KAMPALA (Reuters) – Energy firm Umeme Limited said on Thursday the Ugandan government had formally informed the company, which has monopoly rights to distribute electricity in the country, it would not renew its licence when it expires in March 2025.
The non-renewal of the licence effectively means Umeme will cease operating unless it branches out into other commercial activity.
“The current concession will continue to run until its natural end in March 2025… after which, there will be no renewal,” company spokesman Peter Kaujju wrote on Twitter.
Umeme secured a 20-year concession to manage the power distribution in Uganda as a monopoly in 2005. It is listed on both the Uganda and Kenya stock exchanges.
It was brought on board as part of the government’s agenda to inject private investment into the sector which they said was needed to expand the national grid’s reach and boost efficiency.
But over the years officials have complained the firm has been slow at expanding the number of new power connections and lowering the cost of power to consumers.
President Yoweri Museveni’s government has signalled it intends to take over the power distribution business itself, a move it says will lower consumer tariffs.
(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; editing by Hereward Holland and Jason Neely)
