KEY POINTS
- Uganda’s ERA has reached over 50,000 students across 78 secondary schools through its initiative.
- Female physics candidates in Uganda outperformed males but represent just 4,689 versus 16,613 boys.
- ERA allocates over Shs2 billion annually to a graduate training program targeting women engineers.
Uganda’s energy sector showed up in Kampala on April 15 with a message that was equal parts celebration and ultimatum. The country’s power future, officials said, depends on girls learning to love physics.
The 2026 Women in Energy Forum at the UMA Multi-Purpose Hall in Lugogo brought together the country’s top energy officials, regulators and young women still deciding what to do with their lives. The mood was serious. Minister of Energy and Mineral Development Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu did not come to applaud progress. She came to demand more of it.
“Tonight is not merely a celebration. It is a declaration,” she told attendees. “The future of Uganda’s energy sector must include women not just as participants, but as engineers, scientists, innovators, and leaders.”
She went further, addressing the fear that keeps many girls away from technical subjects. “If you fear mathematics, confront it,” she said.
The numbers behind the urgency
The data explains the alarm. Uganda recently hit a 60% electrification rate, a genuine achievement. But the talent pipeline feeding the sector tells a different story.
Results from the 2025 Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education examinations show that female students who sat for physics actually outperformed their male counterparts, with 57.4% achieving principal passes versus 55.2% for boys. The problem is not ability. It is numbers. Only 4,689 females sat for physics compared to 16,613 males. In mathematics, 25,002 girls sat the exam against 45,130 boys. Women currently lead less than 20% of renewable energy businesses in the region.
What the ERA is doing about it
Electricity Regulatory Authority CEO Ziria Tibalwa Waako said the Women in Energy Initiative has already reached over 50,000 students across 78 secondary schools since it launched eight years ago. “What began as a bold idea has since grown into a transformative platform,” she said.
ERA Board Chairperson Grania Rosette Rubomboras said the agency allocates over Shs2 billion annually to a Graduate Training Programme, creating a direct pipeline from mentorship to employment. The money is designed to move women from inspiration to industry.
Uganda is targeting over 15,000 megawatts of generation capacity by 2030. The Minister’s message at the forum was clear: that target is unreachable without women in the control room. The evening closed with the official launch of the third edition of the Women in Energy Magazine, a document of where the sector has been and a signal of where it intends to go.
