West Nile's Economic Future Brighter with New Power Link

In a landmark event for Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni officially commissioned the 132KV Kole-Gulu-Nebbi-Arua transmission line, connecting the West Nile sub-region to the national electricity grid. This significant development is expected to greatly enhance the socio-economic landscape of the region, which has long struggled with unreliable power supply.

Speaking at the commissioning, President Museveni underscored the critical role of industrial parks in leveraging the new power infrastructure to drive economic growth and development in West Nile. The region, previously reliant on the erratic grid operated by the West Nile Rural Electrification Company Limited, now stands to benefit from a stable and efficient electricity supply.

“The arguments pushed by people claiming we had forgotten West Nile were wrong. They were not serious; they were disruptive. When the NRM came into government, the only installed power in Uganda was Owen Falls Dam with a generation capacity of 150 Megawatts, with only four turbines (15 Megawatts each) working out of 10,” President Museveni said during the commissioning.  

“The total Megawatts in Uganda were 60 Megawatts. These disruptive voices fail to acknowledge our journey where we boosted capacity to 180MW and initiated an energy fund for future growth,” He added. 

The new transmission line marks a major step forward for the West Nile sub-region, home to a population of 3,899,084, making it the third largest population center in Uganda after Buganda and Busoga. According to recent data from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), collected in May 2024, the region's population and its strategic location underscore the importance of this infrastructure upgrade.

West Nile is bordered by the Democratic Republic of Congo to the west, the Acholi sub-region to the east, the Republic of South Sudan to the north, and the Buliisa district to the south. The region comprises eleven district local governments: Pakwach, Nebbi, Zombo, Madi Okollo, Arua, Koboko, Maracha, Yumbe, Moyo, Obongi, and Adjumani.

The commissioning event on Saturday, August 3, 2024, will be remembered as a historic milestone for both the people of West Nile and the Government of Uganda. The long-anticipated connection to the national grid, facilitated by the Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL), has finally been realized.

The Kole-Gulu-Nebbi-Arua 132kV Transmission Line Project, financed by the World Bank and the Government of Uganda, aims to reinforce the electricity supply to the West Nile region and integrate it into the national grid.

The project's objective is to increase the availability and efficiency of bulk electricity supply in the area, which will also support the evacuation of electricity from the Karuma, Agago/Achwa, and Nyagak I and III power projects to meet the region's growing demand.

This development promises to transform the West Nile sub-region, fostering economic growth, improving living standards, and providing new opportunities for its nearly 4 million residents.