The Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA), in collaboration with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) with support from the government of the United Kingdom, officially launched a two-day Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Feasibility Study programme to guide Uganda’s roadmap towards adopting SAF, a cleaner and more environmentally friendly fuel alternative for aircraft.
The feasibility study aligns with the ICAO’s goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions in aviation by 2050, and a short-term target of cutting emissions by 5% through cleaner fuels by 2030.
In his remarks, the Director General of UCAA, Fred Bamwesigye reaffirmed Uganda’s strong commitment to the global aviation goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
“The initiative we are launching is also framed in the ICAO GlobalFramework for Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF), Lower Carbon Aviation Fuels (LCAF) and other Aviation Cleaner Energies adopted in the third ICAO Conference on Aviation and Alternative Fuels (CAAF/3) in 2023,” he said.
In addition, Bamwesigye encouraged participants to engage in this initiative so that it can provide not only environmental benefits but also social opportunities to the people of Uganda and therefore asked them to actively contribute to the discussions during the workshop as the experts provide information and materials that will strengthen their familiarization with sustainable aviation fuels, its benefits, challenges and how SAF can be produced and promoted.
“The study also calls for our collective effort in assisting with information collection that should be provided to the ICAO experts in their endeavour to identify basic data that will inform Uganda’s potential in production and use of SAF. Please, engage with them and provide contact information where possible so they will be able to follow up with all relevant national stakeholders who could contribute to data collection to identify and promote opportunities forSustainable aviation fuel programme in Uganda,” the UCAA’s Director General added.
Bamwesigye further emphasized UCAA’s commitment to supporting this process and to the progress of the initiative to its completion, saying, “Our National Focal Point on aviation environment protection will be available to you and will be able to coordinate all interactions between the experts and the key stakeholders.”
Engineer Ronny Barongo, the Director of Safety, Security and Economic Regulations at UCAA, highlighted that the outcome of this study will help in having a report which will attract potential investors, including the financing organizations.
“At the end of this study, we shall have a report for Uganda, and this report will outline the potential, which is for self-production that may enhance access to public and private investment capacities, support policies that contribute to the carbonation of our vision industry by encouraging new and additional funding for these initiatives,” he said.
The workshop drew participants from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, aviation fuel suppliers, academic institutions, and air operators who represent a critical step in evaluating Uganda’s potential to produce and adopt the SAF programme.
Other attendees of the workshop included the top ICAO experts; Mohamed Rahma and Cesar Velarde, who aims to deepen stakeholder understanding of SAF, its production, benefits, and challenges.
Since a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, now all eyes are on the outcomes of the workshop that will shape the country’s journey toward a greener aviation industry, one that may someday run not just on fuel but on hope, innovation, and commitment.
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