Uganda’s unstoppable economy will be worth $550bn – Museveni
President Museveni also thanked Ugandans who have been praying and wishing him quick recovery since last week when he tested Positive for Covid-19.
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni’s faith in the economic potential of the country he has ruled since 1886 is unmatched. In a country where most people are wallowing in poverty, the president is convinced that the country is on the right economic path.
He sees nothing economically wrong in the country despite alarming levels of corruption, widespread mismanagement of the country’s resources and a global economy that is unstable because of political instabilities in developed countries.
With a lot of confidence, the president, who is under quarantine because he has COVID-19, in his 2023/2024 Budget Speech to Parliament delivered virtually from State House Nakasero said that Uganda’s economic growth is unstoppable.
Museveni noted that by the end of the coming Financial Year, Uganda’s economy will have grown 37 times in size compared to 1986 when the National Resistance Movement (NRM) government came into power.
A visibly strong Museveni, despite his sickness said, “As I told you in the State of the Nation address, our economy will be US Dollars 55.2 billion by the end of the coming Financial Year,”
He called upon citizens to listen to his message of adding value to all the country’s raw materials.
He attributed the country’s economic growth to the realization of the minimum economic recovery targets set out in 1987, the expansion of the sectors that had recovered and the diversification from the original narrow spectrum of the economy of the 3 C’s (cotton, coffee and copper) and the 3 T’s (Tobacco, Tourism and Tea).
The president said Uganda is now able to earn money from other items such as fish, maize, milk, and gold in addition to the 4th task of the knowledge economy based on science and high technology.
He, however, said Uganda’s economy remains raw materials-based, calling for the need to add value to all raw materials such as coffee, cotton, timber, cocoa, fish products, gold, iron ore, copper, vermiculite, phosphates, petrochemicals, maize, bananas, etc., and stopping to export them unprocessed.
“By doing this, our economy will jump to $550 billion instead of the mere $55.2 billion. Therefore, no games, no delays, no corruption, no relenting on PDM and Emyooga, Uganda is unstoppable,” he said, adding that Uganda has been importing leather (hides and skins) from China and India until recently when he set up a leather processing factory in Kawumu.
The Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Hon. Matia Kasaija presented to Ugandans a Shs52.7 trn budget under the theme: “Full Monetization of Uganda’s Economy through Commercial Agriculture, Industrialization, Expanding and Broadening Services, Digital Transformation and Market Access”,
Kasaija said the NRM government had laid a strong foundation to accelerate the socio-economic transformation for all Ugandans. “The Budget for the next Financial Year 2023/2024, therefore, has been prepared to advance this strategic mission,” Kasaija said.
Kasaija assured that Uganda’s economy has remained resilient and is on a steady recovery path. He noted that the economy this year is projected to have grown by 5.5% compared to 4.6% last year.
“This year’s performance compares favourably with the average growth rate for Sub-Saharan Africa estimated at 3.6% for the calendar year 2023. The size of the economy is estimated at Shs184.3 trillion, compared to Shs162.9 trillion last year. This is equivalent to $ 49.4 billion compared to $ 45.6 billion last year,” the minister said.
