About
The Uganda Chamber of Energy and Minerals (UCEM) is a not-for-profit, member-based voluntary organisation that represents the interests of private sector players in Uganda's extractive sectors — mining, petroleum, and renewable energy — through collaboration with government, advocacy, research, and capacity building. UCEM serves as the principal interface between Uganda's extractive industry and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, the Petroleum Authority of Uganda, and the Directorate of Geological Survey and Mines (DGSM). Uganda's mineral wealth includes gold, copper, tin, tungsten, iron ore, cobalt, phosphates, rare earth elements, graphite, and uranium. In recent years, the government prioritised five strategic mineral categories under the National Development Plan III (2020-2025): iron ore, gold, copper, phosphates, and development minerals. Uganda also enacted the Mining and Minerals Act 2022 — the first major legislative update in over two decades — which introduced stricter frameworks for licensing, value addition, and state equity. The UCEM's CEO is Humphrey Asiimwe. Key issues the Chamber advocates for include: attracting FDI into mineral development; Uganda's national ban on unrefined mineral exports (to drive value addition and local processing); policy support for critical minerals including the Makuutu REE project (Ionic Rare Earths) and the Albertine Rift oil and gas development (TotalEnergies Tilenga and CNOOC Kingfisher fields); and development of a local mining services and supply sector. Total extractive sector investment in Uganda reached USD$7.5 billion by end of 2023.
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