After serving in acting capacity for several months, Dr. Gerald Banaga-Baingi has now been officially appointed the first Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the newly formed Uganda National Mining Company (UNMC), after beating a number of applicants to the key position.
His tenure will take effect from May 1, 2025, according to a UNMC statement released yesterday and signed by James Mukasa Sebugenyi, the chairman of the company’s board.
The CEO post was advertised in mid-January this year together with other executive management positions including chief explorations and extractions officer, chief legal and corporate affairs officer, chief commercial and investments officer, chief finance and administration officer and chief engineering officer.
These positions remain vacant for now, though the recruitment process is ongoing.
Who is Banaga-Baingi?
Apart from serving as acting CEO at the UNMC before, Dr. Banaga-Baingi was also the team leader of a transition team of experts charged with operationalizing the company by providing technical, managerial and secretarial support to the board of directors.
Ruth Nankabirwa, the Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, had hailed him as an astute self-driven performer, when introducing him at a media briefing at the start of the year where she was sharing updates from the petroleum, electricity and mining sectors.
The company statement described Dr. Banaga-Baingi as an accomplished resource economist with extensive experience in the energy, petroleum and minerals sectors.
“Over the years, he has spearheaded numerous strategic initiatives, including the development of policies, legal, and regulatory frameworks. He has successfully structured and implemented complex projects, attracting financing from public, private, and development partners,” the statement added.
It also noted that Dr. Banaga-Baingi has always demonstrated exceptional leadership in structuring and negotiating various agreements, including development and financing agreements, Implementation Agreements, Power Purchase Agreements, and Joint Venture Agreements.
“He has collaborated with multilateral and bilateral partners, as well as private developers, to advance large-scale infrastructure projects and promote commercialization and value addition in petroleum and mineral resources,” the statement added.
An energy specialist, Banaga-Baingi, who has served the Energy Ministry for 25 years, has recently been associated with the Energy Policy Review (2023) and the drafting of Uganda’s Energy Transition Plan (ETP), a strategic roadmap for the development and modernization of Uganda’s energy sector – serving as team leader at both projects.
Previously, Dr. Banaga-Baingi worked with the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) as a Data Control Officer under the Kampala Revenue Improvement Project before joining the Ministry of Energy.
Rising through the ranks, he became Assistant Commissioner for Technical Planning and Chief Technical Advisor on Energy, Petroleum, and Minerals.
“In these roles, he led efforts in Energy Transition and Integrated Resource Planning, leveraging Uganda’s critical minerals to drive the country towards a low-carbon development pathway,” reads the statement.
He has also contributed to international panels of experts on topics such as climate change, green mobility, critical minerals, and served as a member of the International Energy Agency’s team of experts on Energy Policy Review for Mozambique.
Dr. Banaga-Baingi holds a Bachelor’s degree in Statistics from Makerere University and multiple postgraduate qualifications, including: Postgraduate Diploma in Environmental Management (Galilee College, Israel), Postgraduate Diploma in Petroleum Management (PETRAD, Stavanger, Norway), Certificate in Integrated Environmental Assessment (City University of Hong Kong), Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Science in Economic Analysis and Policy (University of Warwick, UK), Master of Science in Petroleum, Energy Economics, and Finance (University of Aberdeen, Scotland, UK) and a PhD in Economics from Makerere University.
Additionally, he possesses various professional certificates in resource economics and trading, energy and flexibility modelling, and financial planning for infrastructure.
About UNMC
The UNMC was established under the Mining and Minerals Act, 2022, as a wholly state-owned enterprise mandated to manage Uganda’s commercial interests in the minerals sector.
The company’s core objective is to ensure that the country maximizes the value derived from its mineral resources for the benefit of all Ugandans through strategic investments to drive sustainable economic growth and national development.
UNMC will hold the state’s share in all large scale or medium scale mining licences; with the mining law granting the government an ownership interest (at no cost) of up to a maximum of 15% in a licensed private enterprise.
Banaga-Baingi and his management team (once confirmed) will put the above clause in practice starting with the Kilembe Mines concession, which was granted to the Sarrai Group and its partners Nile Fiberboard last month, when the first-ever Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA), meant for the redevelopment of the copper mines, was signed.
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