Museveni to close National Review Conference as govt flags progress, gaps

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President Yoweri Museveni is set to close the National Performance Review Conference this Friday, capping a three-day high-level meeting.

The summit, held at Speke Resort Munyonyo and convened by the Office of the Prime Minister, has brought together top government officials, development partners, civil society and private sector leaders to assess national progress and chart priorities under the Fourth National Development Plan (NDP IV).

At the centre of discussions is Uganda’s ambitious “Tenfold Growth Strategy,” which seeks to expand the economy from about $50 billion to $500 billion by 2040, as well as the acceleration of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by Uganda as the clock ticks to 2030.

Minister for General Duties in OPM Justine Kasule Lumumba said Friday that many emerging issues from the event generally indicate progress across several areas of government, particularly in regional trade and value addition, but others point to significant bottlenecks remain.

“We still face weak coordination, financing gaps and serious implementation challenges,” Lumumba noted, underscoring the scale of reforms required to hit the target.

It was also noted that high borrowing costs, climate shocks and global geopolitical tensions are constraining development financing and slowing momentum.

In light of this, the summit called for stronger policy alignment and more innovative financing approaches to ensure limited resources deliver measurable impact.

"In the private sector, micro, small and medium enterprises—responsible for roughly 70% of GDP—continue to struggle with regulatory barriers and limited access to affordable credit, " Lumumba noted while presenting a document on observations and recommendations from the summit. 

In the justice system, it was noted that there is a need to address the high case backlog.

Meanwhile, the energy sector faces persistent challenges, including ageing infrastructure and illegal power connections.

It was also noted during the conference that while infrastructure development is improving, there was an urgent need to address staffing shortages, especially in key sectors such as health and education so to guarantee service delivery.

The summit also raised concerns about coordination among Non-State Actors, who contribute about 18% of development financing.

“Many organisations are inactive or duplicating efforts, which reduces overall impact,” she said, adding that as the conference closes, attention should turn to execution and accountability sooner that later.

Lumumba stressed that stronger coordination—both within government and with external partners—will be critical to translating plans into tangible results.