An Analysis of The Benefits of Foreign Capital in Project Financing of Uganda’s Oil and Gas Sector

Abstract

This study set out as an investigation into the conceptualization, application and harvesting of benefits of project financing in Uganda’s oil and gas sector. It is prompted by the dearth of information on big project financing in the country and it is further catapulted by the need to trace the linings of the intricate lay-outs of international project financing and its domestication in Uganda. It looks at the major players in project financing, sources of project financing, major challenges and mitigation, advantages of project financing and ways of sustaining project financing in Uganda’s oil and gas industry.

The study looked at the deep meaning of project financing and the justification for its existence. To achieve this, it explores the legal and conceptual framework relating to project financing while using Uganda’s jurisdictional territory both as a yard stick and a springboard. A yard-stick because these projects must measure up to the legal requirements of countries in which they are rolled out. A springboard because it is only from the laid-out municipal legal and conceptual regime that a meaningful and relevant conversation is sustained and a customized discourse is attained.

It is therefore of no surprise that in pursuit of the deeper understanding of variables that influence the optimization, or lack of it, of the benefits of project financing in Uganda this research qualitatively delves into statutes, rules, regulations, standards and existing literature to mention but a few. It projected out an inquisitive topic which manifests a clear research problem and as well as generates objectives and questions which questions themselves are juxtaposed against the justifications. It is a flowing process which is occasionally, and for good measure, punctuated with the review of the existing status quo.

Finally, this effort aimed at providing answers to the stated research questions while at the same time contributing towards the body of knowledge on optimizing the benefits of project financing in Uganda. All these is done on the backdrop of presenting the final product as an effort needed to fulfill an academic requirement for the award of a master of laws degree –this does not mean watering down the other usefulness of the research effort but rather strengthening and augmenting its quality and purpose.