April web

UNOC starts
competitive supply
of petroleum
In its first competitive line of doing business
in the retail end of the petroleum market,
the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC)
recently launched the bulk trading of
petroleum products business as it seeks to
supply products to a number of companies.
The company, which manages the financial
arm of government in the oil and gas industry,
imports and sells petroleum products in bulk to
registered local oil marketing companies.
The move, the company said, will enhance the
security of petroleum products supplies into
Uganda and bring forward a sustainable supply
of these products in bulk to oil-marketing
companies. Ugandans are to enjoy a more
reliable supply of petroleum products, the
company announced.
She was speaking during the signing of a
Memorandum of Understanding between
UNOC and Stabex International Limited, a
petroleum retail dealer, in Nansana. Proscovia
Nabbanja, the CEO of UNOC, while speaking
to the press, emphasised that the move into
bulk trade is a key step in UNOC starting to
fulfil its mandate to the people of Uganda.
UNOC intends to use the venture to learn
about the logistics processes with the intention
of becoming a major player in the market of
bulk supply of petroleum products in Uganda.
With the initial supply of over 400,000 litres
already in place, UNOC plans to scale the
supply up in the future since the plan is to
enhance the national security of supply for
petroleum products.
UNOC will import and sell to Stabex, a fraction
of their monthly fuel requirements as per the
agreed terms and conditions.
Africa’s mountain gorillas also
at risk from coronavirus
As the coronavirus infects more
people around the world,
conservationists are warning of
the risk to another vulnerable
species: Africa’s endangered
mountain gorilla. Congo’s Virunga
national park, home to about a third of
the world’s mountain gorillas, is barring
visitors until June 1 st , citing “advice from
scientific experts indicating that primates,
including mountain gorillas, are likely
susceptible to complications arising from
the COVID-19 virus.”
Neighbouring Rwanda is also temporarily
shutting down tourism and research
activities in three national parks that are
home to primates such as gorillas and
chimpanzees. Mountain gorillas are prone
to some respiratory illnesses that afflict
humans. A common cold can kill a gorilla,
according to the World Wide Fund for
Nature, one reason why tourists tracking
gorillas are not normally permitted to
get too close. Around 1,000 mountain
gorillas live in protected areas in Congo,
Uganda and Rwanda, for whom tourism
is an important source of revenue. But
COVID-19 has led to restrictive measures.
Virunga national park’s decision has been
welcomed by conservationists in the
region.
Paula Kahumbu, chief executive of the
Kenya-based conservation group Wildlife
Direct, told The Associated Press that
“every possible effort must be made” to
protect mountain gorillas because so few
are left in the wild.
UGANDA HIGHLIGHTS
Even existing measures may not be
enough to protect them. According to
Ugandan conservationist, Gladys Kalema-
Zikusoka with Conservation Through
Public Health, a study published this year
by her group and Ohio University showed
that measures in place to protect gorillas
from humans are not effective in practice.
The rule on keeping a safe distance from
the gorillas was broken almost every time
a group of tourists visited, she said.
Photo internet
APRIL 2020
9