As part of Uganda's GET FiT program — a KfW-funded initiative to expand power evacuation capacity and grid interconnection — a major European engineering contractor was engaged to design, supply, and install a 132/33kV substation upgrade at Opuyo, Uganda.
The project sat within a broader national energy infrastructure agenda, with direct implications for Uganda's ability to integrate renewable energy sources into the national grid. Delivery had to meet KfW fiduciary, procurement, and reporting standards from day one.
Served as Branch Manager and Project Manager for the contractor's East Africa operations — with full responsibility for establishing and running the local delivery structure from the ground up. This meant building the team, setting up administrative and logistics infrastructure, and managing all aspects of project execution on the ground.
Responsibilities spanned the full project lifecycle: scope, schedule, budget, quality, risk, HSE, subcontractor coordination, and structured reporting to headquarters, the donor (KfW), and the client (UETCL).
The project presented a convergence of challenges that made delivery genuinely complex. Operating in a remote East African environment meant establishing logistics, supply chains, and personnel structures with limited local infrastructure. Civil and energy workstreams had to run in parallel under tight coordination across disciplines and nationalities.
Compliance with KfW's fiduciary and procurement requirements added a layer of governance discipline that had to be maintained consistently throughout — with no margin for deviation. Every risk register, progress report, and corrective action plan had to meet donor standards while keeping field operations moving.
Subcontractor management in this environment required constant alignment across cultural, language, and operational boundaries — with the added pressure of a live national grid context where safety and quality failures were not an option.
The 132/33kV Opuyo Substation was successfully commissioned and handed over to UETCL. The project was delivered in full compliance with KfW requirements, with structured documentation and reporting maintained throughout the engagement. The result is operational energy infrastructure contributing to Uganda's national grid and the broader GET FiT renewable energy integration agenda.