Uganda asks Dubai to invest in oil sector

The Ugandan president has asked Africa Middle East Resources, a Dubai firm formed by Emaar chief Mohammed Alabbar, to submit a bid to invest in the country’s fledgling oil sector.

President Yoweri Museveni extended the invitation during talks with Alabbar in the Uganda capital Kampala, Dow Jones quoted a spokeswoman as saying.

"Uganda has one of the most favorable investment environments with access to tax and quota free markets in the US, the European Union, India and China," President Museveni was quoted as saying.

Alabbar, a prominent Asian businessman and a senior aide to Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is in Uganda to explore investment opportunities. Africa Middle East Resources is a new company formed by Alabbar to seek investments in Africa.

Uganda’s fledgling oil industry has attracted interest following the discovery of commercial oil reserves along the western border.

In January, Heritage Oil announced the discovery of an estimated 400 million barrels of oil in a field dubbed Giraffe1, in the Lake Albert region. The wider field, named Buffalo-Giraffe, is thought to have billions of barrels of oil in place, making it the largest onshore discovery made in sub-Saharan Africa in two decades.

Western oil companies operating in the region include UK-based Tullow Oil, Tower Resources, China’s Cnooc, France-based Total SA and Italy’s Eni Spa.

According to Uganda’s finance and planning minister, investment in the country’s oil sector has hit $900m since 2006.

The Ugandan government has said a further $10bn is needed to fully exploit the country’s crude resources.