THE Ugandan government has allowed South African and Spanish firms to bid for two lucrative concessions in the Ugandan power sector, whose privatisation is in final stages, senior finance ministry official Emmanuel Nyirikindi said on Sunday. Nyirikindi said that the two firms — Eskom Enterprises of South Africa and Union Fenosa Internacional of Spain — saw their chances widened when they were short-listed from the four originally companies pre-qualified for specific concessions. They were the only ones to bid for both Uganda Electricity Generation Company (UEGC) and Uganda Electricity Distribution Company (UEDC) — two of the three arms created in the country’s power sector. But a finance ministry source warned that the privatisation of Uganda’s electricity firms, planned for December this year, which is already behind schedule, may be jeopardised if an ongoing uncertainty surrounding electricity tariffs is not resolved. – Sapa