INTERNATIONAL - Siemens the German conglomerate company headquartered in Berlin and Munich and also the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe with branch offices abroad, supports Uganda's power goals with diamond sponsorship for Future Energy Uganda in Kampala.
Siemens Southern and Eastern Africa, CEO, Sabine Dall'Omo said: "In Uganda, Siemens’ primary goal is to assist the government to increase national power generating capacities and to connect the local population to the power grids. A reliable and extensive power supply system is the fundamental prerequisite for sustainable development, economic growth and job creation."
Sabine will be a featured panelist at the opening session of the upcoming Future Energy Uganda, which will be taking place from 13-14 September in Kampala. Siemens is the diamond sponsor for the meeting platform for project developers, finance houses and multilateral investors, construction and planning companies as well as technology providers from Uganda, the region and from the rest of the world.
Future Energy Uganda will be demonstrating the country's proactive nature to develop the sector both efficiently and effectively. During the World Economic Forum (WEF) in May this year, Siemens signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Uganda.
The Memorandum was to cooperate in the areas like power supply, industry, transportation and healthcare and to focus on infrastructure investments and partnerships between public and private sectors. However, more recently in June, the parties attended a follow-up Lab of Tomorrow workshop in Munich to discuss taking the agreement forward.
"Uganda is a stable country, well integrated into the East African Community. Their economic development is promising and government is carrying out policies to attract business and to create an environment that is conducive to more investment," Sabine said. The company is currently in the process of establishing a permanent office in Uganda as a base for long term collaboration with the Ugandan public and private entities.
A future initiative for Siemens would be joining the Make IT Alliance of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development to promote start-ups and technology companies across the African continent. "Siemens is a company that invests for the long term, and we are interested in the long-term fundamentals of these markets and the diversification of their economies," said the Siemens CEO.
"The opportunity for industrialization in Africa is now. It is estimated that Africa imports one third of the food, beverages and other similar processed goods it consumers. The potential exists for Africa-based companies to meet this domestic demand and in so doing create sustainable revenue streams and opportunities for job creation," she added.
Siemens being active in Africa for more than 157 years, today has more than 3,600 employees based in 15 African countries.