The tenfold growth strategy: ‘The Ugandan dream’

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OPINION

By Apollo Munghinda

In the budget speech for FY 2025/26, finance minister Matia Kasaija said Uganda’s economy has, without question, taken off “to transform into a $500b economy, powered by the value addition of the abundant agricultural raw materials, natural resources and growth in industry, tourism and knowledge economy”.

To support this trajectory, the Tenfold Growth Strategy underscores the need to intensively accumulate and leverage multiple forms of capital — human, physical, institutional and natural — to unlock productivity across the priority sectors within 15 years.

The Tenfold Growth Strategy is Uganda’s Mission positioned to be the ‘Ugandan Dream’, akin to the ‘American Dream’, as put forth by James Truslow, in his book, Epic of America, in 1931.

Truslow described this idea as that dream of a land in which life should be better, with lots of opportunities for everyone.

In fact, the Oxford English Dictionary defines the ‘American Dream’ as “the ideal that every citizen of the United States should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination and initiative”.

This dream of an inclusive social order is reflected in Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous 1963 speech, "I Have a Dream." This dream is not unique to America — simply because every country, every person can have a dream.

Uganda’s blueprint of the dream promises to build a greater legacy for future generations than the one handed down to us by the past generation of reformers. It also promises rapid expansion of the economy in a transformative, sustainable and inclusive manner.

But what does a shared ‘Ugandan Dream’ look like? What does a successful Ugandan look like? When you think about being a Ugandan, what comes to your mind?

These are questions we must all answer, as we think about living the ‘Ugandan Dream’, to dream possibilities, regardless of our social status or even the circumstances of our birth. One of my friends, who saw me crafting this piece, wondered whether it is possible for a middle-class Ugandan, for example, to have the same dream as that of a man or woman still in the subsistence economy!

Regardless of the opinions each and every Ugandan may hold about this big dream, the most important takeaway is to believe in something that inspires and unites all Ugandans.

As the country embarks on implementing the Tenfold Growth Strategy, the ‘Ugandan Dream’ can be realised if the citizens believe in who they are, in addition to developing an entrepreneurial spirit with a focus on upward mobility and success through hard work and determination.

As Ugandans work harder to be successful, the leaders, more than ever before, have the responsibility of inspiring Ugandans to dream big, by offering sacrificial and strategic leadership to the country.

Our communities must be supported and organised to raise wealth creators. Every child must aspire to become a wealth creator — not simply dream of buying a car or building a house!

The inherent beauty with wealth creators is their ability to mobilise all the factors of production, including labour, capital and technology. This is what we need to achieve the Tenfold Growth. The Government is now focusing on providing the necessary infrastructure, governance framework, public services and markets, among other enablers, to nurture and empower the wealth creators.

To ensure our villages raise the next Mulwanas and Mukwanos, we must sparingly celebrate those making ‘artificial wealth’ through, for example, importing goods, and focus on celebrating the real generational wealth creators in our vicinity.

Government programmes such as the Parish Development Model (PDM) and Emyooga are truly shaping the mindset of Ugandans to believe that wealth creation is possible.

These government interventions, with the stewardship of President Yoweri Museveni, will continue to change the lives of Ugandans by boosting household incomes, enhancing food security and creating employment opportunities.

The clarion call for every Ugandan is to participate in the reorganisation of their communities into functional ones. This can be achieved through the election of the right leaders, who are accountable, and through paying a fair share of taxes as a noble duty, engaging in productive and income-generating activities and saving some of the money for a rainy day.

That is the Uganda we want — where families and villages raise entrepreneurs and where the youth dream about being wealth creators, not white-collar job seekers.

Uganda’s sustained economic growth record, currency and price stability, poverty and inequality reduction, life expectancy gains and competitive return on investment, in a peaceful and secure environment, have all set the perfect stage for realising the ‘Ugandan Dream’.

The writer is the Principal Communication Officer at the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development