The rise of businessman Emmanuel Lwasa into the eyes of many Ugandans came as early as 2005.
Lwasa, a proclaimed gold business investor is relishing the day he invested into gold buying and selling; it was a dream come true.
From the murky roads of Masaka City, Lwasa settled for gold business as early as 1999 and since then flying days and nights for gold business negotiations and transactions abroad became part of his life.
The journey altogether for gold business has been a work in contention for Lwasa after the formation of Trans-Equator Gold miners Company which he registered in 2005.
“I started with $10,000 as capital for the Trans-Equator gold miners company in Najjanankumbi, Kampala. I had to pay the licensing fee worth shs:5m and today I earn big from the gold business,” he says.
Gold business altogether is a lucrative trade and Lwasa’s humble beginning saw him settling for a month in Tanzania under Trans-Equator Equipment Company for gold buying and selling business mentorship.
By 2010; the price of gold was negotiable at $150 each gram and Lwasa had to learn from the owner of the Trans-Equator Equipment Company proprietor Musho in Tanzania.
The gold selling business saw Lwasa boasting with clients in Dar -es-Salaam and many gold buyers knew him from Tanzania as the hub for pure gold.
“I went to Tanzania in 2005 under the company Trans-Equator Equipment to learn how the gold business is operating,” he said.
The Gold business since 1999 has seen Lwasa expanding his working repertoire and he has been able to earn a living since then.
“Even when I was in Tanzania; most of the clients were my friends from Dubai and the United States of America. I regularly get money and it is inspiring to be established in the gold business for the last eighteen years,” he adds.
As for clarity; Lwasa shares that one of the crucial aspects in the gold business is based on trustworthy and it takes a lot of patience and as a traveler and expert in the gold business he has been able to succeed.
The humble beginning of Lwasa’s fairytale story in the gold business started way back as a soldier in the National Resistance Army (NRA) which later became Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF).
Lwasa registered Trans-Equator Gold Miners’ company in 2005 after borrowing a leaf from former employer Musho of Trans- Equator Equipment company in Tanzania. He spent six years waiting for a personal company license from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development.
The passion and zeal to be a proclaimed gold buyer and seller grew slowly until when he met His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum also the Minister of Finance for United Arab Emirates during the gold business convention who also motivated him.
“The business is now a bigger thing and I normally receive clients intermittently from countries like UAE, United States of America and Germany,” he adds.
In the gold business, Lwasa has found fortunes and he has been able to get connections from friends and clients as well as securing shs6bn which he used to secure land titles and construction of Club Tavern Kick.
“The issue of gold selling in Uganda is intense but the challenge of illegal gold sellers needs everyone’s attention,” he additionally shares.
“I pay 5 percent on each kilogram depending on the price on the market and in return I am always paid in dollars. The gold business needs people who are knowledgeable and trustworthy,” he adds.
Lwasa also collects gold and later smelts it into finished product ready for buyers in countries; UAE, Germany and the United States of America.
As for clarity; he normally gets gold from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mityana and Mbarara (both districts in Uganda).
“I normally buy gold in tolas. To be frank, 1 tola costs $500 dollars and I sell it after a huge process,” he adds.
Since 1999, Lwasa’s journey into the gold business has been surrounded by delays in export permits.
The gold business according to him, is challenged by people in the clearing process who are also indirectly competing for gold selling licenses.
“The arrangement is still lacking and the gold business is still low with less technical persons and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development needs to do a lot of homework about the future of the gold business,” he advises.
Lwasa says the Competition is stiff and the first-come, first serve approach is still lacking in the Mines Department.
As the company, Trans-Equator gold miners’ is registered under the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development and boasts eight workers with Lwasa’s elder son Edgar Mulindwa as the operations manager.
“To me, the gold business has loads of benefits though Artisanal gold miners remain on the front burner of the delayed improvement in the gold business,” he said.
“It is a priced metal and I regularly achieve beyond my capital after selling. It is a business that I can’t vacate and I hope to expand my businesses too since I expect a lot of profits this year,” the owner of Lwasa events company dealing in organising wedding parties shared too.
The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development is manned by competent personnel but the few in the smelting section; Indians make the gold business unfavorable, according to Lwasa.
“I had a friend Mr. Kato in the Mines Department who helped me a lot in understanding the industry and its operation,” he reminisces.
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