Uganda achieving middle income status by 2040 is a viable endeavour

By Doris Acheng Odit

It wasn’t a long time from now when the mention of Uganda, to a non-Ugandan, would bring out negative connotations with people relating it to the infamous Idi Amin Dada, the brutal Lord’s Resistance Army War, the countless civil wars, coups and countercoups that were the very face of the country, or the HIV/AIDS scourge that nearly wiped out entire families in the 1980s and 90s. 

The times have, however, changed. Uganda, like most African countries, now basks under the warm sun of a renewed and intensified optimism that is sweeping the entire continent.

An anticipated renaissance, in which economic development, spurred by increased investment, is expected to bring untold political, economic, social, technological and environmental benefits to the once dubbed “dark continent”.

So while the once indomitable western powerhouses like the ailing Greece, Spain, and Ireland – are disintegrating and barely managing to stay afloat- economically, Africa in general, and Uganda in particular, is bracing itself for a new age of prosperity.

This renewed optimism was conceivably re-amplified by President Museveni recently when he unveiled Uganda’s Vision 2040 with strategies that place emphasis on fostering sustainable economic growth. Once called the Pearl of Africa, Uganda, perhaps, has the potential of becoming a formidable investment hub and economic powerhouse in the region and in the continent.

While the current excitement and euphoria can be linked to the discovery and the soon to begin economic exploitation of our oil reserves, Uganda’s economic potential is as vast as the country is diverse. Other than the energy, oil and gas sector, the agricultural, tourism, financial services and ICT sectors perhaps have the greatest potential for boosting the Ugandan economy for benefit of all Ugandans.

The same could of course be said of most African countries, but perhaps what gives Uganda a competitive edge over its other African compatriots is its rapidly expanding internal market, thanks to the skyrocketing population growth rate currently estimated at 30 million and projected by the Population Reference Bureau to increase to approximately 130 million by 2050; an increasingly educated population that has created a pool of highly skilled human capital resources; and by the fact that as of now, we hold the record of having the youngest population in the world, of which demographic, we are soon to reap in terms of human resource capital and youth-driven economically viable innovations.

So how can the average Ugandan harness the growing investment opportunities in Uganda?

For those in the agricultural sector, finding ways to graduate from subsistence to commercial agriculture can go a long way towards improving their earnings; more so with the expanding local market and export opportunities in Southern Sudan, and in Kenya, which has always had food supply deficiencies.

Venturing into the export market would of course call for more emphasis on quality assurance as regards to crop production.

Furthermore, in a country where farming has always been the vocation of choice for the least educated rural dwellers, with minimum education; a shift in paradigms by the educated that would see the educated getting more involved in commercial agricultural ventures would make such pursuits more profitable; I would like to picture a Uganda where graduates finish school and go back to their rural lands to till the land.

Opportunities in the ICT sector also exist, especially mobile phone and internet based technologies with more and more people having access to mobile phones countrywide; opportunities in this field would of course require a great deal of innovations, which is an area young unemployed innovative Ugandan graduates can pursue.

As far as tourism is concerned, Uganda was voted the best tourism destination for 2012 by lonely planet; yet it has the lowest tourist traffic in the East African region and the lowest tourist investment levels as well.

Of course this can be attributed to many factors, such as the perceived insecurity due to the 20 year LRA war in northern Uganda. The tourism industry has by far been a preserve for western Uganda and yet perhaps it can be argued that the most virgin tourist sites are in the north in areas such as Kidepo, Lake Kyoga and the West Nile regions.

However, with the perception of instability still hanging around the neck of northern Uganda, very little progress can be made. Perhaps of all the economic ventures I have mentioned, this is by far the most capital intensive, and a high potential sector in which the Government has to play a big role in revamping.

The Government, as the custodian of the economy, obviously has a role to play in fostering local, small scale, large-scale and international investment through improving infrastructure, establishing means to ease access to capital and financial credit facilities, and easing the cost of doing business in terms of corporate tax rates and company registration procedures.

The Government should also put in place measures towards transforming Uganda from a service driven economy; to an industry driven economy as a way of strengthening the economy and creating jobs for an ever expanding population.

So it is obvious, everybody can have a share in the renaissance in the making that is Uganda’s economy.

By far, it can be argued that Uganda’s economy has perhaps benefited largely the city dwellers. Sustainable economic development, as the ruling party has set to achieve in its vision 2040, can, however, only and truly take place when everyone or the majority have a share of the national cake and not vice versa, and then maybe, we will live to see the economic renaissance that will transform Uganda from a least developed country to a middle income country.

The writer is a Management and ICT Consultant, Trans African Management Consultants
tramadec@gmail.com