Uganda to turn waste into electricity
Uganda is set to turn its garbage into electricity through a new partnership with UAE-based Beeah Group.
The plan which was proposed by Khaled Al Huraimel, the company’s CEO has been approved by President Yoweri Museveni.
The project will use waste to produce affordable electricity while creating jobs for many in the country. It will be built as a public-private partnership, with Beeah Group bringing its 15 years of experience in waste management across countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Speaking during a meeting with President Museveni at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, Mr. Khaled promised to deliver electricity at a price below 8 cents per unit, which Museveni called significant for Uganda’s development.
The plan comes after a deadly incident at Kampala’s Kiteezi dumpsite in 2024, where a collapsing landfill killed several people.
The tragedy highlighted the city’s poor waste management system, which struggles to handle the 2,500 tonnes of garbage generated daily.
Currently, only half of Kampala’s waste is collected, with the rest clogging drains and worsening sanitation issues. The waste that is collected goes to overcrowded landfills, which are neither safe nor sustainable.
Uganda hopes to follow in the footsteps of Addis Ababa, where a waste-to-energy plant burns 2,000 tonnes of garbage daily to generate electricity.
President Museveni described waste mismanagement as a “disease” that needs urgent attention and praised the waste-to-energy project as the solution.
The meeting was attended by senior Ugandan officials, including the Attorney General, finance and foreign affairs officials, and ambassadors to the UAE.
This project marks a significant step towards solving Uganda’s waste crisis while boosting electricity supply for its growing economy.
