NPA calls for integrated infrastructure devt to boost digital inclusion

The National Planning Authority executive director has said eliminating bottlenecks hampering penetration of digital services countrywide require integrated infrastructure development.

According to Joseph Muvawala, whereas the private sector is expected to extend telecommunications infrastructure and services to the entire country through the 90% geographical coverage obligation, strategic planning and execution must be implemented.

Muvawala was speaking on Tuesday during the inaugural Telecom Sector Power Forum 2025 held at Four Points by Sheraton, Kampala, under the theme “Powering the Telecom Sector to Drive Socio Economic Transformation.”

The Forum was attended by senior leaders from government, regulatory bodies, telecom and energy sectors, development partners, and technology providers with the aim of exploring the critical intersection of ICT and energy infrastructure in advancing Uganda’s development agenda.

He explained that attaining the 90% geographical coverage obligation, under the National Telecom Operator (NTO) license, requires coordinated and integrated infrastructure planning and development to maximise the benefits.

For instance, deployment of smart grid management technologies at distribution and transmission levels will largely depend on extensive coverage of telecom infrastructure.

“The lack of integrated infrastructure development is a bottleneck to national development and a technical and operational challenge for the public infrastructure providers (PIPs).

The telecom sector, which forms the backbone of Uganda’s digital economy, remains heavily reliant on off-grid energy solutions, particularly in rural and underserved areas. We need to develop strategies on how to improve this,” he noted.

He highlighted gaps created by the “silo approach” to service delivery within Government Ministries, Department and Agencies, together with limited coordinated stakeholder engagement and practical proof-of-concept implementation.

Muvawala added that despite the adoption of the program-based approach to planning and budgeting, which has to some extent reduced the “silo approach” to service delivery, prioritisation, and proper sequencing of interventions is still a challenge.

“The Digital Transformation and Sustainable Energy Development programme working groups should have interacted and harmonised their strategies and interventions to address this challenge of over-reliance of the telecom infrastructure sites on off-grid energy solutions, particularly in rural and underserved areas.

We must acknowledge the commercial asymmetry. Telecom companies that finance grid extensions are required to hand over the infrastructure to distribution companies and then pay commercial tariffs for the power they use. This disincentivizes further investment and limits the scalability of such initiatives.”

He recommended the need to adequately reward the contribution of the private sector players, who invest in grid extension and road construction. For instance, ATC Uganda, has already extended over 2,000 km of grid power to hundreds of sites, improving uptime, data usage and mobile money activity in connected areas.

They have also constructed 1,000 km of roads to improve accessibility to remote telecom sites and local businesses. 

The company’s energy payments to grid providers in 2025 is projected to be above sh90b.

Meanwhile, Henry Kerali, a former World Bank Director West Africa spoke to the need for more public-private partnerships to create further societal impacts in sectors of health, education and general welfare.