Minister Lugoloobi Says NDP IV Crucial for Uganda’s Economic Future

The Minister of State for Planning, Amos Lugoloobi, has announced that the National Development Plan IV (NDP IV) should be ready by September 2024. This plan will inform the country’s macroeconomic framework and budgeting processes for the fiscal year 2025/26.

NDP IV is the fourth out of six National Development Plans (NDPs) designed to implement Uganda Vision 2040. It is also the last plan to deliver the Global Agenda 2030 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the first within the implementation of the government’s strategy for achieving ten-fold growth.

The goal of NDP IV is to achieve higher household incomes and employment for sustainable socio-economic transformation, under the theme “Sustainable Industrialization for Inclusive Growth, Employment, and Wealth Creation.”

Speaking at the National Planning Conference, Minister Lugoloobi stated that the strategic direction for NDP IV was approved by Cabinet in March 2024, aligning with the strategy of growing the economy ten-fold. He revealed that the government expects NDP IV (2025/26-2029/30) to provide pathways to attaining the much-desired double-digit growth.

In his remarks, the Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury (PSST), Ramathan Ggoobi, explained that the government has introduced the concept of Indicative Planning Figures (IPFs) to ensure that NDP IV is fiscally realistic with more effective allocation of limited resources.

Ggoobi emphasized that IPFs represent a step towards ensuring the efficient use of government resources, safeguarding ongoing commitments, and strategically addressing new priorities in line with the ten-fold growth strategy. He highlighted the importance of carrying forward critical projects such as the standard gauge railway (SGR) and oil projects within NDP IV.

He stressed the need for prudent and effective planning in developing NDP IV, ensuring that development plans are based on available resources and aligning resources with revenue forecasts to maintain financial stability. He warned against overambitious projections and underfunded priorities.

Ggoobi encouraged programme leaders to focus on developing detailed Programme Implementation Action Plans (PIAPs) with clear resource allocations. He also called for effective coordination and collaboration between the government and development partners to maximize resource utilization and minimize duplication of efforts.

The government plans to achieve NDP IV through five strategic objectives:

Sustainably increasing production, productivity, and value addition in agriculture, minerals, oil & gas, tourism, ICT, and financial services.

Enhancing human capital development. Supporting the private sector to drive growth. Building and maintaining strategic sustainable infrastructure.

Strengthening good governance, security, and the role of the state in development.

Meanwhile, Lucy Nakyobe, the head of Public Service, noted that the government will prioritize selecting a few high-impact growth-enhancing projects over a consortium of projects. She emphasized that the benefits of these high-impact projects, in terms of enhancing household incomes, wealth creation, and job creation for Ugandans, should outweigh the costs of invested public funds.

“This will be achieved by implementing the Public Investment Management System (PIMS) reforms, improving governance of project selection, enforcing competitive processes for contractors, and minimizing costs associated with lengthy and cumbersome procurement processes,” she said.

Charles Olwenyi Ojok, Deputy Executive Director of the National Planning Authority (NPA), revealed that NDP IV will guide future national budgets and other decentralized plans.