(Bloomberg) -- Uganda said it acquired land for the construction of East Africa’s first nuclear power plant as the continent’s top exporter of coffee beans attempts to expand its electricity generation capacity multi-fold. 

The Minister of State for Energy Okasai Sidronius Opolot made the announcement in a statement without identifying the site. The nation in 2017 said that it planned to build a 2,000 megawatt nuclear power plant by 2032.

Uganda, which largely depends on hydro-electric power, plans to boost electricity generation capacity by almost 12-fold to 17,000 megawatts in the medium term, according to the Electricity Regulatory Authority. 

The International Atomic Energy Agency found that the nation is ready for building the nuclear plant, Aline des Cloizeaux, a director at the IAEA said in the statement. 

The only atomic power station in Africa is situated near Cape Town in South Africa, while Kenya and Nigeria have plans to construct nuclear power plants. 

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