Checking inclusive growth in Uganda. where we could be missing the point.

Inclusiveness pertains to equable opportunities for economic participants during economic growth with benefits incurred by every section of the society. Growth and inclusion go hand in hand and it’s the ability of all leaders to make this happen by working together on the right polices and investments. As the gap between the poor and the affluent widens, aggregate income growth weakens; the more unequal income distribution is, the faster the rate of growth required to achieve a given reduction in poverty

Uganda looks through these lenses and calls the attention of policy makers to a number of drivers including the smallholder farmers; the new generation of primary education attendants; and the movement of factors of production (in particular labor) ideas, and products across locations. Those drivers ideally should help accelerate the economic transformation of the country through innovation and job creation. This should be done by the government having better prioritization of infrastructure, reforming land markets, and equitably delivering social services; these are the main polices that the World Bank has advised the government of Uganda to achieve inclusiveness. Why these policies have failed to deliver inclusiveness after decades is a point of debate

Checking the key sectors where inclusiveness should be targeted, there is no doubt Oil  will have a positive effect on Uganda’s growth prospects, but the government needs to grapple with the fact that the direct poverty reduction effect of oil-driven growth may be limited consequently; oil-driven growth could increase inequalities. International experience has shown that the government can play a crucial re-distributive role through the management of its fiscal revenues.

Uganda seems to be taking positive strides in archieving inclusiveness through transforming Farms. This transformation is leveraged on adoption of new technology to reduce reliance on rain fed fields in order to raise farm yields, which still seems lacking .also  key to note is that, agricultural development relies on land security and ownership of land (people who do not own land cannot invest on it).thus Improving access to agricultural credit needs stronger savings and credit institutions, legalization of leasing arrangements, and promotion of grant-matching schemes can be the prescriptions  i suggest towards this concern.

Transforming Uganda’s human capital is another key areas we need to check. It poses  a twofold challenge however; ensuring quality primary education and stronger transition to secondary education and equipping the labor force with the requisite skills to support transformation of the economy. In spite of education interventions at the primary and secondary levels, Uganda still ranks far below other countries with the student population increasing by about 2 percent every year. there is also mounting  pressure on reforms  needed in the education system  to absorb this influx while addressing the high dropout rates as well as the low completion rates to ensure this inclusive growth driver is harnesed.

 The pursuit to attainment of inclusive growth will not come easy for uganda untill we  address the  above discussed issues    in depth .My marking guide for growth which has worked for all of us will be as follows.1.when Employment opportunities are working  for everyone, 2.when  Education is giving all people the economy relevant tools they need to succeed, 3. When financial services and  other assets start working productively 4. when we begin to tackle corruption with more political will so that rewards go to those who deserve them most, and lastly, when taxes and transfers are made  fairly and are progressive in nature. Untill then, i will be checking with this marking guide to ensure that we are attaining the right kind of growth.

 Kasozi Brian

Economic Hub Uganda
P.O Box 1337, Kampala- Uganda | Tel +256779373114/+256703744999 |
 Email:economichubuganda@gmail.com|nakanwagihalimah@gmail.com ;