Uganda has faced challenges in its quest to mobilise enough domestic resources to finance service delivery. Uganda has large informal sector and therefore enormously hard to collect revenues from it. Yet, among potential sources of revenue that the country can look up to is the taxation of non-resident…
Informal Cross Border Trade (ICBT) is a crucial driver of economic growth and poverty reduction in developing economies, including Uganda. It provides significant income and employment opportunities for the poor and vulnerable groups, especially low-income and unskilled youth, and women in border districts, who often operate outside the…
The National Development Plan III (NDP III) is the third in a series of six development plans whose primary goal is “To increase average household incomes and improve the quality of life of Ugandans” in the period 2020/21 to 2024/25. To achieve its goal, the plan identifies several…
As the world commemorates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2023, the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) adds its voice to stress the significance of this year’s theme on the role played by digital financial inclusion on gender equality. Uganda has registered substantial improvement in digital financial inclusion,…
A country’s system of taxation can have differential effects on men and women. This column looks at the experience of Uganda, where a recently introduced tax on use of the internet threatens to limit women’s access to services, information, and business opportunities. This article calls for analysis of…
Drought is a growing global concern due to its debilitating effects on livelihoods. Globally, drought has affected more people, compared with any other natural hazard, and its adverse effects have more than doubled in the last four decades. In any given year, approximately 55 million people globally are…
A larger part of the world’s working population earns its livelihood from the informal economy.[1] Informality is herein defined as non-registration of business for taxation and incorporation purpose. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that informal employment comprises about 72 percent of non-agricultural employment in Sub-Saharan Africa and…
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are the back bone of Uganda’s economy as they represent 90 percent of the entire private sector and contribute about 18 percent to the country’s GDP. MSMEs also account for the bulk of employment in Uganda. According to the 2015 MSME policy,…
During the 2018/2019 financial year (FY), there was a drastic reduction in key agricultural exports. Specifically, coffee exports reduced by 15%, maize reduced by 52% while beans reduced by 69% (Figure 1). As key agricultural exports declined, there was a sustained increase in total exports from about US$…
Motor bike cyclists popularly known as “bodaboda” are a common sight on the streets of Kampala and other urban areas in Uganda. According to the road safety performance review report (2018), the number of motorcycle taxis in Kampala increased from 15,979 in 2007 to 405,124 in 2014. Their increasing…