By Ritah Kemigisa.
The ministry of Finance has today received a 12.5M Dollar grant from the Norwegian government to strengthen the management of the Oil and Gas sector through the Oil for Development Programme which is in the third phase.
Signing the financing agreement, the Norwegian Ambassador to Uganda Susan Eckey said as Uganda transitions from exploration to development and production institutional strengthening is important if they are to overcome many challenges.
He however said the support given today will help in building capacities of authorities in the petroleum sector so that they can be transparent for the the public to hold them accountable.
The finance minister Matia Kasaija said the grant comes at a critical time as activities in the oil sector are to gain momentum.
He said the support will be used to put in place necessary legal and institution frameworks to manage the sector before first oil.
The Agreement signed today marks a continuation of the cooperation between Uganda and Norway for 5 years, until the end of 2022.