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Construction of Kiira car assembling plant starts
Officials of Kiira Motors Corporation and others inspect the site recently. PHOTO BY TAUSI NAKATO
What you need to know:
- Completion. The plant, which will consume Shs63.7b is expected to be completed in two-and-half years.
Jinja. Construction of the Kiira Vehicle Assembling plant at Kagogwa village, Kakira Town Council in Jinja District has commenced.
Construction works kicked off last week with contractors earth moving to prepare ground for laying of the sub-base, concrete slap and primary beams.
Earth-Moving Heavy Equipment such as excavators, backhoe loaders, bulldozers and motor graders are already on the site, covering 182 acres in the Jinja Industrial and Business Park.
Several projects including a 33kv electric line over a distance of 3.7 km with initial half megawatts substation, which will expand to 14, have been installed.
The site has been connected to the industrial pipeline of 6 inch over a distance of 5.4km and a site building office has also been set up.
National Enterprise Corporation [NEC] and the UPDF engineering brigade, which was contracted to construct the plant, took over the site in February.
The plant is expected to be completed on January 6, 2020.
The construction commenced following the approval of Shs143b [$40m] by Cabinet as seed funding in April last year.
In 2014, Uganda Investment Authority commissioned two companies - Kiira Motors Corporation and China Engineering Limited - to start car production by 2018 but it passed before hitting the target due to challenges linked to funding and technology.
Mr Paul Isaac Musasizi, the Kiira Motors Corporation chief executive officer, said construction works, which will consume Shs63.7b, will take two and half years, noting that the plant will have a capacity to assemble 5,000 vehicles every year in its first phase.
Mr Allan Muhumuza, the Kiira Motors Corporation business development manager, said the project is expected to create about 14,000 jobs.
“At the start up investment, the project is estimated to create 940 jobs and at the fully operational, it will create 2000 direct employment and 12,000 indirect jobs,’’ he said.
Mr Muhumuza said the project is expected to catalyze investment by small and medium enterprises in the manufacture of vehicle parts and components such as batteries, brake pads, seats, bolts and nuts, bumbers vehicle electronics, navigation system among others.
“The project will also increase demand for utilization of natural resources such as steel, plastics from oil and gas among others,” he added.
The vehicle plant masterplan will include 6,000sqm assembly shop, 3,000sqm multi-purpose ware house, 1,200 sqm plant office space, vehicle test facilities, waste management facility, , vehicle park yard, storm water channel, energy centre ,main entrance gate ,3.6km perimeter face and 3 gates among others
Kiira Motors Corporation is owned by government through Uganda Development Cooperation and Makerere University College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology and China Engineering Limited.
The idea to start making vehicles in the country started in 2007 when a group of Makerere University students and staff participated in Vehicle Design Summit in the United States, hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Given the experience they acquired, Makerere team resolved to embark on a project aimed at designing and building a vehicle in Uganda.
The successful execution of the Kiira EV Project in 2011 led to the establishment of the Kiira Motors Project as a government initiative for Automotive Industry Development aimed at establishing capabilities for manufacturing of vehicles in Uganda with a focus of passenger vehicle segment.
The Kiira Motors Project started the Kiira Vehicle Technology Innovation Program through which the Kiira EV SMACK, the first Electric Hybrid Vehicle designed and built in Africa in 2014.
The team then designed and built the Kayoola Solar Bus, in 2016 the first Electric Solar Bus designed and built in Africa.
The company’s product after completion of the plant in Jinja will include Sedans, pick-ups, crosser-overs, buses and trucks and this will reduce on importation of second-hand vehicles.
According to Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) statistics, every day Uganda imports about 100 vehicles from countries such as Japan, Germany, UK and United Arab Emirates.
About kiira
The Kiira Motors Project started the Kiira Vehicle Technology Innovation Programme through which the Kiira EV SMACK, the first Electric Hybrid Vehicle designed and built in Africa in 2014.
The team then designed and built the Kayoola Solar Bus, in 2016 the first Electric Solar Bus designed and built in Africa.
