The Bujagali Energy project involves the development, construction, and maintenance of a run-of-the-river power plant with a capacity of up to 250 megawatt (MW) on the River Nile in Uganda. Bujagali Energy Ltd. (BEL) also manages the construction of approximately 100 kilometers of 132 kilovolt (kV) transmission line on behalf of the Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Ltd. (UETCL) to improve transfer of electricity from the plant. IFC’s investment comprises US$100 million in A and C loans, and MIGA issued a $115 million guarantee to World Power Holdings Luxembourg S.à.r.l., a subsidiary of Sithe Global Power, for its investment in the project.

In June 2017, CAO received a complaint submitted by a former employee of the former construction contractor, citing concerns related to labor health and safety, raising concerns related to lack of compensation for injuries suffered while he was employed at the project site for which he ha not received any compensation.

In July 2017, CAO found the Bujagali Energy-08 complaint eligible and conducted an assessment. During the assessment, the complainant expressed an interest in participating in a dispute resolution process; however, the company declined to engage in the process. Therefore, in accordance with CAO’s Operational Guidelines, the case was referred to CAO’s compliance function for appraisal.

In March 2011, CAO completed its compliance appraisal. The appraisal found the Bujagali Energy-08 complaint to be similar in substance to a March 2011 complaint (Bujagali Energy-04) from workers who were injured while working on the construction of the project for the same Engineering, Procurement & Construction (EPC) contractor, which led to a CAO compliance investigation that was published in 2017. CAO determined that no investigation on this matter was merited at the time and decided to merge this case with the Bujagali Energy-04 and Bujagali Energy-06 cases for the purpose of monitoring.

CAO Monitoring Reports

In March 2019, CAO published its First Monitoring Report of IFC/MIGA’s response to the Bujagali Energy- 04, 06, 07, and 08 cases. In response to the Bujagali Energy 04 and 08 complaints. CAO’s monitoring report noted delays in the implementation of actions proposed by IFC to address CAO’s findings.

In May 2020, CAO published its Second Monitoring Report.  Since the first monitoring report, IFC had completed its scoping report which included recommendations for possible additional support to injured workers. The report also identified local institutional capacity to support disabled workers and ongoing client community support programs that can be accessed by this group.

In September 2022, CAO published its Third Monitoring Report. The report analyzed whether IFC has adequately addressed CAO’s non-compliance findings, building on CAO’s two earlier monitoring reports issued in February 2019 and May 2020.  

IFC initiated an Advisory Services program to support skills and capacity development for some workers injured during project construction. This action would partially address CAO’s findings regarding impacts on injured workers. However, other non-compliances and associated impacts identified by CAO, including those affecting dependents of workers who were killed, remained largely unaddressed.

On May 30, 2024, CAO published its Fourth Monitoring Report. The report noted IFC’s actions in response to non-compliance findings from November 2017 regarding worker injury compensation at the hydropower project. IFC continued to implement an Advisory Services program aimed at supporting the livelihoods of former injured workers. As final steps are taken to support these workers' livelihoods, CAO  will continue to monitor this case.

The Omnibus Monitoring Report, which includes the monitoring report for this case, is available in English.