By Esther Nakkazi Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development officials have commended the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) for the research on oil for intergenerational equity. They say EPRC researchers have raised the level of discussion in the oil and gas sector taking adequate stock of what has been done and giving a positive look at what will happen. The research is in a published paper entitled ‘Accelerating Growth and maintaining Intergenerational Equity using oil resources in Uganda,’ presented in Kampala on 10th December 2013 by Lawrence Bategeka, a senior Research Fellow at EPRC and Joseph Mawejje a Research Analyst at EPRC.   The paper suggests things Uganda should do right to avoid the natural resource curse and to ensure that the benefits from oil accrue equally to the current as well as future generations. “It is good to have the academicians and researchers talking about oil. The country can now have an engagement between the people who know and...

YES. From a published paper entitled ‘Accelerating Growth and maintaining Intergenerational Equity using Oil resources in Uganda,’ presented by researchers from the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC), Makerere University, in Kampala on 10th December 2013. It is possible. A paper by Lawrence Bategeka, a Senior Research Fellow at EPRC and Joseph Mawejje a research analyst at EPRC, suggests things Uganda should do right to avoid the resource curse and ensure that the benefits from oil accrue equally to the current and future generations. The two researchers argue that with a robust legal regime, strong independent institutions, transparency in government operations, communication, prudent public financial management, and responsible environmental management practices, intergenerational equity in respect of use of oil and gas resources is possible. However, the situation in most Africa countries, is that discoveries of significant oil resources has invariably been associate...

By Dr. David Kihangire, BERF International Consults For almost 2.5 decades, Ugandan economy has grown, become larger and more developed. •Two new key areas of focus are (a) the emergence of the oil and gas sector; and (b) EAMU; with high potential benefits /opportunities, (as well as challenges) to the economy.   •The two new areas necessitate fundamental review of the existing macro framework, institutional arrangements, policy management, and adequate preparedness to enable us to (a) harvest the opportunities and (b) respond adequately to new emerging challenges. The Quantitative Macroeconomic Framework & IT Lite •Medium term quantitative macroeconomic framework (Anchored on projections for GDP, inflation, fiscal variables, monetary aggregates and the BOP) used to guide policy. •Fiscal policy planned from a medium term perspective with revenues-driven expenditure ceilings •Monetary policy more flexible, adjustable frequently under IT Liteframework •Se...

   The Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) has launched the third FinScope Uganda 2013 Survey Report on 28th November 2013 at the Kampala Serena Hotel. Under the theme ‘Unlocking Barriers to Financial Inclusion in Uganda’ the report examines the demand, access and usage of financial services in Uganda through four major access strands namely: saving and investment; credit and borrowing; remittances and money transfer; insurance and risk management. In addition, the FinScope report also establishes the level of financial literacy among the adult population and their perception of consumer protection offered by financial institutions. Sarah Ssewanyana the executive director EPRC said that they hope that the FinScope III survey Report will contribute to enhancing the landscape of financial inclusion, and assist in the development of appropriate products and services, including the design of relevant policies and necessary regulatory frameworks to bring those that are...

Uganda must review the driver of growth by improving financial literacy if the country will achieve financial inclusion of every Ugandan says Minister of Finance Maria Kiwanuka. Ms Kiwanuka, while launching the FinScope III Survey Report, said that it is important for people to learn how to invest before they can create savings to put in different financial institutions like banks, insurance, SACCOS and other informal financial services. She was speaking at the launch of the third FinScope Survey report at the Kampala Serena hotel on Thursday (November 28th 2013). Most African countries have implemented the FinScope surveys and they are being implemented with an aim of determining the levels of access to and use of financial products and services by adult population of 16 years and above. The findings of the FinScope III survey report reveal that in rural areas, people use more informal financial service providers like village saving schemes and mobile money (35%) than the form...

Summary of Minister of Finance Maria Kiwanuka at the Launch of FinScope III Survey Report held on 28/11/ 2013 at Kampala Serena Hotel- Victoria Hall It gives me great honor and pleasure as I join you today to give the closing remarks and to officially launch the FinScope III survey report for Uganda. I want to thank the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) the organizers of this event, DFID the funders and Bank of Uganda the custodians of FinScope and all other stakeholders that have contributed to the success of this project. The importance of this survey results is underscored by the high levels of financial exclusion prevailing in the country. In Uganda, Financial Inclusion remains a challenge in spite of the many gains and successes we have achieved in the financial sector in the last 20 years. Financial services such as savings products, credit and loans, payment and money transfer services, provide the population with greater capacity to stabilize and increas...

Summary of Key Note Address from Bank of Uganda at the Launch of FINSCOPE III Survey Report on November 28, 2013 at Kampala Serena Hotel Before I give my brief address, allow me to thank the FinScope Team, the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC), Uganda Bureau of Statistics and FinMark Trust for having successfully implemented the Uganda FinScope III (2013) survey. I am particularly grateful to DFID for the significant role they have played in providing the necessary funding for the survey. The Bank of Uganda continues to show much appreciation for the support that DFID has given towards increased financial inclusion in Uganda. FinScope surveys are being implemented in a number of African countries with the ultimate aim of covering the entire continent.  The stated objective of FinScope surveys is to determine the levels of access to, and use of, financial products and services by adult population 16 years or above. Understanding access and use of finan...

The country is in a serious crisis and we need some self soul searching.  The report released yesterday (November 19th 2013) by The World Bank and Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) surveyed 400 schools and 400 health centers across the country indicates that;  - Only 35% of public health providers could correctly diagnose at least 4 out of 5 very common conditions (like diarrhea with dehydration and malaria with anemia).  - In health centers that only offer outpatient services, half (49%) of the providers could not identify more than one of these conditions. Worryingly, public providers followed only 1 out of 5 (20%) of the correct actions needed to manage maternal and neonatal complications.  - Less than 1 in 5 (19%) of public school teachers showed mastery of the curriculum they teach. Years of education and level of teacher training were positively correlated with higher teacher scores.  Absenteeism  - More than half (52%) of public health provid...

Kampala, November 19, 2013 - Uganda has reduced poverty and child mortality by half, and has enrolled most primary-age children in school. However, new service delivery data published today suggest that the quality of education and health services remain weak, posing serious challenges to the country’s long-term social and economic progress as outlined in its vision 2040 for the future. The new Uganda Service Delivery Indicators (SDI)-based on independent surveys of 5,300 teachers and health workers in 400 primary schools and health facilities-show that Uganda is still very far from achieving optimal performance in schools and health centers. SDI is an Africa-wide initiative led by the World Bank, the African Economic Research Consortium, and the African Development Bank. The Uganda SDI surveys were implemented by the Economic Research Policy Centre, Uganda. A key Uganda SDI finding is that there are significant knowledge gaps among teachers and health workers in both pub...

“The glory and qualification of Uganda being endowed with good weather and fertile soils with wonderful natural resources are long gone. The soils are able to feed just about 6 million people out of 35 million”, warns Beatrice Byarugaba, Commissioner Crop production & marketing of ministry of Agriculture. She said this at today’s draft National Fertilizer Sub-sector Strategy (NFS) validation workshop at Imperial Royale Hotel. The draft strategy that was formulated after consultations with all stakeholder including farmers’ associations, civil society, three parliamentary committees on Agriculture, Finance and Natural resources will also be adopted by the East African Community (EAC) according to Komayombi Bulegeya, Commissioner Crop protection, Ministry of Agriculture. Whereas the Abuja declaration of 2006 implored all African states to increase the use of fertilizers to at least 50kgs of nutrients per hectare per year by 2015, Uganda’s rate stands at a measly 1kg of per he...