Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) and UEGCL have signed a deal to package and commercialise a variety of planned projects and activities at the power dams such as plant tours, boat cruises, sport fishing, hospitality facilities and souvenirs.
Lilly Ajarova, the UTB Chief Executive Officer and Daudi Migereko, the UTB board chair signed on behalf of UTB while Dr Eng. Harrison Mutikanga, the UEGCL chief executive officer and Proscovia Margaret Njuki, the UEGCL board chairperson signed on behalf of the power generation company.
The deal is also aimed at marketing the 600MW Karuma hyrdo power dam and the 183MW Isimba power station as superstructure/infrastructure tourism products.
Isimba which was commissioned on 21 March 2019 and Karuma which is expected to be commissioned June next year, are all owned by government and managed by UEGCL.
The MoU covers tourism product development and marketing.
The deal shall run for three (3) years from the date of signing.
Some of the tourism products/activities being considered for development by UEGCL at the two dams include: project construction videos/photos, exhibition rooms (plant models, rocks) at the visitors’ centre auditorium, guided plant tours, boat cruises, sport fishing and bird viewing on the reservoir lake at Isimba among others .
Speaking after the singing, Ajarova thanked the management of UEGCL for picking interest in tourism and for reaching out to UTB to form this value-adding partnership.
“This MoU marks the beginning of an important journey for Uganda. When brought to fruition, the successful development of Karuma HPP and Isimba HPP into tourism sites will further diversify our tourism portfolio and therefore contribute to our core objectives i.e., sustainably increasing the volume (numbers) and value (earnings) of tourism to Uganda and by extension, Ugandan households, and livelihoods, through the creation of jobs and increased tax revenue,” she said.
Mutikanga, speaking on behalf of UEGCL said that the MoU is in line with UEGCL’s five year strategic plan (2018 -2023) that among others, focuses on the key objective of enhancing its business portfolio.
