Mr Boinapally Venugopal Rao

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dott Services Limited

Mr Boinapally Venugopal Rao is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Dott Services Limited, an EPC contractor, infrastructure project developer, mine developer and operator established in Uganda in 1994. Dott Services was founded by a group of four engineers and classmates who chose to pursue their careers in Uganda after graduation. The company started small and has grown its investments to more than USD 200 million, with over 30 years of service in infrastructure development. The company has built a track record in the delivery of major engineering projects across roads, bridges, hydropower dams, irrigation schemes, buildings, transmission and distribution power lines, water and sewerage systems, and mining projects. Dott Services has operations and presence across Uganda, South Sudan, Tanzania, India, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The company is described in its profile as one of the few indigenous companies in Uganda with demonstrable capacity and a proven record of accomplishments to the satisfaction of its clients. The company employs 1,052 permanent staff and 5,623 temporary staff. Its current order book is approximately USD 517 million. Dott Services has developed comprehensive engineering capacity through investment in workshop facilities, quarries, crushing capacity and specialised services. The company has also invested in heavy plant and equipment, including heavy plant workshops, stone quarries, stores and warehouses, stone crushing units, concrete batching plants, asphalt plants and wet mixing plants. The company has collaborated on projects with several international funders and institutions, including the African Development Bank, World Bank, Islamic Development Bank, Afreximbank, BADEA, KfW Development Bank, European Union, AFD, Trade and Development Bank, TradeMark East Africa, UKEF, DFID, Standard Chartered Bank, ABSA Bank, UBA Bank and DFCU Bank. Dott Services has also worked with international joint venture partners across roads, water and sewerage, electrical transmission lines, industrial and business parks, hydropower, mechanical works and electro-mechanical works. A key industrial infrastructure project in the company profile is the Kampala Industrial Business Park at Namanve. The project is being advanced through Lagan Dott Namanve Limited, a joint venture between Lagan Group Limited of the United Kingdom and Dott Services Limited of Uganda. The joint venture is developing infrastructure for the 2,200-acre industrial park, including tarmac roads, water supply, sewerage networks, solid waste facilities, waste treatment, a 33kV power network, street lighting, IT and telecoms. Dott Services has completed more than 955.7 kilometres of tarmac roads in Uganda and more than 250.5 kilometres of tarmac roads in Tanzania. Its road portfolio includes national road rehabilitation, upgrading of gravel roads to paved bituminous standard, municipal road works and strategic transport routes. In hydropower, Dott Services has served as EPC contractor for projects including Kabalega 9MW, Waki 4.8MW, Nyagak III 6.6MW and the ongoing Nengo Bridge 8.6MW project. The company has developed in-house capacity in civil works, hydro-mechanical works, electro-mechanical works and metal fabrication for hydropower infrastructure. The company’s wider portfolio includes water systems, irrigation schemes, sewerage systems, solid waste and landfill infrastructure, and electrical transmission and distribution networks across Uganda. Dott Services is accredited with ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018. The company also states that it complies with national and international standards for health, environment and safety, and has experience in environmental and social impact assessments and monitoring plans in line with IFC standards. Through its infrastructure projects and local establishments, Dott Services reports that it has created direct and indirect employment, trained Ugandan engineers and technical staff, supported local communities with clean water, power access and road improvements, and participated in emergency and disaster response support in Uganda.