The Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO) was founded in 2005 by four students, and is one of the most important actors in Uganda mitigating the harmful impacts and rights violations from land grabs and environmental degradation. AFIEGO works closely with communities, grassroots groups, and national, regional, and global civil society organizations. At all levels, their work is deeply rooted in the needs and concerns of the communities they represent. AFIEGO runs three programs, including: 

• Electricity Democracy – to promote adequate, accessible, reliable, clean, and sustainable electricity services that are affordable to citizens for improved livelihoods and national development. To this end, it creates public awareness, conduct research, and initiates public interest litigation with the aim of playing a watch dog role over the electricity sector, working to push for more pro-poor clean energy policies.  
• Extractives Governance Program – to eliminate extractive policies so that governments work for citizens, and promote national and regional development. Focus is put on youth and oil governance, gender and extractives, oil and biodiversity, land governance, public interest litigation, and transboundary natural resource governance, among others.
• Renewable Energy Efficiency Program – to promote clean, alternative energy sources in Uganda. The initiative focuses on promoting policy and legal reforms to enhance access to affordable renewable energy resources, aiming at poverty eradication and environmental conservation. Additionally, it advocates for renewable energy development through public education on efficiency, aligning with environmental conservation and climate change goals.

An important aspect of AFIEGO’s work has been the promotion of green and renewable energy as a means to tackle energy insecurity. It has successfully pushed for amendments to the recently-passed Electricity (Amendment) Act 2022, which amended certain provisions of Uganda’s Electricity Act of 1999. The amendment will provide subsidies for rising energy bills and greater accessibility to solar energy equipment. 

Another example of AFIEGO’s engagement is their ongoing struggle together with the Kyakaboga community. In 2012, more than 7,000 Kyakaboga community members were displaced by the Uganda oil refinery project. Since then, the community has fought to receive the fair and timely land relocation and compensation they are entitled to. In 2014, AFIEGO and the community took their case to the High Court of Uganda to fight this injustice. The case remains ongoing. While a full realization of justice has not yet been achieved, tangible outcomes like relocation have occurred thanks to AFIEGO’s efforts.