Uganda stands at a pivotal moment. Endowed with some of the most abundant and diverse renewable energy resources on the African continent, a youthful population and large deposits of strategic minerals that are central to the global energy transition, the country has the ingredients for a genuinely transformative green industrial future. Yet these opportunities are constrained by a persistent financing gap, fragmented governance, inadequate transmission infrastructure and a profound tension at the heart of government policy: the simultaneous pursuit of oil extraction that will be transported via the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) and a credible low-carbon energy transition.

The country's electricity grid is already overwhelmingly renewable, drawing nearly all of its power from hydro, solar and other low-emissions sources. Yet barely half the population has access to electricity, with rural access rates remaining below 45 per cent. Over 90 per cent of Ugandans rely on biomass for cooking, with devastating consequences for forest cover and public health, with disproportionate impacts on women and children. The gap between Uganda's renewable endowments and the lived reality of its citizens represents both a challenge to justice and equity, as well as an economic imperative.