Busoga Olwekobaano and Energy Expo 2023

This year’s event is the 8th edition of the Olwekobaano with the overarching theme of this year’s Olwekobaano is ‘Leveraging access to affordable, reliable and clean energy for improved health, education, agriculture and trade (HEAT) in Busoga region’.

Background

The theme recognises the critical importance of access to affordable, reliable and clean energy in enabling the provision of basic services and the development of sustainable livelihoods at the onset of the global energy transition. It further acknowledges the potential that improved access to sustainable energy has in bringing about socio-economic transformation and making a difference in the fight against disease, ignorance and poverty in the region.  With one of the lowest rates of access to energy on the African continent, Uganda still has a long way to go in achieving the UN’s SDGs, especially universal access to energy (SDG 7). The Olwekobaano will explore the issue from diverse angles and recommend strategies for making SMART progress in the 7 remaining years to the expiry of the UN’s SDG initiative in 2030. 

The event is even more important given the most recent World Bank poverty report for Uganda that indicates that poverty rates are highest in eastern (includes Busoga) and northern regions at 42% and 40% respectively. The report shows that these rates substantially varied from those of the western region (27%) and central region (15%) and were also above the national average of 30%. Economists at the World Bank attributed these high poverty rates to limited access to critical infrastructure and services like electricity, erratic rainfall (drought), low levels of education and small markets. The Olwekooba 2023, with its focus on improving access to renewable energy and the potential of this access for tackling poverty, ignorance and disease and improving livelihoods is therefore of strategic importance, not only for Busoga region, but actually the whole of Eastern region and the whole country. 
Source: Eastern, Northern regions top in poverty - WB report | Monitor

Core objectives

• To understand the current status of access to affordable, reliable and clean energy in Busoga region and the rest of the country
• To explore the socio-economic implications of the current rate of access affordable, reliable and clean energy in Busoga region and the rest of the country
• To develop strategies for improving access to affordable, reliable and clean energy in Busoga region and the rest of the country
• To examine the strategic implications of improved access to energy for HEAT – health, education, agriculture and trade, in Busoga region and the rest of the country.

Activities

• Presentations and analyses by various professionals on Day 1 and 2
• Exhibitions by various players in the energy sector on all days
• Exhibitions by various other organisations and enterprises on all days
• Speeches by government and societal leaders; keynote speech on each day
• Health Camp for the local community on all days 

Dr Charles Mbalyohere

Charles is a senior Lecturer in Strategic Management at The Open University Business School. 

For further information about this event, please contact him charles.mbalyohere@open.ac.uk