Uganda has unveiled its growth strategy for the 2024/2025 Financial Year, focusing on agro-industrialization, tourism, mineral development including oil and gas, technology, and innovation.
During the presentation of the 2024/25 Budget, the Minister of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development, Hon. Matia Kasaija, emphasized, “These are the anchors that are going to propel Uganda to a US$500 billion economy in the next one-and-a-half decades.”
Kasaija outlined that achieving this ambitious target requires the government to double the size of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) every five years and increase per capita GDP six-fold, from the current US$1,146 to approximately US$7,000 by the Financial Year 2039/2040.
Another critical strategy involves doubling the national savings rate from 20% to 40% of GDP by 2040, and raising the share of exports in GDP from 12% in 2022 to 50%.
Kasaija acknowledged several risks to growth, including climate change affecting agriculture and infrastructure, regional and global geopolitical tensions, high interest rates limiting affordable debt access, and global commodity price fluctuations.
To mitigate these risks, the government is implementing climate change adaptation measures, exploring cheaper financing sources including climate finance, and ensuring frugality in government spending.
Priority areas to support the anchor sectors include significant investments in education, health, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (allocated Shs10.204 trillion). Peace and security are also prioritized, with an allocation of Shs9.107 trillion, alongside maintenance and development of transport infrastructure, including roads and railways (allocated Shs4.989 trillion).
Kasaija highlighted further investments in wealth creation initiatives, commercial agriculture, value addition, the Parish Development Model, Emyooga, Agriculture Credit Facility, tourism, science-based research, youth skilling, export promotion, and the GROW project, with an allocation of Shs2.641 trillion.
The guiding principles of the Shs72.136 trillion 2024/2025 budget include strengthening domestic revenue mobilization, enhancing public finance management to ensure accountability and frugality, avoiding the misuse of public resources, and borrowing only for strategic high-impact projects.
Domestic revenue collection is projected at Shs31.982 trillion, emphasizing reduced reliance on borrowing and external debts. As of December 2023, Uganda’s debt stood at Shs93.38 trillion, with Shs55.37 trillion as external debt.
“I call upon all colleagues and fellow Ugandans to support the Uganda Revenue Authority and other revenue-collecting institutions in mobilizing the revenue required to meet our targets for the financial year 2024/2025. We must raise more revenue,” urged Kasaija.
He reassured that the economy has fully recovered from various shocks over the past four years, projecting a GDP growth of 6% for the 2023/2024 financial year, up from 5.3% in the 2022/2023 financial year. “As a result of this robust growth, the size of the economy is now estimated at Shs202 trillion, up from Shs184.3 trillion in nominal terms,” Kasaija stated.
He added that Uganda’s GDP is expected to expand further to Shs225.5 trillion in the next financial year, driven by increased oil and gas activities, growth in exports supported by regional trade, intra-Africa trade, and partnerships in the Middle East and Asia.
