Economical overview
Uganda has good economic conditions: a
favorable climate, fertile soils, rich natural resources
and a relatively well-educated population. Over the past
25 years, the country has shown high growth, but it has
come from a low level and Uganda is still considered a
poor country. The oil discoveries made in western Uganda
are expected to give further momentum to the country's
economy, but production will not start until early 2017.
However, economic development is hampered by a number of
problems, such as widespread corruption and lack of
infrastructure.
In the 1960s, Uganda was one of Africa's richest
countries, with a successful agriculture and a
significant processing industry. Relative wealth was
completely destroyed during Idi Amin's regime in
1971–79. At that time, residents of Asian descent were
displaced, which had dominated the business world. An
important contribution to the economic recovery came
when the displaced Asians in 1991 were invited to return
and regain their property.
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Countryaah.com:
Major imports by Uganda, covering a full list of top products imported by the country and trade value for each product category.
In the early 1990s, the government embarked on a
successful business-friendly reform policy in accordance
with guidelines from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Government spending was reduced by layoffs of 150,000
civil servants and state-owned companies were
privatized. However, growth was slowed by major problems
with the electricity supply, which limited the
industry's ability to increase its production as demand
rose.
In 2000–2009, GDP rose by more than 7 percent a
year, after a slowdown in growth. The engine of the
development has been the private business sector, which
has been stimulated by the liberalization of the state
sector. The dependence on a single export product,
coffee, has also been broken. The telecom industry and
retail are among the sectors of the economy that have
grown rapidly in recent years. Large investments have
been made and have been made on infrastructure,
including a number of major roads have been built, while
a new railway line is planned as well as two large
hydropower plants.
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Abbreviationfinder.org: Check this abbreviation website to find three letter ISO codes for all countries in the world, including UGA which represents the country of Uganda.
Also important are the money that Ugandans living
abroad send home. In 2014, it was about $ 900 million.
Tourism to Uganda has also increased rapidly, bringing
in about $ 1.4 billion in 2013/2014. In recent years,
growth has largely been kept up with increased domestic
demand for goods and services.
In 2009–2011, inflation reached double-digit figures
and food and fuel price increases contributed to
triggering popular protests in 2011. Since then, the
Ugandan central bank has managed to bring inflation down
to about 5 percent in 2013 and 2014.
Government spending is greater than income. In the
2015/2016 budget, the deficit was expected to land at 7
per cent of GDP, which was several percentage points
more than in the previous year.
The Ugandan state has long had large external debts,
but they were largely amortized through the debt-relief
program for high-indebted poor countries (HIPC). The
money Uganda saved in interest payments has, among other
things, gone to education.
Foreign debt amounted to almost $ 4.4 billion in 2013
and in 2013/2014, the central government debt
corresponded to just over one third of GDP.
There is a debate within the country about whether the
government has allowed its debt to rise too much. In
recent years, with future oil revenues as security, it
has lent large sums to the infrastructure investments.
The loan policy was seen as extra risky when the price
of oil began to fall rapidly in the fall of 2014.
Uganda has had a deficit in trade with foreign
countries for a number of years. Imports of goods and
services have often been more than twice their exports
during the 2010s.
Aid donors streamed in after Uganda's successful
reforms, but later a number of them have reduced their
involvement due to problems with corruption and lack of
democracy. Several major donor countries, but also the
World Bank, cut down a large part of the support that
went directly to the Ugandan state in connection with
the tours around the new legislation against
homosexuals. Some of that support was later resumed
after the Constitutional Court annulled the law. In the
early 2010s, the aid accounted for about one-fifth of
the state budget.
FACTS - FINANCE
GDP per person
US $ 643 (2018)
Total GDP
US $ 27,477 million (2018)
GDP growth
6.1 percent (2018)
Agriculture's share of GDP
24.2 percent (2018)
Manufacturing industry's share of GDP
8.3 percent (2018)
The service sector's share of GDP
47.6 percent (2018)
Inflation
3.2 percent (2019)
Government debt's share of GDP
41.4 percent (2018)
External debt
US $ 11,189 million (2017)
Currency
Ugandan shilling
Merchandise exports
US $ 3,642 million (2018)
Imports
US $ 6 099 million (2018)
Current account
- US $ 2,565 million (2018)
Commodity trade's share of GDP
35 percent (2018)
Main export goods
coffee, fish, gold, tea
Largest trading partner
Kenya, Belgium, Netherlands, France, USA, United Arab
Emirates, South Africa, India
2010
September
Treason charges against opposition leaders are released
Kizza Besigye is named presidential candidate for four opposition parties. A
few months later, the Constitutional Court dismisses all charges against him for
high treason (see October 2005), claiming that the state
violated the Constitution when Besigye was simultaneously facing trial in a
civil and military court.
July
Somali group takes on attacks
On July 11, two concerted suicide attacks in Kampala will be carried out,
requiring at least 74 deaths and many injured. The deed is aimed at a rugby club
and an Ethiopian restaurant in the middle of the World Cup finals. The militant
Islamist group al-Shabaab from Somalia takes on the blame for the death. The
group has threatened to carry out attacks in Uganda in revenge for the country
having peacekeeping troops in Somalia.
May
Ministers accused of corruption
According to a parliamentary report leaked to the press in 2010, Vice
President Gilbert Bukenya and several corruption ministers are being charged in
connection with the Commonwealth Summit in Uganda 2007.
January
The government does not support a new bill
In January, Investment Minister Aston Kajara said the government might try to
persuade the MEP to withdraw the bill on homosexuality, since there are already
strict laws.
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