Musevenomics is building Uganda from ground up

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OPINION

By Michael Woira

During the recent Trade Fair at Lugogo, I had the opportunity to listen to a thought-provoking discussion between Dr Ezra Muhumuza, the Executive Director of the Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA), and Dr Edward Katende of the Uganda Development Forum. The two discussed Uganda’s economic journey and, in particular, a concept I had often heard about but never fully understood, “Musevenomics”. It was through this conversation that I grasped the true meaning of Musevenomics and its deep relevance to Uganda’s development path.

As I listened to the two unpacking the concept, I realised that Musevenomics is not just another political slogan. It is a philosophy, a way of thinking about development that puts people first and begins with what Uganda already has. It rejects the idea that our solutions must always come from outside and instead challenges us to design our growth around our own strengths, history, and realities.

Musevenomics is built on a simple but powerful belief: that real transformation must start from the ground up. It prioritises inclusion, home-grown innovation, and the courage to invest in what may seem unconventional especially to those who view development only through spreadsheets and theories.

I was struck by how much of this thinking is visible in Uganda’s recent development story. For example, when the government began extending electricity to remote rural areas, many economists dismissed it as wasteful. But in hindsight, that decision was visionary. It wasn’t just about lighting homes; it was about awakening the countryside. Today, we are seeing industries setting up in rural districts where power lines have reached. Grain mills, welding shops, and processing centres are springing up in places that once relied solely on subsistence farming.

That, in essence, is Musevenomics, investing in catalytic infrastructure before demand fully materialises. It’s the idea that you don’t wait for people to ask for development; you create the conditions for them to demand it. Roads, electricity, and financial inclusion are not luxuries; they are the foundation of transformation.

But what moved me most in the discussion was the human side of it,  the idea that Musevenomics is about mobilising every Ugandan to be part of the country’s economic journey. It sees the ordinary person, the farmer, trader, or youth in the village not as a recipient of aid but as a builder of wealth.

For a long time, development models treated rural areas as dependent zones that needed to be helped rather than empowered. Musevenomics flips that completely. It sees rural Uganda as a sleeping giant full of untapped energy and potential. When people are given access to electricity, affordable credit, and decent roads, they don’t wait for handouts. They create. They build. They innovate.

This is the spirit behind programmes such as the Parish Development Model and Emyooga. While critics have often dismissed them as political tools, I now see them differently as instruments of economic inclusion. They represent an effort to move money and opportunity closer to the people, allowing communities to mobilise savings, access credit, and participate meaningfully in the national economy.

The creation of SACCOs, the Microfinance Support Centre, and the legal recognition of Tier Four institutions all point to the same vision which is building a culture of saving and financial independence among Ugandans. It’s a quiet revolution, one that doesn’t make headlines but is steadily changing lives in villages and trading centres across the country.

Another part of Musevenomics that fascinated me is its focus on value addition. For decades, Uganda’s economy followed the colonial pattern which was mainly aiming at exporting raw materials and importing finished goods. Musevenomics challenges this logic. It pushes for local processing, industrialisation, and job creation. You can see this in the rise of local enterprises.

This chain of local transformation where small processors handle primary production and larger firms refine and export  keeps more wealth within our borders and multiplies economic participation. It’s not just about GDP; it’s about livelihoods.

Infrastructure development plays a big part in all this. Musevenomics deliberately invests in rural roads, electricity, and connectivity not because it’s politically popular, but because it’s economically transformative. A village without power cannot imagine electricity-dependent enterprises, but once power arrives, possibilities multiply. That’s how equal opportunity begins  not in theory, but on the ground, one connection, one road, one business at a time and that’s the what President Museveni is looking at in his Protecting the Gains Slogan for these campaigns.

As I reflected on this conversation later, I realised that Musevenomics is ultimately a philosophy of faith,  faith in Uganda’s people, in their ability to build, save, and grow when given the right tools. It is about trusting that ordinary citizens, when empowered, can drive extraordinary transformation.

Development, I have come to see, is not just about budgets and statistics. It’s about people,  their confidence, creativity, and capacity to shape their own destiny. Musevenomics is Uganda’s way of saying that we can build prosperity from within, not by waiting for others to do it for us, but by believing in our own potential. It may not be so perfect and a well-known idea, but I see its working  and, most importantly, it is for us all.

Patriotic Ugandan