Uganda has officially commissioned its first industrial-scale gold mine, marking a major milestone in the country’s mining industry.
The Wagagai Gold Mining Project, operated by the Chinese-owned Wagagai Mining (U) Ltd, is located in eastern Uganda’s Busia district. Built at a cost of $250 million, the mine spans more than 9 square kilometers and includes a modern processing and refining plant capable of producing gold with 99.9% purity.
The facility can handle 5,000 tonnes of ore daily and is expected to produce about 1.2 tonnes of refined gold annually. This is a dramatic increase compared to Uganda’s total domestic gold output in 2023, which stood at just 0.0042 tonnes.
During the launch, President Yoweri Museveni emphasized the importance of value addition in the mineral sector, noting that resources such as gold, lithium, and tin should be refined locally instead of being exported in raw form. He said the revenues from mineral exports would help finance key national infrastructure projects, including new power plants and the ongoing $3.1 billion standard gauge railway.
Gold has already become Uganda’s leading export earner. In 2023, the country generated $3.4 billion from gold exports—mostly from re-exported imports—accounting for nearly 37% of total export revenue. By comparison, Ghana, Africa’s top gold exporter, earned $11.6 billion in the same year.
Uganda’s mining sector is also undergoing significant legal and institutional changes. A new law passed in 2022 grants the government a 15% free stake in all mining ventures. Additionally, in October 2024, Uganda launched a state-owned mining company to oversee these equity interests and ensure national participation in the sector’s growth.
The opening of the Wagagai project signals a turning point for Uganda, transforming it from a minor producer into a country with growing influence in Africa’s gold industry.
