UCMP Wants Export Duties On Unprocessed Minerals Scrapped Off, Export Ban Lifted

In a meeting with the parliamentary committee on environment & natural resources to discuss core issues & concerns in the Mining & Minerals Bill 2021, Uganda Chamber of Mines and Petroleum (UCMP) recommended that export duties on unprocessed minerals be scrapped off and the export ban on all mined products be lifted.

"Export duties are a crude tool to achieve value addition objectives when applied to licensed upstream mines because they will result in less upstream mining," Sir. Richard Kaijuka, Chairman, Board of Trustees, UCMP told the parliamentary committee.

"If export duties are used, they should be restricted to mid-stream activities where the main objective is to raise revenues on minerals that were produced w/o paying royalties e.g. Artisanal gold," he explained further.

Adding: "A mining law that requires a mining company to do midstream value addition fails to understand that most mining companies do not have the expertise, capital, and scale to do mid-stream processing,"  

Jervois Global Country Head, Dr. Jennifer Hinton. "Uganda is an unknown jurisdiction to most investors which is viewed as high risk but what investors are looking for among others; security of tenure, stability- considering 6-10yrs from greenfields to discovery of a deposit." pic.twitter.com/kQMHZcejct

— Uganda Chamber of Mines & Petroleum (@UgandaChamber) December 14, 2021

On the raw minerals export ban, Sir Kaijuka said the very companies the government should be looking to support are getting harmed. “We need to be systematic in order to help the sector grow sustainably," he said.

Sir Kaijuka submitted that Uganda needs to position herself as competitive & with a stable & robust regulatory framework particularly because it's a country that is not known as a mining destination.