“If this was not [my] home, we wouldn’t be here anymore,” said Martin Oik, depicting irrefutable sadness in his voice. Oik runs Lucia Villas Mbale, a medium-sized hotel in the heart of the eastern Uganda town. Until 2019, Lucia’s prospects were bright. Visitors came in droves both local…
In brief Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, who captured power in 1986, has set himself an ambitious development target. Through the Parish Development Model launched recently, he is seeking to lift the country’s annual GDP growth rate to at least 7% by 2040 – up from 5.1% projected for…
The COVID-19 pandemic created an urgency to fast-track digitalization as a critical infrastructure for access to public services, as well as work and social interactions. Despite this shift, the digital divide between the poor and rich, rural, and urban areas, and men and women has become more evident.…
Unpaid care work is critical for the welfare of all people at household and community levels. Chores such as cooking, washing utensils, taking care of the sick, and collecting firewood are critical to the household’s well-being. This work is hardly appreciated, and the burden is disproportionately borne by…
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,…
Last month, Uganda joined the rest of the world to commemorate the International Day of the Girl Child under the theme “Our time is now-our rights, our future”. One thing is clear – there is need to for address constraints that affect girls’ transition to Uganda’s secondary school system.…
An abridged report written by the Makerere University-based think tank, the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC), lays bare the fullest and most detailed insight to date into the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the related lockdowns on the micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.…
Economic Policy Research Centre has completed regional dissemination of survey results on the impact of Covid-19 on the Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in Uganda. The nationwide survey captured the state of MSMEs during and after different spells of Covid-19 instigated shutdowns. During regional disseminations, EPRC interacted…
Uganda could experience further fiscal deficits and public debt increases that will undermine her fiscal potential. The fiscal deficit, a situation where a country spends more than it earns, increased from UGX 4.1 trillion in 2015/16 to UGX 13.4 trillion in 2020/21, while the public debt increased from…
The Covid-19 pandemic and its resultant containment measures for nearly two years, has had a far- reaching impact on employment, business resilience and the economic environment, according to the findings of a new report. The study whose aim was to track how Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs)…