PwC-NTV economic summit moves to transform vision into action

A man and a woman harvest coffee. Agriculture will be one of the three priority sectors of the economy namely tourism, agriculture and industry which the summit will address in a bid to transform country’s vision into reality. PHOTO BY JOSEPH KATO

What you need to know:

Interview. Chief executives and top business leaders from the private sector and senior government officials are meeting today to discuss how best to transform Uganda’s economy. Daily Monitor spoke to Mr Francis Kamulegeya, the country senior partner PwC Uganda about the summit.

Our readers want to know more about this summit.
The summit is going to be the first of its kind which will bring together chief executives and top business leaders from the private sector and senior government officials to discuss how best to transform Uganda’s economy to attain middle income status. The main focus of the summit will be on quick wins that have the potential to be transformative. The chief guest will be President Yoweri Museveni. The keynote speaker will be Ambassador Helen Hai, a United Nations Industrial Development Organisation Goodwill Ambassador for industrialisation in Africa.

What should delegates attending the summit and viewers watching at home expect?
They should expect a robust and informed debate where panelists and delegates at the summit will talk about the economy from a broader national and big picture perspective. Our objective is to start a dialogue that is aimed challenging the status quo and business as usual attitude, while learning from successful stories from elsewhere in the world. The discussion will focus on the sectors where we have both competitive and comparative advantages. These sectors have been correctly identified in National Development Plan II. We will challenge as well as commit ourselves as a nation to act in a manner that is aimed at achieving the objectives set in our national plan.

When you speak to some political leaders and economists in Uganda, they will tell you that they have seen little benefit from the ‘sacrifices’ Ugandans were asked to make through economic liberalisation, deregulation and privatisation of state enterprises; despite the fact that these were the right policies for the government to pursue.
We therefore need to re-examine the success or not, of these policies while at the same time continue to pursue new policies aimed at improving the investment climate, public sector reforms, fighting corruption and promoting public - private sector partnerships.

Why did you choose the theme “Turning the Vision into Action” ?
I have been to so many conferences and summits where we spend so much time talking about where we have come from and how bad things were in the past. We need to change focus and spend more time talking about the future. Having a vision enables us to visualise where we want to be. To get there we need to act. This is why we chose that theme. The main discussion during the summit will be on the three priority sectors of the economy namely tourism, agriculture and industry with infrastructure development and access to finance as enablers.

Why tourism?
Currently tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy. It contributes just under 10 per cent of Uganda’s GDP, and has grown by 15 per cent over the last two years. Over the last five years the number of tourist arrivals into Uganda has doubled from 600,000 in 2009 to close to 1.3m in 2014. Sustainable tourism development in Uganda has the potential to create jobs, contribute to poverty alleviation, attract investment, stimulate private sector development, promote growth, and improve a country’s international image.

Agriculture contribution to Gross Domestic Product has been declining over the years.
That is true. Agriculture contribution to GDP in Uganda has been declining over time, from 45 per cent in 1990s to an average of 23 per cent as of now. In addition, growth of the agricultural sector has consistently remained below the average performance of the economy. Despite this declining trend, agriculture remains the main source of livelihoods for the majority of people in Uganda. Statistics indicate that 72 per cent of the working population is engaged in the agriculture sector.

The decrease in the share of agriculture as a contribution to GDP in Uganda does not reflect any fundamental transformation of the production structure, or major steps towards industrialisation. In fact the reverse is true. Over the last 6 years the industry contribution to GDP has also declined from 24 per cent to an average of about 19 per cent. This implies that Uganda is yet to realise several benefits of industrialisation.

What lessons can we learn from other countries that have successfully transformed their economies?
The government’s policy of front loading infrastructure development and power and energy, is the right one. Roads, railway are important for industrialisation and also for other sectors of the economy. But, you cannot have industrialisation in Uganda without power. If a country does not have reliable and affordable electricity, it cannot industrialise.
Look at what Ethiopia has been able to achieve in a very short period of time. Through massive expenditure in infrastructure development, power and energy, the country has now positioned itself as the new China. When investors look at what is happening in Ethiopia they like what they see. Currently electricity in Ethiopia is one of the cheapest in the world, at only $4 cents per kwh. In Uganda the price is 3 times that of Ethiopia.