PARLIAMENT has approved sh116b for maintenance of Uganda’s 21,000 km national road network. The plan is to spend the money over the next six months. There are concerns whether the Uganda National Roads Authority has the necessary structures to disburse this money efficiently. But at least it is a good signal of intent.

As a landlocked country, the state of our transport system takes on added importance in determining how competitive we can be in an increasingly borderless global economy.
The rise of China over the last 30 years has been largely due to its emphasis on infrastructure development. The East Asian nation has laid more road and rail lines, switched on more power generating capacity, added more subscribers on its ICT networks than all of Africa combined.

In addition to an equally ambitious investment in human capital, China for all intents and purposes can sit at the same table as any of the Western economies.

We need to match our economic development rate with our prodigious population growth increases if we are to ensure an acceptable standard of living for everyone, consolidate recent gains and avert social unrest.

Our rural people are not lazy. They lack access to markets, which is a major disincentive to increased production.
A better transport network will lead to increased production due to the greater access to urban and external markets for farmers.

Beyond roads, the Government should also put emphasis on rail and water transport as cheaper alternatives. National interests should not be subservient to the interests of the road transport industry which has been reaping huge dividends for lack of an alternative.

As the first year of a new decade, the Government should focus on infrastructure to provide a solid foundation for sustainable future growth.