President Yoweri Museveni officially opened the $250 million Wagagai Gold Mining Project in Busia, expected to boost Uganda’s economy through increased mining, refining, and local gold production capacity.
The mine, based in Uganda’s eastern Busia District, is owned by Wagagai Mining, a Chinese company that has emerged as a major force in the country’s rapidly growing mineral extraction sector.
The facility can process 5,000 tons of ore daily and refine gold to 99.9% purity, producing 1.2 metric tons yearly—far higher than Uganda’s 2023 output of only 0.0042 tons.
President Yoweri Museveni stressed that “we must have full value addition for all minerals like gold, lithium, tin,” adding that this step is essential “in order to wake up in the minerals sector.”
He called the Wagagai project “the beginning of a new chapter in our wealth creation,” declaring that “for too long, we have exported raw materials and imported poverty,” but now the country will “process, add value, and create jobs here at home.”
