firms that did not file. Voluntary templates return voluntary numbers.
04Our reading
The production growth is real and welcome. But a boom that cannot be audited invites the same disputes over revenue we have watched for years. Publish the non-filers, and much of this fixes itself. We shall return to it when the next report comes out.
How we verified this: licence and production details are checked against official records and ministry statements where they exist. Corrections are welcome through our contact page.
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