EACOP awards 16 scholarships to Kyambogo, Makerere students

The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) Ltd has awarded scholarships to 16 underprivileged students at Kyambogo University and Makerere University to enable them to complete their final-year studies.

The beneficiaries are pursuing Telecommunications Engineering and Computer Science, with Kyambogo taking 10 slots and Makerere taking six. The selection criteria included academic excellence, financial need, passion for the chosen field of study and a commitment to creating positive change.

Seven of the 16 beneficiaries are female, a development EACOP said would contribute to increasing women’s participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines.

Speaking during the official scholarship handover, John Bosco Habumugisha, EACOP deputy managing director, urged the students to use their training to improve the lives of communities.

Although most of EACOP’s systems are automated and require limited human interaction, Habumugisha said engineers must remain focused on serving people.

“Engineering is meant to improve the livelihoods of the community,” he said.

John Bosco Habumugisha, EACOP deputy managing director

Habumugisha told the beneficiaries that they were now ambassadors of EACOP and urged them to equip themselves with knowledge about the project, including the reasons behind opposition to the pipeline from sections of the international activist community.

He said Uganda’s oil could only effectively be connected to the international market through the pipeline. Habumugisha attributed opposition to EACOP mainly to what he described as efforts by global lenders to keep developing countries dependent on borrowing.

He argued that Uganda’s oil resources have the potential to transform the country’s economy and reduce its dependence on borrowing, adding that this could partly explain what he described as funding of anti-EACOP protests.

However, he cautioned the students against viewing development solely in economic terms, urging them to protect the environment and social values.

“Engineering is not meant to destroy but to support,” he said.

Habumugisha also challenged the students to prepare for what he described as a potentially tenfold expansion of Uganda’s economy as oil production and related investments take shape.

He urged them to anticipate the opportunities that could emerge from economic growth and prepare themselves to participate in them.

“Imagine everything ten times,” he told the students, urging them to acquire the skills needed to stay ahead of the changes.

The scholarship programme is part of EACOP’s broader capacity-building initiatives aimed at strengthening skills development and knowledge transfer between industry and academic institutions.

The company said the programme is also intended to expose students and lecturers to emerging technologies and industry practices arising from the EACOP project.

EACOP was established to develop, construct and operate the crude oil pipeline that will transport Uganda’s crude oil from Kabaale in Hoima district to the Port of Tanga in Tanzania.

The pipeline is jointly owned by TotalEnergies, Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC), Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) and CNOOC.

As part of its national-content strategy, EACOP and its contractors have entered into memoranda of understanding with several professional and academic institutions, including Uganda Petroleum Institute Kigumba (UPIK), Makerere University, Kyambogo University, Nakawa Technical Vocational College and the Institute of Surveyors of Uganda.

EACOP said its capacity-building programmes have so far supported 127 interns and graduate trainees. Through its Train-the-Trainer programme, 808 hours of training have also been delivered to lecturers, technicians and professors from tertiary institutions.

The scholarships come as Uganda moves closer to commercial oil production. This week, President Museveni presided over the christening of the country’s first crude oil, marking another milestone in the development of Uganda’s oil industry.

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