The Infrastructure Magazine (Uganda)

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Sept. - Oct. 2018

Pixan M8 SE [ Specialized Edition ]

Uganda’s first blue chip company First mobile phone brand Hope for the fourth industrial revolution

Mobile Devices

Media Library

Edgar Ofoyuru Davids Founder / CEO Pixan Corporation

Developers Circle

Too little, too random? government investment for ICT dividend.

Why internet users should own their data.

Dealing with urbanization challenges the Indian way.

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Contents

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Sept. - Oct. 2018

www.infrastructure.co.ug | September - October 2018 Pixan M8 SE [ Specialized Edition ]

Uganda’s first blue chip company First mobile phone brand Hope for the fourth industrial revolution Edgar Ofoyuru Davids Mobile Devices

Media Library

Founder / CEO Pixan Corporation

Developers Circle

Too little, too random? government investment for ICT dividend.

Why internet users should own their data.

Dealing with urbanization challenges the Indian way.

The Infrastructure Magazine is Published by

2nd Floor, Ntinda Shopping Centre P. O. Box 11670, Kampala, Uganda, Tel: +256 414 667 688; +256 700 665 775; Mob: +256 776 477 751; +256 752 665 775; E-mail: editor@infrastructure.co.ug; inquiry.acl@gmail.com; Website: www.infrastructure.co.ug www.acl.co.ug Editor Simon E. Omoding Sub Editor Arthur Matsiko Writers Benjamin Mukose, Nelson M. Muhoozi, Jackie Asasira, Daniel Otto, Roger Kyazze Guest Writer Suveer Sinha, Pierre Guislain, Gaspard Koenig Marketing Team Leader Martin Ariko Sales Executives Brenda Wanyenze, Gaston Atusiimire, Grace Ajulong, Provia Namanya Design/Layout Cover Design: Pixan Corporation Design/Layout: Slick Republic Limited ISSN: 2523-191X (Print); ISSN: 2523-1928 (Online)

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Copyright © 2018 Advanced Communications Ltd

14 COVER STORY

Pixan Corporation – Uganda’s most promising, indigenous bluechip company

05 From the Editor 06 News Round-up E-Commerce 08 Understanding the intricacies of online commerce ICT 10 Government investment: Too little, too random?

Swimming pools 18 Making a great home swimming pool Academics 22 Uganda’s next Einstein Urbanisation 24 Dealing with urbanisation challenges amidst limited resources Transport 28 Uganda Railways moves to regain long lost glory Industrialisation 30 Is South Korea’s industrialisation magic still relevant for Africa?

Mineral processing 33 AGR boosts gold exports

Indigenous Steel, international Quality Tembo Steel Uganda Ltd, is ISO 9002 certified and one of East Africa’s largest companies with interest in manufacturing hot and cold rolled profiles. Strategic investments made by the company have resulted in the creation of tangible and intangible assets which are at the heart of the Ugandan economy.

With its timeless business philosophy, TSUL is geared up to not only survive but win in a marketplace marked by feverish change. Indeed, the company’s blistering success story has been scripted principally by its resolve to innovate, set new principles, enhance capabilities, enrich lives and to ensure that it stays true to its value system. Not surprisingly, the company is very much a future corporation, poised to become the most preferred steel manufacturer in the country.

Led by Mr Sanjay Awasthi, the company produces economical and efficient steel through backward and forward integration.

From the widest flat products to a whole range of long products, TSUL today spots a product portfolio that caters to markets across the steel value chain. An ingenious spirit and the ability to discern future trends have been the driving force behind the company’s remarkable growth story.

■■TSUL operates sponge iron plant at Iganga in eastern Uganda and has an installed capacity of 2 MTPA (million tonnes per annum) as well as a Structure Mill and a Strip Mill.

■■It has set up a 3 MTPA wire rod mill and a 3 MTPA capacity bar mill at Lugazi, Uganda.

■■The organisation is wedded to ideals like innovation and technological leadership and is backed by a highly driven

Head Office

7th & 8th floor, Crane Chambers, P.O. Box 26373, Kampala, Uganda.

Tel: +256 414 500 086/87 Direct Fax: +256 414 500 083 4 Email: info@tembosteels.co.ug September - October 2018

and dedicated workforce of 3000 people.

■■TSUL is one and only company in East Africa to produce: ■■5.0 mm wire rod ■■0.8 mm hot rolled sheet ■■Structures/ Section through direct rolling ■■various grades of Stainless Steels ■■various products through integrated Steel process.

■■Liquid Mild Steel/ Low Corbon steel from Liquid Cast Iron ■■Welding electroes through integrated Steel process

TSUL has been technology driven & has a broad product portfolio with prominent position in East Africa market.

Manned by highly efficient and dynamic team of employees, the company is growing stronger every day.

Alongside contributing to Uganda’s growth story the company is driving an ambitious global expansion plan with its sights set on emerging as a leading transnational business group.

The company continues to capitalise on opportunities in high growth markets, expanding its core areas and diversifying into new businesses.

The company endeavours to strengthen Uganda’s industrial base by aiding infrastructural development, through sustainable development approaches and inclusive growth.

It deploys its resources to improve infrastructure, education, health, water, sanitation, environment and so on in the areas it operates in. It has won several awards for its innovative business and social practices.

Lugazi plant

Plot No. 93, Block 74 Najjembe Estate Lugazi, Uganda Email: oprations.lugazi@tembosteels.co.ug Mr. G.S. Chaubey, Plant Head Tel : +256 703 600214

Iganga plant

Plot No. 67,Block 24 Kigulu, Kasolo Subcounty Bulamazi Iganga, Uganda Email: gmiganga@tembosteels.co.ug Mr. Amit Ranjan, Plant Head Tel www.infrastructure.co.ug : +256 703 600212

In pursuit of ICT dividends Although measuring the volume and value of the contribution of ICT to the global and national economies is still contentious, it is clear that its contribution is growing, by leaps and bounds.

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ne study by Chinese IT Company, Huawei Technologies and British consulting firm, Oxford Economics put the contribution of ICT to the global economy at US$ 11.5 trillion in 2016. It could be more, it could be less- by some factor.

But if that amount is anything to go by, then that would be about 15 per cent of the global GDP! A 2017 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) study concluded that although the proportions of growth of ICT contribution to economies vary from one country to another (more advanced economies harnessing bigger dividends) and developing economies (much smaller proportions), there is generally a positive growth for everyone. Bloomberg News in September estimated that the growth of the contribution of the digital economy to the overall US general economy stands at 5.6 per cent annually.

It is therefore not far-fetched to argue that Uganda’s trends-much smaller as they might be- follow the same trajectory. We know from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics that in 2016/17, ICT contributed close to Shs 800 billion into the national revenues (again there are difficulties in measuring what is ICT, digital economy and what is not).

All of these mean that the ICT and digital economy is something to keep an eye on for many countries, for growth and development.

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The Infrastructure Magazine intends to cast the light on this area of ICT and digital economy; to focus the limelight on discussion and policy debates, geared towards harnessing the ICT/digital dividend.

For that reason many countries are making investments and policy framework adjustments to accommodate this fast evolving sector.

In Uganda, as well, ICT and the digital economy could be a boon for the country’ growth and development challenge. Overall, increased use of ICT could increase productivity, translating into better revenues for the national coffers, and more jobs. It could also result into better service delivery resulting into better human development performance. As far as employment is concerned, exploitation of ICT could provide employment and occupation for the country’s many young people. All of these could mean fast growth and development for the economy.

The Infrastructure Magazine intends to cast the light on this area of ICT and digital economy; to focus the limelight on discussion and policy debates, geared towards harnessing the ICT/ digital dividend. As an example, in this issue we profile one indigenous ICT start up, Pixan Corporation, by a team of young Ugandan innovators that could be an eye opener to the potential of this sector in the country.

Good reading.

Simon E. Omoding Editor

5 September - October 2018

Uganda to benefit from ground breaking internet technology

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f all goes according to plan, Uganda will soon beat infrastructure odds to deliver high speed 4G LTE internet to far-flung areas in the country using the ground-breaking internet connectivity technology. This is being planned under the Loon Project, an initiative of Alphabet Inc., the mother company that owns the search engine Google.

The Project is intended to take internet to remote, un-served and under-served areas by, bypassing the usually laborious and prohibitive infrastructure like towers.

The Loon technology uses flying balloons as a substitute to masts and towers to deliver internet to otherwise remote areas of the world. The balloons are controlled from the launch centres, hundreds of miles away.

The Loon Project team was in Kampala recently where they interfaced with Ugandan key stakeholders including the National IT Authority (NITA), Civil Aviation Authority, and ministry of Defence, Ministry of Security, among others. The idea, according the project representatives, was to introduce the

Ugandan officials to the project. At the meeting, also attended by the US Ambassador to Uganda, Deborah Malac, the Loon Project team exhibited the technology used in the system.

The complete technology (Loon System) that delivers internet comprises of a balloon, flight equipment, solar panels, a flight capsule and a parachute. The balloon is made

from polythene sheets. Each balloon, the size of a tennis court is built to last over 100 days in the stratosphere before landing back on Earth in a controlled descent.

The flight equipment is built to be highly energy efficient and is powered from solar panels during the day and at night it uses an onboard battery charged during the daytime from the solar power. The flight equipment also has antennas that transmit connectivity “from ground stations, across a balloon mesh network, and back down to a user’s LTE phone. A user needs nothing more than a standard LTE phone to connect to a Loon balloon,” the Project says on their website.

In East Africa, Loons are already flying in Kenya. Most notably, the technology was also used in September 2017 to provide emergency internet connectivity in Puerto Rico following the devastating Hurricane Maria that brought down all key installations and infrastructure- including telecoms towers.

Loon provided internet as the telecom towers were being repaired

Guangzhou fertiliser factory launched in Tororo

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ast Africa’s largest organic fertiliser factory opened in Uganda’s eastern district of Tororo in early October. Sitting on a 600- acre piece of land, the Guangzhou Dongsong Energy Group (U) Ltd owned industrial complex in Osukulu sub-county, Tororo district, will produce some 300,000 tonnes of organic fertilisers annually, making it the biggest organic fertiliser plant in East Africa.

Ms Jane Guo, the Group chief executive officer, said the fertilizer production section is expected to roll out full production in June 2019.

6 September - October 2018

President Yoweri Museveni and Energy minister, Irene Muloni at the factory.

She said the fertilisers are designed specifically for Ugandan soils to boost

agriculture in the country. “Our fertiliser is designed for Ugandan soil, climate and environment and various tests have been conducted in various model farms in different areas such as Kabale, Mbale and Masaka where the results have been impressive.

Apart from the fertilisers, the factory will also manufacture construction materials such as steel, glass and unbaked bricks. Total investment is $650m (about Shs2.2 trillion) mobilised from Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)

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News Round-up

Simba Cement factory launched as Uganda’s national domestic supply edges to 7m tonnes

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resident Yoweri Museveni launched the fourth cement producer in Uganda with an immediate production capacity of 750 tonnes, but with a promise to double that to 1.5 million tonnes per annum in 2019.

The Simba Cement factory (also) based in Tororo will bring the country’s national domestic cement supply close to 7million tonnes per annum. According to Uganda Bureau of Statistics in 2016, the country produced 2,468 million metric tonnes of cement.

However, over the past few months, the big two producers Tororo Cement and Hima Cement have expanded their own production capacity, with Tororo Cement now producing 3 million tonnes, and Hima Cement increasing their production to about 2 million tonnes.

Tororo Cement is based in Tororo. Hima Cement originally based in Hima in Kasese district, recently built a new crashing line in Tororo as well.

The other producer-Kampala Cement

President Museveni (in white shirt) at the launch.

based in Mukono has an installed capacity of 1million metric tonnes. Uganda Bureau of Statistics numbers show that in 2017, the country also imported some 333,000 metric tonnes of cement.

Speaking at the opening of the factory, Narendra Raval, the chairperson of Simba Ce-

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ment Uganda Ltd, the proprietors of the new factory, said his mission is to drive down the prices of cement in the country down to Shs 25,000 per 50kg bag. This will be music to the ears of the construction and building sector that has in the recent past suffered fluctuating prices and stocks of cement

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e-commerce

Understanding intricacy of online commerce

By Our Writer

If you are anywhere in Africa, and are busy developing a business to sell locally made goods online, you are better off merchandising them on globally recognisable stores like eBay and Amazon, than from your own start-up online shop.

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ou are also better off dealing in clothing and apparel, consumer electronics, jewellery and memorabilia as those are the most purchased goods online. You are better off targeting the United States, China and Western Europe (particularly UK, France and Germany) because those are the biggest global online shopping markets you are more likely to make a sale to.

These are some of the findings from a new global survey on attitudes and practices on on-

8 September - October 2018

line and cross border commerce. The survey, conducted by the online payment service provider, Paypal, and global research firm, Ipsos, sought to understand how online commerce, especially cross border trade, is evolving globally; how and why consumers shop online and across borders and how consumers pay for domestic and cross border online transactions.

Over the last few years, thanks to the Internet and Information Communication Technologies, the volume of trade and commerce online and across borders has grown into billions of US dollars.

The study, done in 31 markets (countries) covering 34,000 respondents, was conducted between March and May 2018. It covered people aged 18 and above and studied transactions in the last 12 months and projections for the next 12 months. It also examined drivers, barriers, attitudes to cross border shopping and payments.

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e-commerce

“Advancement of technology is helping to open up commerce opportunity for everyone across borders, anywhere, anytime via devices.

The world is undergoing a revolution,� the report reads in part.

The survey shows that the biggest online spenders are US (online trade volume of US$ 550 billion), China (US$ 450 billion), UK, France and Germany (about US$ 100 billion each). Japan and India are the fastest growing online markets. This means in these countries, online trade/purchase of goods has nearly become a new way of life. This means, therefore, that one is more likely to make a sale from anywhere in the world to one of these countries, than any other country in the world. People engaged in online trading of goods need to target these markets.

The study shows that the most bought items online are clothing and apparel (68 per cent);

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The main reasons why people buy stuff online and across borders are better prices, accessing goods not available in their country, because they can discover new and interesting products and because of high quality.

electronics and toys (55 per cent); jewellery/ watches (51 per cent); cosmetics, beauty products (46 per cent) and collectibles/memorabilia (42 per cent). Anyone contemplating selling goods online needs to take note of these statistics.

As to why people buy stuff online and across borders, the study found the main reasons as better prices (72 per cent), accessing goods not available in their country (49 per cent), because they can discover new and interesting products (34 per cent) and because of high quality products (29 per cent). Opportunities for the African traders seem to be in supplying new and African stuff such as fabric, designer cloth from African fashion outfits, Africa crafts and memorabilia, among others.

The study, however, shows that most people prefer to pay in their own local currency rather than the currency of the country of origin of the products or of another country. For example, American buyers are more comfortable paying in the US Dollars than having to convert so as to pay, say, in Uganda Shillings.

The survey also shows that shoppers prefer to work on products/websites that are published in their own language, as against translating from another language. This seems to suggest that buyers don’t like websites in foreign languages for fear of being conned.

Shoppers also prefer recognisable brand online stores, compared to new and unrecognisable ones

9 September - October 2018

ICT

ICT minister, Frank Tumwebaze, accesses online resources at Makerere University Library on the World Library Day 2018. Looking on are the National Planning Authority’s Dr. Joseph Muvawala (L), University vice chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe and librarian Dr. Hellen Byamugisha. Photo: Makerere University.

Too little, too random?

The problem with current government investments in ICT

By Daniel Otto & Roger Kyazze

While government is slowly waking up to the reality of the potentially big contribution hi-tech innovations can bring to the economy, its current efforts to tap into Information and Communication Technology (ICT) dividends are low and random, say industry experts.

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n the recent past, the government has ramped up a raft of activities intended to tap into the digital economy and deliver ICT dividends. In November last year, the Prime Minister, Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, launched construction works for an ICT hub at the Nakawa-based Institute of Communication Technology. The centre is expected to be ready for use in the coming few months.

Frank Tumwebaze, the ICT minister, said once complete, the Shs 5.6 billion hub will provide space for innovators to work and access basic infrastructure like internet, computers and collaboration spaces.

Moses Watasa, the commissioner for information

10 September - October 2018

in the ICT ministry, told The Infrastructure Magazine in an interview that government has now identified ICT as one of the key pillars to spur the country’s socio economic development to the lower middle income status by 2020.

He said this vision is articulated in Uganda’s development agenda, Vision 2040, the Second National Development Plan (NDP II), the ICT Sector Strategy and Investment Plan (SIP) 2015/16-2019-20 and the NRM 2016/21 Manifesto.

Watasa said President Yoweri Museveni has prioritized ICT as one of the strategic interventions for economic growth, has given orders to guide the sec-

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ICT

tor and has committed support to ICT innovation and establishment of ICT parks.

Other strategies by government include the Rural Communications Development Fund (RCDF) under the Uganda Communications Commission. This initiative is intended to bring ICT services closer to the grassroot communities in partnership with NITA -Uganda, Uganda Institute of Information Communication Technology (UICT), Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC), Uganda Media Centre and Government Citizens’ Interaction Centre.

Some of the projects implemented under RCDF include establishment of 76 internet points of presence (POP), 106 internet cafes, 78 ICT training centers, 4,099 public pay phones, 78 district web portals, 45 multi-purpose community tele centers (MCT), 708 school ICT laboratories, 174 health ICT facilities and 106 content development projects, among others.

These projects are financed through a 20 per cent tax to profits of the telecommunication companies.

But a sector policy analyst, who previously worked for a government agency but preferred anonymity, told The Infrastructure Magazine that “the problem

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with government is that the different interventions are done in isolation and cosmetically, without having them pointing to one direction and towards very specific outputs and outcomes.”

“For structures like hubs to work, there needs to be a comprehensively conducive eco-system, comprising of the right and well-thought out policy framework; the right incentives; targeting the right and most talented people and a market that has capacity to consume output from the innovations,” he said.

He added: “There must also be a clear human resource development policy to feed the infrastructure with the requisite human resources. Incentives are critical in attracting the right people and achieving the intended objectives.”

In countries that have invested heavily for ICT dividends, incentives have ranged from personal benefit to prospects for career growth and recognition, and opportunities to excel on merit, among others.

“You will see, for example, that the hub is built but there will be no funds to ensure that it is maximally functioning and therefore utilized, or even that it attracts the best brains,” the analyst said. “Instead, you will find that people hanging out there will be children of the well-connected, even if they are not necessarily the best brains.”

Margaret Sevume an ICT practitioner and moderator of I-Network, an ICT for development platform, was more optimistic: “The measures that government is taking are good and commendable. They should be sufficient to propel Uganda in the right direction of the ICT sector,” she told this Magazine.

“However, implementation of these measures

Market players also say that the other challenge is that innovation requires support from either government or investors who are able to inject money to incubate and mature the innovations.

Computer servers.

11 September - October 2018

ICT

is what usually fails government. Technocrats often act as if they are oblivious of the plans that government has and thereby end up frustrating these strategies, “she said.

“Government needs to urgently address the apparent or actual disconnect of the policy makers and the implementers for coordinated and successful results.”

In an article published a few years ago in the Journal of Computing & ICT Research, Venansius Baryamureeba, a professor of ICT and former Makerere University vice chancellor, enumerated four ways in which ICTs tangibly contribute to economic growth – what is also known as the ICT dividend.

Firstly, he said, by boosting growth through bringing efficiency and effectiveness in processes, thereby spurring higher productivity.

The second way is by expanding opportunities for the citizens. In Uganda, for example, where the population is largely young, an ICT revolution should provide employment, income and other occupational benefits. A good ICT eco-system should create varied and many opportunities for the population in the various value chains.

Thirdly, Baryamureeba argued, ICTs bring better service delivery. Educational and health services should become faster, better and cheaper and, therefore, reach more people by breaking down the geographical and access boundaries through online education and telemedicine, for example.

He wrote that ICTs should also bring about inclusion by ensuring that those who otherwise lack information are enabled to access it, cost-effectively. A good example is farmers accessing information on better produce prices and, therefore, getting better incomes. It should also lower the cost of doing business. For example, a trader in Katakwi does not need to travel to Kampala to register a company or file tax returns, yet this could be done online.

All these, he said, should translate into higher productivity, efficiency, higher incomes and better standards of living – leading to economic growth, development and well-being of the people.

12 September - October 2018

A telephone mast.

In Uganda, the growth of the ICT sector has hitherto been largely private sector-driven and as such areas that have quick returns for the private sector such as software development, internet service provision, have realized growth, albeit in a skewed way.

Industry players say that one of the biggest hindrances to investment and growth in the sector is lack of direct support. Government is one of the largest consumers of ICT products, but spends millions of shillings to procure software and hardware from the external market and continues to recurrently pay more for licenses and technical support, despite the fact that local talent has the capacity to develop and support such services at more affordable prices.

Market players also say that the other challenge is that innovation requires support from either government or investors who are able to inject money to incubate and mature the innovations. A successful innovation goes through five stages that last a minimum of one year, which means an innovator requires support to navigate through his/her innovations.

Some of the most successful innovation hubs and ecosystems in the world, such as

Silicon Valley in California (US) and Hsinchu in Taiwan (China), have had the right ecosystems including a high concentration of highly qualified an talented tech engineers and innovators. At some point, Silicon Valley boasted of 6,000 PhDs in tech and engineering in one city, with another 400,000 hi-tech workers in collaboration with the right policy, environment, incentives and investors writing to snap up good ideas for multiplication.

As a result, the world got some of today’s multibillion hi-tech products such as CISCO, IBM, Microsoft, and Google. Networking innovations such as Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp are all born out of intense innovation environments with rewarding prospects for innovators. This package of ecosystem factors was necessary for such innovations.

However, Watasa said with government’s renewed commitment to ICT and the realization of its contribution to the national economy and GDP, challenges faced by innovators will be a thing of the past. The strengthened partnership between government and the private sector is expected to alleviate the majority of the challenges, paving way for a more vibrant ICT sub sector

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Inside: Uganda’s first solar run factory could start before end of 2017

Inside: Uganda’s bright but under-exploited mineral resources

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Right Strategy?

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www.infrastructure.co.ug | March - April 2018

Naguru Skyz Hotel: A fine piece of real estate

Uganda’s ‘Silk Road’

Fixing Uganda’s water and sanitation infrastructure deficit

Uganda’s massive investment in public infrastructure: Opportunities, Benefits, Risks

Inside: Ugandans’ changing tastes and styles in housing

Technology review: Velocity pothole patching technology

FEATURES

The iconic Kampala Entebbe Expressway The marvel of the new Jinja bridge FEATURE

INTERVIEW

INNOVATION

Electricity generation: How far Uganda has come

A gaze into the Standard Gauge Railway

Tapping storm waters to keep taps wet

INNOVATION

SPECIAL REPORT

TECHNOLOGY

Rootzone’s innovative bio-technology for treatment of sludge

East Africa’s civil engineering market sees growth despite fragmentation

Are machines set to take over jobs?

Inside: Which business model should the new Uganda Airlines take?

ANALYSIS

MINING

AVIATION

OPINION

International origins of the sand mining craze

The new Uganda Airlines takes shape

The Achilles heel in Public Private Partnership

VIEW POINT

President Museveni’s pet road projects: A review of progress

The challenge of road maintenance in Uganda

Inside: Nairobi-Addis Ababa road works launched

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The plastic pollution problem ICT as a driver for growth and development

OIL & GAS

AVIATION

Uganda's oil and gas logistics challenge

Interview with Kenya Airways CEO

LOGISTICS

MINING

REAL ESTATE

URBANISATION

Tanzania Ports Authority charms Uganda’s business community

Mining comes out of slumber

Emergence of luxury housing segment

Kampala's 20 tallest buildings

This is the opportunity for people who matter to know what you are doing.

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Cover Story

Pixan Corporation

Uganda’s most promising, indigenous blue-chip company

By Nelson Muhoozi

Although Uganda has moved up five places in the information and communications technology (ICT) Development Index (IDI) published by the International Telecom Union (ITU), there is still a gap to bridge especially in the manufacturing and consumer technology segment.

A

ccording to the 2017 ITU report, Uganda moved to position 152 down from 158 in 2016.

The report further finds that in the East Africa region, the level of ICT utilization in current national ICT policies that have been drafted (or being drafted) to address issues related to digital divide- have not, in fact, resolved most of the challenges.

Edgar Ofoyuru (right), the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Pixan Corporation, told The Infrastructure Magazine that there is a great challenge in increasing digital literacy to such a level that can enhance Uganda’s infrastructure development especially in the technology segment. ‘‘I see the biggest challenge is that in persistently poor areas, investment hasn’t organically flowed. So when investment doesn’t flow, infrastructure isn’t there. When the hardware is not there, then digital education is not there. It’s compounding,” he said.

According to Ofoyuru, the expression “digital divide” sums up all hurdles, both internal and external, that impede any community or country from becoming an integral part of the knowledge society, and therefore denies its people the resulting level of human development.

That is the dilemma that Pixan Corporation sees itself as coming, timely, to deal with. Pixan’s grand mission is to close the disparities using new contemporary approaches at national and international level. ‘‘Essentially, the first step towards bridging the digital divide is understanding the divide itself in context of the local situation,’’ Ofoyuru said.

He sees lack of local content, software, hardware and internet infrastructure as contributing to the increasing digital divide in Uganda, particularly in a field dominated by the developed world.

James Saka, executive director IT authority (NITA-U) however, said that the government of Uganda is putting

14 September - October 2018

in place an innovation hub to serve as a resource centre for Ugandan innovators by giving them free access to the necessary infrastructure such as internet and computers to facilitate the development of their projects.

Such facilities fill the several infrastructural and affordability gaps that continue to dog, and or exacerbate, the digital divide in least developed countries that have made it difficult to effectively engage in, and benefit from electronic commerce, said Saka.

Pixan Corporation is born Pixan Corporation Limited was founded in July 2014 under the name Pixanlabs Visual Engineering, to offer multimedia and industrial design services. It was later renamed Pixan Corporation Limited and incorporated in February 2017, Reg. No. 80020000084990.

Pixan Corporation was established as a vehicle to spearhead innovation, inventions research and development (R&D) which if well exploited could place Uganda at the centre of manufacturing smartphones and hi-tech blue-chip technology in general.

The company operates under a monolithic brand architecture with Pixan as a master brand in both the company’s hardware and software products.

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Cover Story

Products and services The company is designing several products that leverage its intellectual property into revenue. These products have immediate applications in areas like homes, office, educational, agriculture, security, transport, finance and government environments.

Pixan Mobile In 2017, Pixan Corporation became the first OBM (Original Brand Manufacturer) and technology company to successfully design and produce Uganda’s first locally made mobile phone which is 100 percent designed in Uganda by Ugandans.

The company announced its Pixan M8 and Pixan M6 hardware in May last year. The company has since been in massive industrial research and content development which will be the major hub for accessing great local technologies.

According to Lisy Warnant, the company’s general manager, mobile phone handsets will be released in three phases. First, the Pixan M8 SE which is a specialized edition under mass customization. It will be limited for mass orders and expected to be released on December 1. Purchase orders will be online on Pixan website with an MOQ (minimum order quantity) of 500 pieces.

Second will be the launch of Pixan M8 DE, a phone aimed at opening the Pixan platform to support local innovators and technologies in Uganda. The Developers Edition will be launched come March next year in Gulu, during the Pixan Developers Convention 2019. Last will be the consumer models Pixan M8 and M6 basically meant for the consumer market.

Pixan Library Pixan library is an application management, content distribution and publishing system designed and developed with the aim of empowering and improving local content on the internet. This platform is the first of its kind that will empower local content creators with a dedicated platform to market and sell creative content like music, film, T.V, and publications. The company research shows that content creation and promotion of local cultures improves digital skills and plays a key role in the development of an economy.

This library is meant to boost Uganda’s content in the areas like tourism, music, technology among others in the global market space.

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Pixan Developers

James Saka, executive director NITA-U.

In 2017, Pixan Corporation became the first OBM (Original Brand Manufacturer) and technology company to successfully design and produce Uganda’s first locally made mobile phone which is 100 percent designed in Uganda by Ugandans.

‘‘This is a web-based mobile and social enterprise (nonprofit) platform that is the first of its kind in Uganda. This platform development started in February this year with a launch is expected in 2019 under the theme “Inclusive Development,” which will take place in Gulu, according to Israel Katamba, the Pixan Developers director. ‘‘Pixan Developers is a platform that aims at building a community of developers that will empower innovators and inventors in Uganda (and Africa) to attain a competitive advantage in the global economy,” he said. “This is one of the founding principles of Pixan Corporation––to empower dreamers in Uganda to achieve their dreams, ’he said.

The platform is an open source programme with more than 250 developers of both software and hardware technologies. Here, various developers will come together and showcase their talent, advertise their products and innovations, collaborate, learn from one another other and find solutions to the questions in the hardware, software or developers’ “world” which could solve day-to-day issues on socio-economic development in the country.

“Pixan will then incorporate these innovations into its mobile phone as default apps to sell our country elsewhere with our local content,” Katamba asserted.

This is expected to create an estimated 5000 jobs indirectly and support the country in diversification of its ICT industry. It is projected that new professional opportunities like OS Engineering, Industrial Designing, and Industrial Ecologists etc. will be created.

15 September - October 2018

Cover Story

‘‘The future is bright for Uganda with such complimentary technological innovations being placed.

In each problem the sector is facing, we see an opportunity that leads to solutions, a chance to be innovative and create success regardless of the problem scenario. The solutions we see will only be limited by our innovation and determination and since the gap is expanding, whatever solutions, bridges, we construct must also be dynamic,’’ said Katamba.

The company expects to start penetration into entertainment, agriculture, security and education markets.

Workforce

Warnant Lisy, Chief Operations Officer

“Pixan’s plan is futuristic and more than just phones. We believe it lays down the basic foundation for Uganda competitive advantage in the global economy and the forth industrial revolution.

This plan is in line with the country’s strategic development frameworks-the National Development Plan and Vision 2040 ,” Katamba said.

Present Conditions The young tech-entrepreneurs believe that the complete supply chain and advanced R&D structure assessment in Uganda shows that the potential need for what Pixan is championing is enormous for the company products and services, as evidenced by the unstoppable growth of the technology industry.

Leilah Nabankema, Chief Finance Officer

16 September - October 2018

The future is bright for Uganda with such complimentary technological innovations being placed. In each problem the sector is facing, we see an opportunity that leads to solutions, a chance to be innovative

The company’s management team provides a solid, proven experience in successful companies, with demonstrated competence in high tech, manufacturing, design, marketing, business development and sales (domestic and international), intellectual property protection, business finances and data management.

Team members have experienced the “explosive growth” environment of successful start-ups and contribute unique talents and essential skills, which will make Pixan Corp. Ltd successful.

Additionally, the team members are bi-lingual, and many have multi-national business experience and are availed a well treat of remunerations. Pixan Corp. intends to be both a technology leader and a desirable place to work. As such, the company offers above average packages to attract and retain some of the best employees in the market

Israel Katamba, Developer Circle Director

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technology review

Davis & Shirtliff’s new costeffective ultrafiltration plants Water is one of the major environmental issues of the 21st century. It is a natural resource that is already in short supply across many parts of the world, and will become even scarcer as population grows and climate changes.

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s the demand for water grows and with increasingly stringent drinking water regulations, water utilities and service providers are under pressure to up their game.

Water found in nature generally contains a variety of contaminants such as mineral salts, heavy metals, organic chemicals, radioactive residues, and living materials such as parasites, fungi, and bacteria. These materials enter water through natural processes such as contact with rocks, soil, decaying plant and other materials. Industrial and agricultural sources introduce chemical and pesticide residues into water. The primary contributors to microbiological contamination of water remains human and animal wastes.

A major challenge is to produce pure water free of these contaminants that is suitable for drinking and other applications.

Conventional water treatment systems require extensive areas for dams and settlement tanks and have high operating costs due to the large amounts of chemicals used.

Ultrafiltration technology presents a very effective solution to some of East Africa’s water treatment challenges. Ultrafiltration uses a membrane containing tiny holes to filter down to a diameter of 0.3 µm, which is much smaller than that used by sand filtration technology, and enables the removal of suspended matter, bacteria and most viruses.

The main advantage of this technology is that, unlike sand filtration, bacteria and viruses are removed. Ultrafiltration can provide water virtually free of pathogens and turbidity without the need for disinfecting chemicals such as chlorine, and as experience with it increases, the water industry

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globally is gradually gaining confidence in ultrafiltration.

Ultrafiltration systems have a smaller footprint than conventional technologies and no large civil construction is needed.

There is lower chemical use with ultrafiltration, for example, coagulant and pH adjustment, and maintenance is easier as ultrafiltration operation can be automated.

Davis & Shirtliff has partnered with DOW Water Technologies and other international partners to develop a unique range of ultrafiltration systems that are designed to treat surface water supplies producing high quality water suitable for a range of portable applications. For domestic applications, the Lineguard is an easy-to-install point of entry ultrafiltration system used to filter all water entering into a household. With filtration rates of up to 1000 litres per hour, the Lineguard ensures that all domestic water is free from physical and bacteriological contaminants.

For relief and military applications, the AquaSentry is a simple standalone and lightweight water filtration system. The AquaSentry does not require power and

works at low pressures. All operations are simple and manual and the system can be installed to operate as a single standalone unit or multiple units can be installed in parallel for higher volume requirements. For commercial and utility scale projects the Packaged DUF Ultrafiltration Plants built using high efficiency DOW membranes are the ideal solution. Plant operation is fully automated with remote monitoring capability built in.

Containerized or mobile versions are also available and can find application in relief and military applications. The plants have already become quite popular in the regional market with customers ranging from domestic, commercial, industrial, relief and the military operating D&S ultrafiltration plants in harsh environments with great success.

Though Ultrafiltration is an emerging technology in the region, there has been significant growth over the past few years.

With the launch of these products by Davis & Shirtliff, the water treatment sector in East Africa now has direct access to a cost-effective and viable water treatment technology

17 September - October 2018

Swimming pools

Making a great home swimming pool One of the best ideas to transform your backyard is investing in a swimming pool. A well-designed swimming pool will offer a wonderful environment to enjoy pleasant moments outdoors. Since a pool requires a sizeable investment of time and money, there are features that are important to consider for one contemplating building a wonderful home swimming pool.

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f planning to invest in a home pool, it pays to find a reputable swimming pool builder. A professional builder will analyze your outdoor and aesthetic requirements to design the right pool for your space and yard. A good team of professional pool builders should also be able to handle a variety of after-sale services required for your pool, including cleaning, water testing, maintenance, renovations and equipment replacements. Working with a team of reliable pool builders is very important to ensure that you get more bangs for your buck. This is also crucial because there are various service providers but not all of them offer the same quality of service.

The best way to find trustworthy pool builders is through referrals from friends, family, and colleagues; customer reviews, review of portfolio of projects handled, professional certification and licenses, range of additional pool maintenance services they offer and comparing quotations from a range of service providers.

tion and the most durable. Concrete is formed into various shapes and sizes to make a custom pool a possibility. Installing a strong concrete pool takes about 12 weeks.

By Joe Ssuuna

4. Vinyl pool: Another popular option of pool material is vinyl. Constructing this type of pool requires inserting a single piece of flexible liner into a prepared hole attached to an aluminum or steel frame wall. Vinyl pools come in limited sizes and shapes.

Installing this pool takes about one to three weeks.

Qualities of a good home pool 1. Right fit: It is very important to get a swimming pool that fits in your yard. Additionally, it should match the slope, soil type, and accessibility of equipment for the project. A yard with level ground is easier to build and install. With less hassle, the costs will be considerably lower. A well-done swimming pool shape and design should match your needs and fit easily in your desired location.

2. Type suitability: Building an in-ground swimming pool requires choosing the most appropriate material. Therefore, it pays to understand the options available, which include: 3. Concrete pool: A concrete pool is a popular op-

18 September - October 2018

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Swimming pools 5. Fiberglass pool: This is the most affordable type of material for an in-ground pool.

Installation requires a factory-molded shell placed in a special hole. There must be enough space in your yard for the crane to dig the hole. Fiberglass pools use fewer chemicals because of a durable and non-porous gel-coat finish. Installing this type of pool can take about three days.

Appropriate shape and design Installing a home pool is a big decision that requires taking all measures to avoid any mistakes. There are factors that can help one get an attractive and useful addition in one’s yard. Factors that determine pool shape and design include:

Yard space It is important to consider the size and shape of one’s yard when determining the right design for one’s pool. The dimensions of your available space will determine the

shape and design of your new home pool.

Project budget Budgeting is very important when determining the size and shape of your pool. A bigger pool will cost you a lot more than a smaller one. Additionally, the more complex the design of the pool, the more you will have to fork out. Other factors that determine the budget for a pool include size and utmost depth.

Pool users Who will be using your pool? Do you have kids? It is important to have a shallow area in the pool for the kids and amateur swimmers to splash about. A deeper end should be clearly marked for adults and professional swimmers. You can as well include a diving area for fun moments in the pool.

Landscape setting You have to think about how your pool will fit in the outdoor setting. A great pool design should complement the landscape layout. Perhaps the pool is the first outdoor feature in your yard that will be noticeable. Then, you have the flexibility to introduce features that complement the pool.

Additionally, it is important to get a pool that matches your home architectural design. This will ensure that your whole home concept matches perfectly. Presence of trees in your yard is another consideration to avoid dead leaves from regularly falling in your pool.

Other accouterments When planning your pool design, it should not eat up all the available space. It is important to leave space for a pool deck area, seating area, or a barbeque area. Appropriate allocation of space is key to ensure you have a place where to entertain guests around your pool.

Pool finishing touches To make your pool stand out, it is important to consider installing features such as

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decking, coping, and borders. The materials for these features vary from ceramic, stone, glass tile, and concrete. Your professional pool builder will help you make the right choice. The pool builder can suggest options such as waterfalls, fountains, and lights to enhance your pool design. Additionally, you should also consider accessories such as handrails, ladders, and steps to improve the usability of the pool.

Ideal location Just like any other aspect of building a dream home, it is important to choose an ideal location for your pool. A well-placed pool should consider factors including the following: 1. Safety: A safely placed pool should be about three meters away from any power line. Additionally, the safety of home occupants is also important especially with kids and pets around. Consider features such as pool cover, safety fence, lifesaving apparatus, and locks. This will reduce the chances of accidents.

2. Movement around the pool: Occupants of the house will be moving from the house to the pool and back. Therefore, the pool location should promote smooth movement. Additionally, place your pool from window view to enhance privacy.

3. Shade or sun: For a wonderful tan while swimming, the pool should be placed in a sunny spot. The best location for a pool is in an open area with good access to the sun.

A pool near trees offers a lovely cool shade but comes with extra pool maintenance to eliminate dead leaves from the water.

4. Let the fun begin: A home swimming pool is a wonderful addition to your home.

It comes with long hours of relaxation and exercise to keep you healthy at your convenience The author is the regional sales manager for HK, a Spanish swimming pool manufacturer based in Kampala.

19 September - October 2018

Comment

Should internet users hold “property rights” over their online data?

During the High Medieval Period, from the eleventh to the thirteenth century, serfs in France had no property rights. Instead, those with land had to hand over most of what they produced to the local seigneur (lord) who could confiscate their land upon their death (“mainmorte”). In return, they received services such as protection from conflict and access to a mill or village oven. They had little choice: opting out of the deal and, say, building their own mill would have been strictly forbidden. This dynamic arrangement – which continued until the French Revolution when peasants gained full property rights – looks a lot like consumers’ relationships with internet firms today.

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By Gaspard Koenig

20 September - October 2018

n this age of digital feudalism, we have little choice but to agree, with one click, to an impenetrably long and convoluted set of terms and conditions, which subjects us to constant monitoring by the platforms we use. The platforms collect our personal data and sell them to many more actors, including advertising companies that can then serve us targeted ads.

For internet firms, this is a highly lucrative practice: the value of users’ personal data is expected to reach 8 per cent of European GDP by 2020. In exchange, the firms offer “free services”, such as social media, to the digital serfs who produce the data.

This is not a “sharing economy”, but an optimized extractive economy – based on the near-infinite availability of raw material (our personal data) – that enriches a few companies at the expense of consumers.

And, like the economy of the High Medieval Period, it is ripe to be revolutionized through property rights.

Property rights have protected and empowered individuals for millennia, evolving as technology does.

For example, the printing revolution brought intellectual property rights and the Industrial Revolution popularized the patent system. What the digital revolution must bring is the right to personal data ownership, including the classic elements of property rights: usus (I use my data as I wish), abusus (I destroy my data as I wish, without any fancy and fructus (I sell my data for profit if I wish).

Personal data ownership would spur the emergence of a personal-data market, with some of the world’s 3.5 billion internet users claiming remuneration for sharing their data, according to the value they produce. Other users, prioritizing privacy over profit,

would pay a fair market price to benefit from a service anonymously. This is what the US tech executive Sheryl Sandberg was hinting at recently, when she suggested that a full-blown opt-out from data collection on Facebook would be a “paid product”.

The change would be profound, and the practical challenges could be overcome with existing technological solutions. For example, to support data management, users could each have a “smart account” that stores the information and the contractual conditions for its use. As for pricing, intermediaries would likely emerge to negotiate directly with the big

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Comment

Property rights have protected and empowered individuals for millennia, evolving as technology does.

For example, the printing revolution brought intellectual property rights and the Industrial Revolution popularized the patent system.

platforms on behalf of millions of users, leading over time to the creation of a proper marketplace.

Effective legal implementation of the right to personal data ownership will certainly take work. Yet personal data ownership remains a more rational and realistic solution than other approaches that have been put forward, such as the right to “informational self-determination” established by Germany’s constitutional court in 1983.

The potential benefits of giving individuals more control over their digital lives extend beyond economic fairness. Such a system could also crack open

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the much-maligned “filter bubbles” that have arisen as a result of social-media algorithms, which show users content that reinforces their existing biases and beliefs. In this sense, personal data ownership could help to ease the dangerous political polarization that now afflicts many countries.

Today, not a single legal system recognizes personal data ownership. But the idea is gaining ground all over the world.

Brittany Kaiser – an executive-turned-whistleblower at Cambridge Analytica, the political data firm that allegedly misused users’ data from Facebook and other platforms to influence political campaigns – now advocates that users treat their data as property, just like their houses. Owning a house does not make you a greedy real-estate speculator; it allows you to participate fully in what the philosopher John Rawls called a “property-owning democracy”. The same goes for data.

In France, the think tank I created, GenerationLibre, issued a 150-page report on personal data ownership, which prompted a fierce public debate. At the European level, the General Data Protection Regulation, which has just come into force, prepares the ground for property rights by guaranteeing the portability of personal data.

In the United States, the author and researcher E. Glen Weyl, together with legendary virtual reality pioneer Jaron Lanier and others, recently argued that data should be treated (and remunerated) as labour. (I would prefer to treat data as capital, as they originate from our self-owned personality, but this is essentially just semantics). And, on a practical level, a growing number of start-ups are developing data-monetization services.

In his bestselling book Homo Deus, the historian Yuval Noah Harari anticipates the advent of “data-ism”, whereby personal free will is sacrificed at the altar of the algorithm. But humans do not have to be at the mercy of data flows. By establishing personal data ownership, the very notion of individuality could be fortified, bolstering the liberal values that have made our civilization succeed Gaspard Koenig, 36, is a French philosopher and founder/ president of GenerationLibre.

Source: Project-Syndicate

21 September - October 2018

Academics

Uganda’s next Einstein The Next Einstein Forum (NEF) is an initiative of the South Africa-based African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) and Robert Bosch Siftung. The initiative seeks to promote science and innovation in Africa. It convenes “the Next Einstein” initiative every two years. The event is intended to bring together top young scientists and innovators from the continent to showcase their passions and innovations.

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r Justus Masa, a lecturer at Kyambogo University, is one of the 20 NEF fellows (2017-2019) drawn from all over the continent. During this year’s NEF, Dr Masa was awarded as one of the best young scientists and innovators in Africa – an Einstein amongst Einsteins. Here, we profile Dr Masa as a Uganda science luminary.

Justus Masa grew up in Buginyanya, located at an altitude of 2,044 meters on the highlands of Mt Elgon, in eastern Uganda. The challenges imposed on his early life by this geography naturally helped him to seek to improve livelihoods in his community and beyond.

Masa figured out rather early, with the strong influence of his parents, especially his mother, that only science, engineering and technology could offer the solutions to most of these challenges. He joined Makerere University with a state scholarship to study Physics, Mathematics and Chemistry. He came second in the National Mathematics contest in 2001, and 5th in 2002.

Afraid of being unemployed due to the under-appreciation of fundamental sciences, he majored in Industrial Chemistry. In 2003, he joined the Fish Oil sub-project in the framework of the Norwegian Programme for Development, Research and Education (NUFU) support to Makerere University. He received a prize for demonstrating the extraction of omega-3 rich oils, which have potential pharmaceutical applications.

In 2005, he won a scholarship from the Germany Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to support his Master in Science in Chemistry at Makerere University, followed by a Research Fellowship in 2006 at Ruhr-University Bochum,

22 September - October 2018

Masa is a coinventor of four patents, three of which won the prize for the best innovations at Ruhr-University Bochum. He has also been a lecturer at Kyambogo University since 2013.

in Germany. Following this, Masa earned a Doctorate, with a distinction (summa cum laude), in Natural Sciences from Ruhr-University Bochum in 2012.

After his doctorate, Masa became a visiting scholar in the Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory at the University of Oxford in 2013,

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Academics

Dr. Masa, one of the 17 NEF Fellow award winners of the 2018 Next Einstein Forum (NEF) Global Gathering in Kigali, Rwanda. Photo: Kyambogo University.

The international team from the Bochum Centre for Electrochemical Sciences. (L-R) Stefan Barwe, Dr Corina Andronescu, Prof Dr Wolfgang Schuhmann and Dr Justus Masa. Photo: Kyambogo University. Photo: RuhrUniversität Bochum.

where he worked on harmonizing mismatch between experimental and theoretical kinetic data of nanoparticle-modified electrodes in hydrodynamic voltammetry.

He returned to Ruhr-University Bochum as a Senior Research Scientist and group leader of the Electrocatalysis and Energy Conversion Group at the Center for Electrochemical Sciences (CES) in the Department of Analytical Chemistry.

Masa is a co-inventor of four patents, three of which won the prize for the best innovations at Ruhr-University Bochum. He has also been a lecturer at Kyambogo University since 2013.

His research aims to use electrochemistry to create green and sustainable energy systems for both portable and grid-scale energy conversion and storage, particularly, the reversible interconversion of water into hydrogen and oxygen in a solar-powered water electrolyzer, and the recombination of hydrogen and oxygen to water in a fuel cell thereby harnessing the energy of the reaction.

The ultimate goal is to couple harnessing intermittent energy systems with advanced electrochemical energy storage and conversion systems, to improve the overall efficiency of the energy tapped from renewable sources.

To this end, Masa leads several research projects in the field of electrocatalysis and energy conversion, focused on the development of advanced low-cost catalysts and electrode materials for electrochemical energy systems, including fuel cells, electrolyzers (power to gas energy conversion), rechargeable metal-air batteries and other modern battery systems.

He is also member of the International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE) and has published more than 70 peer-reviewed papers and two book chapters. In 2015, Masa was appointed Head of the Salt Cluster, Technical Working Group (TWG) on Mineral Value Additional, of the Presidential Investors Round Table (PIRT V), which is chaired by President Yoweri Museveni.

He is also a Fellow of the African Good Governance Network (AGGN), which comprises highly educated African academics who are dedicated to good governance principles.

At the Einstein Challenge, Dr Masa says he hopes to develop functional electrochemical energy storage and conversion systems coupled with renewable energy sources for mini-grid and off-grid applications, and to develop efficient systems to convert carbon dioxide right at its source of generation into hydrocarbon fuels and commodity chemicals Source: Next Einstein Forum

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23 September - October 2018

Urbanisation

Dealing with urbanisation challenges amid limited resources India’s innovative approach

Globally, the number of people migrating from rural to urban areas is increasing. In Uganda, the rate of urbanisation is estimated at 5.5 per cent annually. While urbanisation increases productivity and improves GDP per capita over the long term, it also causes significant pressure in urban centres in terms of living spaces, housing, road traffic, water & sanitation, electricity, jobs, among others. How can cities plan to accommodate the growing populations? There are several emerging initiatives especially from South East Asia. One such is India’s “Smart Cities Missions.” The initiative, a flagship programme of Narendra Modi, India’s current prime minister, offers a prototype for cities working to prepare for mass urbanisation with limited funds that might be a good case study for many fast urbanising but developing countries, like Uganda.

By Suveer Sinha

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overnment data estimates that India’s cities would need US$ 1.2 trillion in capital funding over the next 20 years to keep up with the demands of their growing populations.

But the country has nowhere near that amount to spend: India requires around US$ 134 per capita to support urbanisation capital expenditure (capex), but it actually spends around US$ 20 per capita.

This difference has caused several problems: only 30 percent of sewage is treated, 24 percent of the urban population lives in slums, public transit usage is declining, and almost half of all city drivers spend more than 12 hours a week stuck in their car, in traffic.

And India is not alone in these struggles. Cities in many emerging markets are also facing similar strains as people flock to work and live in urban centres.

At first, it may seem counterintuitive to suggest that these cities, struggling to keep up with even their citizens’ most basic needs, should begin building themselves into smart cities. This is where it becomes important to broaden the definition of smart cities and not restrict it to implementation of just technology solutions. The right effort to make a city smart will incorporate a focus on sustainability, resource productivity, economic development, and job creation, as well as getting basic core infrastructure right to enable decent quality of living.

24 September - October 2018

Human and motor traffic in New Delhi, one of the cities selected for the Smart Cities M

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Urbanisation

Under this concept, the government makes available some money for which various cities have to compete. Each city prepares a project proposal based on its needs and priorities. The proposals are evaluated, and grants awarded. The winning cities are given the money annually, over 5 years to implement the project activities they proposed.

The activities are implemented by a special purpose vehicle formed to implement the project (rather than local municipal authorities. Priorities cities choose from include development of affordable housing, integrated multi-modal transport, creation and preservation of open spaces, among others. While the programme’s capex expenditure will fall short of the US$ 1.2 trillion required to keep pace with urbanisation, it is an important start and offers several best practices for city leaders in emerging countries.

Several lessons for emerging markets around the world are to be found in India’s Smart Cities Mission.

Engage citizens early, often

Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India.

Under this concept, the government makes available some money for which various cities have to compete. Each city prepares a project proposal based on its needs and priorities.

The proposals are evaluated, and grants awarded.

With limited funds, it is critical that cities use their money to solve the challenges citizens are most concerned about. Thus, efforts must begin with a comprehensive citizen engagement initiative. Under India’s programme, every city identified one or two core pan-city issues it would like to solve. Different cities across India chose mobility, governance, water, energy, security, and solid waste management as their top themes.

For example, while Pune selected mobility and water as the main pan-city themes, Bhubaneshwar selected intelligent city operations. Most cities that came out on top of the competition engaged extensively with residents to identify their core concerns. By asking citizens for their input from the very beginning, the programme ensures citizen support later in the process – though this support also depends on maintaining two-way communication. City authorities must share updates on a regular basis while seeking input on progress, the quality of execution, and new ideas.

Use competition to improve quality of planning and to encourage innovative funding sources The Smart Cities Mission granted funding to cities based on respective project proposals submitted. The competition between cities resulted in high-quality submissions that identified specific objectives and resources and were aligned with citizens’ expressed priorities. While every city was given seed capital from the government, they were encouraged to come up with innovative sources of funding to bridge the gap between this seed capital and the money needed to fulfil their plans. These source ideas included land monetization, public-private partnerships, and other sources of revenue like developmental charges.

Mission.

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25 September - October 2018

Urbanisation

Think beyond technology While technology is a primary driver of India’s smart-city development efforts, the government also encourages cities to think about development more holistically. Each city came up with a plan to develop a relatively small area (approximately 1,000 acres) and improve its living standards by addressing core infrastructure challenges such as water access, solid waste management, and open space. For example, Kochi devised a plan to retrofit seven square kilometers of land, linked throughout by waterways. This plan included the creation of seamless multimodal transportation, the renovation and renewal of open spaces, and the inclusion of essential public services such as sanitation, water and waste management.

This approach had a threefold effect: citizens and city authorities imagined, for the first time, how a relatively small area could be developed and revitalized to achieve higher standards of liveability; funding sources were more accessible for planning these pockets of land, given their smaller size; and citizens were more compelled to pay for these developments via betterment levies once they witnessed the real benefits of these neighbourhoods.

Move rapidly on quick-win projects while keeping an eye on core issues

Identifying and rapidly executing quick-win projects is critical to building momentum and winning citizens’ confidence. In India, leading cities identified and implemented a set of quick-win projects such as rejuvenating urban spaces, redesigning streets, and deploying technologies including smart parking or integrated city applications.

These projects demonstrated short-term results and increased stakeholder buy-in. At the same time, these cities also prioritized larger, long-term strategic projects, such as ensuring 24/7 water supply, and began making progress on them with the knowledge that such projects would take longer to implement.

Building smart and affordable real estate

One example of this quick-win strategy played out in Pune city. Leaders set out on a quick-win

26 September - October 2018

Traffic jam in an Indian city.

place-making mission – creating public spaces that capitalize on existing assets to promote health, happiness, and well-being – to rejuvenate urban centres. The city redesigned streets to improve safety and walkability and brought multiple use cases to citizens through a smart element project that created and wove together six key components: ■■Wi-Fi hotspots across strategic locations such as parks, hospitals, and other public spaces ■■Environmental sensors to monitor critical parameters such as air quality and noise pollution ■■Public announcement systems to broadcast both general and emergency messages to improve communication and public awareness ■■An emergency response system to increase citizen safety ■■A variable message system that deployed elec-

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Urbanisation

A road under construction.

and the operating model. For example, Pune used revenue from the operation of electrical buses to fund the operation and maintenance gaps as their bus fleet expanded.

Ensure vendor participation through a partnership approach

tronic display boards, placed across the city, to broadcast messages, alerts, and city updates ■■A scalable command and control centre, which assimilated data from all of these elements to monitor and manage smart-city operations from a single hub.

Meanwhile, Pune kept an eye on long-term mobility by working to enhance bus infrastructure and kick-start its metro project.

Think holistically about funding Many cities came up with innovative ideas to fund the smart-city plan. For example, Bhubaneshwar established seven public-private partnership projects to raise US$ 42 million which covered almost half of its total smart-city plan cost of US$ 70 million. The Smart Cities Mission also encouraged cities to think beyond capital expenditure to operation and maintenance, both in terms of funding

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While technology is a primary driver of India’s smart-city development efforts, the government also encourages cities to came up with a plan to develop a relatively small area and improve its living standards by addressing core infrastructure challenges.

Many smart-city projects are relatively small, which does not attract large investors. And in India, some of these projects are being executed for the first time, which means the city must significantly rework the solution to apply locally. For example, implementing a sophisticated traffic management system in India or another emerging market is vastly different from doing so in a developed economy, as emerging markets tend to have a different transportation mix – for example, a large number of two-wheeled scooters and motorcycles. In such a situation, it is important to have a partnership mind-set to tailor and co-create the solutions with vendors so that these solutions are truly effective in the emerging-market context.

Citizens are not looking for one-off projects; they are looking for solutions that would fundamentally affect their lives. Following the above tactics in implementing a smart-city programme can help leaders in emerging markets develop and achieve these solutions. And ensuring everyone across the value chain, especially city authorities, is aligned and focused on the solution is perhaps the single most important point that will make a smart-city mission successful Suveer Sinha is a partner in McKinsey’s Mumbai office.

Source: Mckensey Global Institute

27 September - October 2018

Transport

Uganda Railways moves to regain lost glory Uganda Railways Corporation (URC) is a corporate body established by an Act of Parliament (URC Act 1992, Cap 331).

The mandate of the Corporation is to construct, operate and maintain railway, marine and road services both inside and outside of Uganda for carriage of passengers and goods from, to and in the country. The body corporate falls under the Ministry of Works and Transport docket.

The Standard Gauge Railway is a planned Railway system linking the country to neighboring countries of Kenya, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Southern Sudan.

28 September - October 2018

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he Corporation’s history can be traced to the beginning of the 1900s when the British government, the then colonial masters of Kenya and Uganda, desired to establish a railway linking the landlocked country of Uganda with the Indian Ocean coast.

The URC as a corporation was formed after the breakup of the East African Railways Cooperation (EARC) in 1971 (47 years ago), when it took over the Ugandan part of the East African Railways.

The URC’s system is rooted in the British colonial 1,000millimetres (3ft 3 3/8in) meter gauge and was transformed after World War 1 in the EARC. Its operation after the demise of the EARC

had been hampered by civil war and inefficient management in Uganda.

Stephen Wakasenza, the URC chief commercial officer, says in 2006, the government of Uganda concessioned the marketing and operating rights to Rift Valley Railways for a 25 year period. The overall objective of concessioning of the freight railways haulage was to improve the operating efficiency, quality of service and consequently, to capture a higher share of the freight market upon the introduction of private capital and expertise.

Rift valleys Railways, an Egyptian investment firm from Qalaa Holidays in a consortium that was established to manage the parastatal railways of Uganda and Kenya. The consortium won the bid for private management of the Century old Uganda Railways in 2005. Before then, the Kenya-Uganda Railway had been run by Uganda Railways Corporation and Kenya Railways Corporation.

Based on URC’s mandate to monitor and evaluate compliance of the concessionaire and their obligations, Rift Valley Railways Uganda (RVRU’s) performance over the 11 years was poor. Over the period, RVRU defaulted on key concession-

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Transport

aire obligations, namely, payment of concession fees, maintenance of conceded assets resulting into declining rail freight volumes, poor safety and increasing incidents, customer shift to road transport, reliability challenges and poor reporting. In January 2018, URC finally took possession of the concession assets and resumed operating the meter gauge railway station in Uganda.

The two routes leading to the sea are the Northern and Central Corridors. The Central Corridor also known as the southern route links Dares-Salaam – Mwanza-Port Bell and Kampala was never used at all by RVRU under the Roll in Roll off facility. By the time of the cancellation of the Uganda Concession Agreement the only operational route- during the tenure of the agreement was the Northern Corridor, Mombasa-Nairobi- Kampala.

The Standard Gauge Railway is a planned Railway system linking the country to neighboring countries of Kenya, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Southern Sudan. The difference between the SGR and the Meter Gauge Railway (MGR) is attributed to the difference in the rails. The SGR is 1.43metres while the MGR is 1metre. The SGR is either diesel or electric powered, for example in Kenya, the SGR is diesel powered, whereas Uganda plans to power hers, electrically.

The rationale of SGR and the MGR is that the former carries less goods while the latter carries more goods contrary to public perception.

In reclaiming its lost glory, the Corporation has embarked on improving transportation of cargo on both corridors. The transit time is 7-10 days to transport cargo on the Northern corridor/Mombasa- Nairobi- Kampala and 4-5 days along the Central corridor.

Transportation rates have been revised and made competitive to attract customers. The terminals - Kampala Railways Goods shed and Mukono Internal container Depot have been improved in terms of security, storage facilities, renovation, insurance is provided for goods in transit and in storage. Collaboration among major stakeholders like URA has been taken advantage of under the Single Customs territory noting increased speed in tax clearance.

In a bid to expand the operational railway network, the Corporation with support from the

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Eng. Monica Azuba Ntege, Minister of Works and Transport.

Eng. Charles Kateeba, Managing Director, Uganda Railways.

In a bid to expand the operational railway network, the Corporation with support from the European Union, is embarking on rehabilitation of the Tororo-Gulu line.

European Union, is embarking on rehabilitation of the Tororo-Gulu line. In conjunction with Trade Mark East Africa, the Corporation has embarked on developing a Logistics Hub at the Gulu station and also to repair the Jinja pier line to connect the linkage between the wagon ferries and the railway lines.

In relation to the provision of passenger services, URC now operates the service between Namanve and Kampala with a current ridership of approximately 40,000 per month. URC plans to expand the service across Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area from one to three routes i.e. Mukono- Kampala, Kampala-Port Bell and Kampala –Nalukolongo- Kyengera-Bujjuko targeting an annual ridership of 2.5million people.

Challenges still abound, notes Wakasenza. “Given that URC has just gotten back into operations, there is an immediate need to build the institutional capacity from infrastructure to rolling stock to human resource across the board.”

He said the major challenges include among others, procurement of the requisite repair and maintenance spares and material items which is painstakingly slow which has adversely affected maintenance and repair efforts notably of the permanent way, locomotives, wagons, and coaches, electrical installations and workshops, machinery and plants. As a fallback position, URC is retrieving track materials held by police as exhibits for immediate use and cannibalization of some of the locomotives and wagons. However, URC is in the process of ordering the necessary spares for both civil and mechanical rehabilitation.

Secondly, there is an apparent knowledge and skills gap amongst technicians in the repair and maintenance of diesel electric locomotives. This was majorly because during the concession era, most of the Nalukolongo workshop, earlier trained and experienced technicians were randomly retired which resulted into a technical knowledge and skills gap in the repair and maintenance of the Diesel Electric Locomotives.

Lastly, rampant vandalism of railway track materials and encroachment on railway reserve land present a significant challenge to day to day operations .URC has re- engaged the railway police to curb vandalism

29 September - October 2018

Industrialisation

Is South Korea’s industrialisation magic still relevant for Africa?

Despite a decade’s worth of headline-grabbing economic growth, Africa’s experience with industrialization remains disappointing. Sixty-two percent of the continent’s total export products are still in primary form – signalling the limited role of manufacturing in driving development. Sub-Saharan Africa’s average share of manufacturing value added to GDP, at around 10 percent, is unchanged from the 1970s.

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popular prescription is that Africa should follow the path set by East Asian countries like Japan and South Korea, which used industrialization to lift themselves permanently out of poverty and onto the track of economic transformation.

But in today’s economic climate, is the East Asian miracle still relevant for Africa?

By Pierre Guislain

30 September - October 2018

Korea’s economic miracle Let’s look at Korea. Its gross domestic product per capita grew from a modest US$ 900 in 1960 to over US$ 25,000 in 2016. The country has also seen an incredible rise in heavy industries such as tech giant Samsung, car maker Hyundai and steel manufacturer POSCO (now among the world’s top five in terms of steel output).

Key to Korea’s success were flexible and adaptable industrial and trade policies, backed by strong political leadership and economic discipline. Through these policies, the state participated directly and indirectly in basic economic activities and coordinated private sector activities.

Helicopter assembling line in South Korea.

Essentials of African development: what experience from Korea?

Times have changed. Today, globalisation has opened the world market to intense competition, making trade restrictions and protectionist policies difficult to justify or sustain. Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame is of the view that Africa has missed its ‘Asian moment’ because the con-

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Industrialisation

Above: A street in South Korea.

A Hyundai car assembling plant.

tinent ‘waited too long to act’. But perhaps what Africa really needs is an ‘Africa moment’ – and that moment is now.

A first step will be to ensure effective implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area adopted in Kigali in March 2018: 44 African states have signed, 10 still have to do so (among them Nigeria and South Africa), and all will need to ratify this agreement before it can be imple-

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Key to Korea’s success were flexible and adaptable industrial and trade policies, backed by strong political leadership and economic discipline.

mented. The opportunity is real and critical for the success of any large scale industrialization drive. Indeed, in today’s hyper connected and competitive global economy, investing in one of Africa’s 54 mostly small and poor national markets is simply not attractive. Effective regional integration and the removal of the multiple legal and behavioural stumbling blocks that hold back intra-African trade will be key to the successful implementation of most countries’ industrial policy.

The collapse of industries in many African countries is partly attributed to a toxic combination of trade and industrial policies that promoted import-substitution with little focus on export expansion. Korea’s outward orientation did not mean complete liberalization of trade, but rather a cautious and gradual trade liberalization policy. African countries must set clear targets for increased intra-African trade and exposure to global competition. The efforts must focus on the continent’s competitive advantages, particularly in value chains linked to agriculture and mining and in fast-growing domestic markets.

Opportunities abound for greater local value addition in agricultural value chains. Agriculture’s share in employment was about 55 per cent in 2010-2012, in contrast with its contribution to GDP of only 15 percent. There is a window of opportunity for Africa to drive agro-industries, with the potential of reducing the continent’s food import bill, which is expected to increase from US$ 39 billion in 2016 to over US$ 110 billion by 2025. Blue Skies, an agricultural processing company based in Ghana, makes a strong case here. With only about 35 workers in 1999, the Ghana-based company is one of the largest suppliers of cut fresh fruit to European markets, employing over 3,000 people, the majority being women. These potentials exist, but need to be scaled up.

Successful industrial policies require strong economic governance and governments that are able to initiate policies that are time-bound, performance-driven and iterative in nature. Political leadership is also needed to commit to investing in infrastructure and education, which are preconditions for industrialization. Korea devoted

31 September - October 2018

Regulation

Siwertell Hyundai Heavy Industries ship unloader.

itself to building the physical and human capital infrastructure that served as the basis for subsequent industrial development.

Indeed, Africa cannot industrialize without power, road, rail and information and communication networks. Infrastructure is needed to reduce production costs for downstream industries. Equally important is political leadership that can mediate the government–firm relationship to reduce the temptation of rent-seeking, which drains public finances and dampens entrepreneurship.

The experience of Korea shows that there is no quick-fix, magic formula for industrializing.

But it also shows that it is possible for any economy to turn its fortunes around with a dedicated and disciplined government, good industrial policy, effective public-private dialogue and real commitment to infrastructure investment.

The real value and relevance of the Korean development experience for Africa should be sought in the methodology of policy formulation and the development of supportive ecosystems, rather than in specific policy measures.

African countries need to claim their seat at the table of global economic production and

32 September - October 2018

An industrial Laboratory in Seoul.

pursue policies that will harness their vast natural resources to spur local value addition in the production of goods and services. This, in turn, will require more collaboration and integration between African countries at regional and continental level as well as more effective dialogue and partnership between governments and the private sector Pierre Guislain is the Vice-President, Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization at the African Development Bank.

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Mineral processing

AGR boosts gold exports

By Nelson Muhoozi

Gold is now Uganda’s second leading export commodity, after coffee. The value of gold exports rose to US$204 million in the 2015/16 financial year, up from US$250,000 in 2013/14, according to figures from the Ministry of Finance, Planning & Economic Development.

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his phenomenal growth on gold exports has been attributed to the establishment of Uganda’s first gold refinery- Africa Gold Refinery (AGR) that was launched last year. The refinery has gone a long way to add value to the metal, against previous exports that were majorly raw gold.

Elly Karuhanga, the chairperson Uganda Chamber of Mines, Oil & Gas told The Infrastructure Magazine that the country ‘‘...must have better value addition for all minerals because that’s the government policy now.”

The AGR a facility, located in Entebbe, located 45 kilometers southwest of Kampala is a US$ 20 million investment. With the AGR operationalization, gold exports are making a positive shift that is bound to reverberate into the wider mineral sector in the country.

Speaking at the launch of the refinery last year, President Museveni emphasized value addition to minerals as the sector’s focus. He said for a long time the country has lost value from exporting raw minerals. He urged government officials to get rid of wrong policies such as taxes on prospective investors if the mineral sector industry is to attain substantial growth.

The refinery has a capacity to refine raw gold to 99.9% pure gold. The facility employs over 70 people and has capacity to refine at least of 300kg of gold in a week with ability to increase it to 500kg.

Recent government surveys showed that Uganda is endowed with several minerals including, uranium, rare earths, iron, titanium, vermiculite and diamond in various locations around the country.

However, there remain challenges to be tackled if Uganda is to benefit from the potential of her mineral wealth. Weaknesses in

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President Yoweri Museveni tours Africa Gold Refinery.

policy, lack of a stringent health and safety framework, among others need to be addressed.

According to Mark Jombwe, the chairman of the artisanal gold miners in Mubende district, there are still many uncertainties in the area of obtaining licenses to legalize their operations. “As artisanal miners, all we

care about is licenses to operate legally and because of fears because we are not legally operating, we cannot invest much in our operations as we are not sure of what lies ahead,” he said. ‘‘The news of a gold refinery does not exactly excite us unless this cloud hovering over the sector is cleared,’’ he said

33 September - October 2018

Company Profile

Samka Construction Co. Ltd: A reliable, experienced constructor Any property developer embarking on a multi-million shilling construction project, whether for a residence, office, commercial or whatever use, is always confronted by the nightmare of achieving a property with the right standard, quality, durability and safety that one envisages. This is because in a purely profit driven kind of business environment like in Uganda, quality, ethics and standards have been relegated to second place.

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herefore getting a constructor that delivers to required standards, with the highest quality possible and with good social and environmental considerations, is a difficult feat.

Nevertheless, that does not mean that in Uganda there are no companies that deliver to required standards. There is, indeed, a number of upcoming quality-conscious and dedicated companies that strive to meet the aspirations and needs of property developers. One such company is Samka Construction Co. Ltd. Established in 1998 and incorporated in February 2000, the company was right from inception conceived as a quality conscious and standards observant, reliable and formidable company. It is for this unique quality that just 20 years into its existence, Samka Construction Co. Ltd has executed various projects for the central and local governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and private individuals/businesses.

Services This exposure accumulated over the last two decades, has made Samka Construction

34 September - October 2018

Co. Ltd a highly experienced firm in the field of building construction, civil works, water supply systems construction, electric power systems installation and offering general engineering services.

According to Eng. Sam Kajojo Arineitwe, the company’s managing director, the company has especially developed expertise in civil works where it undertakes contracts in construction of buildings, bridges, design and construction of roads as well as supervision of construction works.

In water and sanitation engineering area, Samka Construction Co. Ltd offers services in construction of valley and hydro dams, construction of water supply systems, surveying, designing and documentation of water supply systems.

In electrical works, Samka Construction Co. Ltd offers services in electric power system installation including high and low voltage (33KVA and 11KVA).

In other general works, Arineitwe said, they offer services in architectural drawings, construction supervision, services, projects costing and evaluation, general hardware supplies and transport services.

NANA hostel block at Wandegeya in Kampala.

Human resources A team of well–qualified and highly experienced engineers, surveyors, architects, technicians and managers are on the staff of the company. Samka Construction Co. Ltd aims at providing quality, demand-driven and efficient services to their clients, which is only possible with a well-trained and motivated workforce. The company’s technical team comprises of engineers, surveyors, ranging from diploma holders to masters holders in civil, building, environmental engineering. An equally experienced line-up of business/finance and social science professionals supports the engineering team.

Other professionals are called upon to support various elements of the company’s operations from time to time and as demand requires. This makes the companies human resources pool elastic and as big as the project at hand.

Social, Health, Safety and Environmental consciousness

According to Eng. Kajojo, Samka Construction Co. Ltd is committed to high stan-

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Company Profile

Karobwa Towers along Nkrumah Road in Kampala.

dards of health, safety and environment (HSE) in its work. This the company does by seeking to minimize injuries to workers and observing health standards and conservation of the environment.

“This is a very important indicator of development as a healthy body, health mind equals greater output and stable income, “Kajojo said.

He told The Infrastructure Magazine that

Samka equipment

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the company’s main safety value is to conduct all operations in a manner that ensures safety and operational health of employees, sub-contractors and other stakeholders. The company also looks out to minimize impact on the environment, and as much as possible maintain environmental integrity.

Samka Construction Co. Ltd aims at ensuring proper waste management through; minimizing waste production, reuse, recycling and proper disposal of the un-avoidable waste that may be produced. All waste produced is disposed of as per approved environmental protection procedure and standards. An arrangement of separating the waste bins for easy handling and disposal is always put in place at every site to categorise the waste; recyclable, dwindling and

un-dwindling waste.

The company has a quality, health, safety and environmental (HQSE) plan that is implemented by a QHSE officer/supervisor on site alongside the contracts manager and the projects engineer in such a manner as to comply with local and international standards. This includes; policy adherence through audits and training, recruiting competent human resources, risk assessments of all site activities to identify any related hazards, appropriate PPE required for different scopes; ensuring that employees wear appropriate protective gear in relation to their areas of specialisation.

The company strictly adheres to safe work procedures for example earthmoving equipment comply with the company’s Safety Manual Guidelines for Mobile Equipment (extracted from international manual for safety of earth moving Equipment). The company also maintains a high risk machinery, tools and equipment maintenance plan.

All equipment must be checked and certified by the workshop engineer before being used on site. All mobile and lifting equipment are ascertained to comply with Lifting Operations and ensuring that all machinery, tools and equipment are used and maintained in a good condition. The company has an HIV/ AIDS policy to support the preventive, infected and affected Individuals. The company also has a drug and alcohol policy that guides in prevention and management of staff with drug and alcohol related problems.

35 September - October 2018

Company Profile

Quality management plan The purpose of the Quality Management Plan is to detail how the quality processes by Samka Construction Co. Ltd is implemented to ensure that the project outputs are delivered as specified by client or clients representative. Quality is achieved by ensuring that all project management processes are conducted in a quality manner (quality assurance) and by developing quality criteria for the outputs.

There are staffing procedures for self-inspecting the quality, schedule, responsiveness, customer satisfaction, and other performance requirements. The project manager, engineer and all other workers have the authority to intervene directly to stop work due to any unsafe work practices or site conditions. The site administration staff monitor performance, give reports for the evaluation of performance objectives targets and achievements, which help in making required changes in processes and practices to ensure effectiveness.

CNOOC engineers inspect works contracted to Samka.

and associated low voltage lines in the districts of Kanungu, Kabale, Kisoro,

Anti-corruption policy Samka Construction Co. Ltd seeks to observe high standards against fraud, corruption, bribery.

Project portfolio Samka Construction Co. Ltd. has been involved in various projects as a sole contractor or in partnership with other companies (in particular Concorp International Ltd). A combination of these has enabled the company to execute multi-billion projects in building construction, water supply systems, roads, electric power installation systems and civil works. Below are a few selected projects: ■■ Modification and renovation of Christeve House on Nkrumah road in Kampala worth Shs 6.4 billion. The works included block walling concrete, terrazzo floor finishes, tiling, plumbing, painting, cladding and other associated works.

■■ Construction of 33KV high voltage

36 September - October 2018

Samka hardware shop.

Ntungamo and Rukungiri (provision of labour only) - under China Jiangxi International (U) Ltd. The works were worth about Shs 250.7million. The works involved exaction for poles, erection of poles, stringing of power lines, installation of transformers, etc.

■■ CNOOC: Construction of resettlement houses for persons affected by the access road project to Kingfisher oil fields by CNOOC. The project was US$ 189,969 ■■ CNOOC: Construction of concrete paved road in Bungoma drilling camp at kingfisher oilfields. This involved earth works, base stabilisation, formworks, mixing, placing and compaction and finishing with a power float. These works were worth US$ 457,762 ■■ Ministry of Water & Environment-

construction of Kagango dam in Isingiro district; included construction of 210,000cubic earth water reservoir with 3km of 160mm uPVC gravity water supply, tanks and troughs. The works were Shs 1.3 billion.

■■ Kaki investments: Construction of NANA hostel in Makerere at US$ 2 million ■■ Islamic Univertity in Uganda: Construction of King Fahad Plaza on Kampala road, a project worth Shs 7 billion (in 2007) ■■ Uganda Industrial Research Instituterenovations, alterations in offices and plant- Shs 645 million ■■ Uganda Management Institute - demolition, modification, painting and fixuresShs 422 million ■■ Ministry of Health - Renovation of Mulago Hospital (under Dragados/Corncorp)-Shs 720 million ■■ Kampala International university modification of former Summer Hotel building –Shs 600 million ■■ Different works with different local governments: Bushenyi district (construction of Kabwohe Health centre IV), Rukungiri district (Katabushera, Kasheny and Kinioga water gravity flow scheme (Shs 62 million); Nyabushenyi gravity water scheme-Shs 297 million; Rwamarengye gravity schemeShs 95.6 million; periodic maintenance of roads-Rukungiri-Kinyasano roads - Shs 856 million. Others are: Soroti district- rehabilitation of Atiriri-Tubur road- Shs 92 million; Mbale district - Buwambwala and Bushiika gravity water schemes-Shs 36 million; Kaliro district-rehabilitation of Kaliro-Namwiwa-Gadumire-Bulumba road - Shs 450 million; Hoima Town council roads- Shs 43.5 million, Kabale district- construction of rainwater catchments - Shs 38.4 million, among many other works

Equipment Samka Construction Co. Ltd has over the year acquired critical equipment to deliver its projects. These include compactors, concrete mixers, tipping trucks, wheel loaders, excavators, water bowsers, bulldozers, graders, among others

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