Publication date: March 2025

Author: University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL)

Description: Air pollution is now the second leading cause of death globally, responsible for over 7 million deaths annually. Human exposure to fine particles that penetrate deep into the lungs and cardiovascular system adversely affects both health and wellbeing, while ultimately contributing to premature mortality. Air pollution can also impair foetal lung development, increasing lifelong disease risk and burdening healthcare systems. It also reduces workforce productivity and lowers gross domestic product (GDP), imposing significant economic costs.

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Publication date: December 2024

Author: Energy 4 Impact, Mercy Corps

Description: As populations grow in the world’s cities, Africa and Asia are poised to gain a majority of the projected 70% population increase by 2050, triple the number from 20151 . Uganda’s urban population is projected to hit 53 million by 2060, surpassing the projected 51 million rural population. Without effective urban planning, this growth will lead to the formation of new informal settlements and increased populations in the existing ones due to limited access to affordable and reliable public services such as energy. This necessitates promoting initiatives that improve affordability of such services, enabling urban communities facing economic hardship to reap the economic and health benefits of clean energy solutions.

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Publication date: 13 September 2024

Author: SHINE

Description: Uganda’s Energy Transition Plan (2023) underscores the government's commitment to a just and inclusive energy transition and sets out a strategy to achieve universal access to electricity and carbon neutrality by 2050. This is highly needed as about 43% of Uganda's population still lacks access to electricity, with rural areas being disproportionately aected—only 8% of the rural population has electricity access. Uganda's vast solar resources are seen as oering a potential solution in the energy transition. By harnessing this capacity through developing the solar energy sector, the country can address multiple pressing challenges simultaneously, including youth unemployment, climate change, and energy scarcity.

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Publication date: February 2024

Author: INOSR

Description: This study presents a comprehensive examination of the impact of integrating solar energy into healthcare delivery in rural Uganda. Utilizing an extensive equation encompassing factors such as cost savings, operational efficiency, healthcare outcomes, and environmental impact, the research uncovers a holistic benefit of sustainable energy adoption into Uganda Health Centers. Key findings suggest that beyond serving as a reliable and sustainable power source, solar energy integration has the potential to revolutionize rural healthcare. The equation reveals promising outcomes, including redirected resources for critical healthcare needs, improved operational efficiency, and positive healthcare outcomes. The environmental benefits, coupled with the scalability of solar models, emphasize a sustainable future for rural healthcare. The study concludes with a compelling call to action, urging stakeholders to collaborate in swift implementation, policy development, and research initiatives. Recommendations include targeted policies, funding for solar infrastructure, and ongoing research into region-specific considerations. This work serves as a reagent for a sustainable transformation in healthcare delivery, advocating for a brighter and healthier future for underserved communities in Uganda and other countries with similar challenges.

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Publication date: 25 January 2024

Author: UNDP

Description: This Uganda country report is part of a three-part series on Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE) in East Africa. It includes actionable recommendations and serves as a reference for policymakers, investors, and stakeholders interested in innovative financial solutions to solve the SDG7 financing gap in Uganda.

To achieve universal energy access in Uganda by 2030, connecting 6.1 million additional customers requires a $5.5 billion investment in on-grid and off-grid systems. The distributed renewable energy (DRE) sector, crucial for this goal, remains underfunded. This country report explores financial aggregation as a solution to align funding needs with investor requirements. The report assesses Uganda's market readiness for DRE financial aggregation, addressing barriers and presenting an action plan. It serves as a reference for policymakers, investors, DRE companies, and development finance institutions, contributing insights from extensive research and interviews.

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Publication date: 8 January 2024

Author: USAID / UKAid

Description: In this desk review on Energy for Household Use in Uganda’s refugee response, we delve into the critical aspects shaping the energy landscape within this context.

The review highlights the multifaceted challenges faced by refugee households in accessing reliable and sustainable energy sources. With a focus on improving living conditions and promoting self-reliance, the review explores ways of enhancing energy access for cooking, lighting, and other essential needs.

Insights gathered from this analysis aim to foster a more inclusive and sustainable energy environment for refugee communities in Uganda.

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Publication date: November 2023

Author: iea

Description: This in-depth review of the energy policies of Uganda follows the format used by the International Energy Agency (IEA) for its peer reviews for member countries. This process supports energy policy development and encourages the exchange of international best practices and experiences.

Uganda has set an ambitious agenda to develop its substantial energy and mineral resources, promote economic development, end energy poverty, and lead the country to a just energy transition. Uganda’s stated objective in Vision 2040 is to transform into “a modern and prosperous country”, ensuring a better future for its citizens. The energy sector will play an important role in helping Uganda achieve this.

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Publication date: 28 September 2023

Author: African Development Bank (AfDB)

Description: This note presents the African Development Bank’s Country Focus Report for Uganda. Uganda is vulnerable to climate change and volatile weather events, such as drought and flooding, that it is already experiencing, and which are expected to further worsen over the remainder of this century. There is a link between climate change and economic growth that, if not addressed through investment in adaptation and mitigation, is expected to slow down growth. To support Uganda to address these challenges, the country will need to explore all channels of financing. Apart from funding through global development partners, the private sector could be harnessed to increase climate funding. Additional resources can be harnessed through the exploitation of natural capital resources that have a significant potential in Uganda.

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Publication date: 5 January 2023

Author: MDPI

Description: The power sector in Uganda has increased steadily, focusing majorly on rural electrification to increase the proportion of the rural population accessing electricity using grid extension and isolated mini-grid approaches. Hydropower mini-grids implemented in rural communities have issues regarding system failures leading to shutdowns and load shedding. A study on an existing isolated hydropower mini-grid was made to find the possible causes. A review of published articles and reports, and an analysis of enrollment patterns, energy sales, and load demand was carried out. A field survey with a guided questionnaire to collect information about real energy demand data was carried out.

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Publication date: 16 September 2022

Author: UNHCR

Description: This report presents case studies of clean and transitional energy interventions in refugee settlements implemented by UNHCR and partners in Uganda. Energy-related approaches from these case studies can be adapted and replicated in other refugee-hosting countries, as a means of meeting basic needs of people in displacement, improving their well-being and, when possible, creating sustainable livelihood opportunities through the provision of energy. The following case studies are based on experiences in refugee situations but can be adapted to internal displacement situations as well.

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Publication date: 21 June 2022

Author: MDPI

Description: Increasing Uganda’s low electrification rate is one of the country’s major challenges. Power service is essential to achieve socioeconomic development and poverty reduction, especially in rural areas. This paper shows the advantages of using an integrated (grid and off-grid) electrification model with high geospatial, temporal, and customer-class granularity as the Reference Electrification Model (REM).

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Publication date: February 2022

Author: UNEP DTU Partnership

Description: In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), electrification through decentralized renewables-based solutions (particularly solar PV) has advanced significantly over the past decade. Going forward, this transition to clean energy has a significant potential in addressing integrated challenges including access to energy, job creation, skills development and local economic development (IRENA, 2019, 2020). Maximizing local benefits from this clean energy transition is important for the host countries in order to achieve SDG 7 goals, to sustain a longer-term commitment to low-carbon development pathways (IRENA, 2018), and not least to recover in a post-COVID reality (SE4ALL 2020). 

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Publication date: February 2022

Author: IFC

Description: The Uganda Country Private Sector Diagnostic (CPSD) report examines three sectors of particular interest: agribusiness, which is important for productivity, employment, and export growth; energy, as an enabler of overall productivity; and housing, because of its role in fueling growth in the labor-intensive construction sector and alleviating the demographic pressures that rapid urbanization puts on Uganda’s cities. 

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Publication date: 24 January 2022

Author: SciencePG

Description: Access to electricity has been revealed to fast-track occasions for women by moving them into more profitable exercises, however whether development in financial results likewise norms from change gender standards and practices inside the family unit stays indistinct. This study analyses the linkages between electricity access and women strengthening, utilizing two waves 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 panel data from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBS). Based on Fixed Effect models, the study revealed that electricity access improves all indicators of women’s strengthening. The results showed that income and assets values are higher in Electricity users compared to Household with no access to electricity, the total hours used up in those home-based accomplishments are less for Electricity users compare to electricity non-users and electricity users are more likely to use contraception methods. This study suggests that electric energy access can be a significant for policy makers aimed improving the equity and gender equality for social transformation. 

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Publication date: December 2021

Author: Uganda Off-grid Market Accelerator (UOMA)

Description: The Uganda Off-grid Market Accelerator (UOMA) is pleased to release a 2021 version of the market map to give a valuable snapshot of the Ugandan landscape and continue it’s role in coordination and communication for the market. This year’s version, which is officially endorsed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, spotlights updates in the industry to cover solar home systems, mini-grids, productive use, and key stakeholders. The market map also shares insights on emerging areas such as healthcare electrification, integrated approaches to electrification, and e-mobility.

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Publication date: November 2021

Author: Elsevier

Description: With over 70% of households without access to clean energy, Uganda presents a huge potential for increased adoption of solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies. However, their uptake is relatively low. This study employs a nationally representative data set from Uganda's National Electrification Survey of 2018 to analyze factors influencing households' choice of solar PV system. Conditional mixed process model was estimated for quantification of associations between flexible payment mechanism, influential persons, access to grid electricity and solar PV adoption in the first stage, then type of solar PV adopted in the second stage. We find that, the determinants of adoption as well as type of solar PV adopted are heterogeneous. Specifically, flexible payment mechanism is positive for uptake of solar home systems and solar kit; Influential people were insignificant in all cases, while grid access was negatively associated with uptake of both solar kits and solar home systems.

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Publication date: 2 November 2021

Author: Catalyst Off Grid Advisors

Description: The country deep dives represent the third phase of the research, conducted by Catalyst Off-Grid Advisors and commissioned by Shell Foundation in partnership with Rockefeller Foundation and SEforAll, building on the Capital needs to connect off-grid households in sub-Saharan Africa report released in 2017, and the A Green Energy Future for Africa that launched in May 2021 at the US Earth Day Summit presenting the $200bn market opportunity for climate-first investors to contribute to universal energy access by 2030 as well as achieve global net zero goals.

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Publication date: August 2021

Author: Efficiency for Access Coalition

Description: Uganda’s electrification rate is growing rapidly, but 59% of people still do not have access to electricity. This large off- and weak-grid population, a sharp increase in mobile money operations and the established markets for component-based solar energy systems all provide a strong foundation for appliance sales in Uganda.

While the solar market in Uganda is growing fast, ownership of appliances such as TVs and refrigerators remain extremely low. There is also insufficient data about off-grid appropriate appliances that can help manufacturers, policymakers, distributors, mini-grid operators, investors, and other market actors to make informed decisions and identify high quality, efficient products sold in their region.

To help address this challenge, Efficiency for Access has worked to gather data on the availability of off-grid appropriate appliances in key countries, including Uganda. Uganda's Off- and Weak-Grid Appliance Market Country Profile analyses four types of off-grid appliances surveyed in 2018 and 2020—TVs, fans, refrigerators, and SWPs.

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Publication date: June 2021

Author: UOMA

Description: The Government of Uganda strives to achieve universal electricity access by 2030 and transition towards clean energy sources. As of 2019, 62% of Uganda’s population remained without access to electricity. To close this gap and achieve universal Tier- connectivity—the generally accepted minimum level of electrification—the Government plans to expand access with both on- and off-grid energy solutions. Uganda’s Third National Development Plan emphasizes the importance of transitioning from fossil fuel to clean energy in enabling economic growth, poverty reduction, and overall societal transformation, giving further impetus for clean energy solutions.

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Publication date: March 2021

Authors: WRI, Shell Foundation and CIG Uganda

Description: This paper provides a snapshot of electric mobility developments in Uganda, East Africa, while illustrating potential benefits of a sustainable electric mobility system, through examples from cities around the world.

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