Economy of Uganda - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Endowed with significant natural resources, including ample fertile land, regular rainfall, and mineral deposits, it is thought that Uganda

Uganda

Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...

could feed the whole of Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

if it was commercially farmed. The economy of Uganda has great potential, and it appeared poised for rapid economic growth and development. However, chronic political instability and erratic economic management produced a record of persistent economic decline that has left Uganda among the world's poorest and least-developed countries. The national energy needs

Energy in Uganda

Burning of renewable resources provides much of the energy in Uganda, though the government is attempting to become energy self-sufficient. While much of the hydroelectric potential of the country is untapped, the government decision to expedite creation of domestic petroleum capacity coupled with...

have historically been more than domestic energy generation, though large petroleum reserves have been found in the west.

After the turmoil of the Amin

Idi Amin

Idi Amin Dada was a military leader and President of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. Amin joined the British colonial regiment, the King's African Rifles in 1946. Eventually he held the rank of Major General in the post-colonial Ugandan Army and became its Commander before seizing power in the military...

period, the country began a program of economic recovery in 1981 that received considerable foreign assistance. From mid-1984 onward, however, overly expansionist fiscal and monetary policies and the renewed outbreak of civil strife

Civil war

A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....

led to a setback in economic performance.

International trade and finance

Since assuming power in early 1986, Museveni's government has taken important steps toward economic rehabilitation. The country's infrastructure—notably its transport and communications systems which were destroyed by war and neglect—is being rebuilt. Recognizing the need for increased external support, Uganda negotiated a policy framework paper with the IMF and the World Bank

World Bank

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...

in 1987. It subsequently began implementing economic policies designed to restore price stability and sustainable balance of payments, improve capacity utilization, rehabilitate infrastructure, restore producer incentives through proper price policies, and improve resource mobilization and allocation in the public sector. These policies produced positive results. Inflation

Inflation

In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...

, which ran at 240% in 1987 and 42% in June 1992, was 5.4% for fiscal year 1995-96 and 7.3% in 2003.

Investment as a percentage of GDP

Gross domestic product

Gross domestic product refers to the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period. GDP per capita is often considered an indicator of a country's standard of living....

was estimated at 20.9% in 2002 compared to 13.7% in 1999. Private sector investment, largely financed by private transfers from abroad, was 14.9% of GDP in 2002. Gross national savings as a percentage of GDP was estimated at 5.5% in 2002. The Ugandan Government has also worked with donor countries to reschedule or cancel substantial portions of the country's external debts.

Uganda is a member of the WTO.

Currency

Uganda began issuing its own currency in 1966 through the Bank of Uganda. Prior to the failure of the East African Currency Board, Uganda used other countries' currency.

There have been six changes of currency since 1966, but the 1987 version has been stable. Upgrades to it have been intended to decrease counterfeiting and make the currency more useful.

Agriculture

Agricultural products supply nearly all of Uganda's foreign exchange earnings, with coffee alone (of which Uganda is Africa's leading producer) accounting for about 27% of the country's exports in 2002. Exports of apparel, hides

Hides

A hide is an animal skin treated for human use. Hides include leather from cattle and other livestock animals, alligator skins, snake skins for shoes and fashion accessories and furs from wild cats, mink and bears. In some areas, leather is produced on a domestic or small industrial scale, but most...

, skins, vanilla

Vanilla

Vanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla, primarily from the Mexican species, Flat-leaved Vanilla . The word vanilla derives from the Spanish word "", little pod...

, vegetable

Vegetable

The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....

s, fruit

Fruit

In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...

s, cut flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...

s, and fish

Fish

Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

are growing, and cotton

Cotton

Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....

, tea

Tea

Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...

, and tobacco

Tobacco

Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...

continue to be mainstays.

Most industry is related to agriculture.

Industry

The industrial sector is being rehabilitated to resume production of building and construction materials, such as cement, reinforcing rods, corrugated roofing sheets, and paint. Domestically produced consumer goods include plastics, soap

Soap

In chemistry, soap is a salt of a fatty acid.IUPAC. "" Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. . Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford . XML on-line corrected version: created by M. Nic, J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN...

, cork

Cork (material)

Cork is an impermeable, buoyant material, a prime-subset of bark tissue that is harvested for commercial use primarily from Quercus suber , which is endemic to southwest Europe and northwest Africa...

, beer

Beer

Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...

, and soft drink

Soft drink

A soft drink is a non-alcoholic beverage that typically contains water , a sweetener, and a flavoring agent...

s.
Major Cement manufacturers like 'Tororo Cement Ltd' caters to the need of building and construction material consumers across East Africa.

Transportation and Communications

Uganda has about 30,000 kilometers (18,750 mi.), of roads; some 2,800 kilometers (1,750 mi.) are paved. Most radiate from Kampala

Kampala

Kampala is the largest city and capital of Uganda. The city is divided into five boroughs that oversee local planning: Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division and Lubaga Division. The city is coterminous with Kampala District.-History: of Buganda, had chosen...

. The country has about 1,350 kilometers (800 mi.) of rail lines. A railroad originating at Mombasa

Mombasa

Mombasa is the second-largest city in Kenya. Lying next to the Indian Ocean, it has a major port and an international airport. The city also serves as the centre of the coastal tourism industry....

on the Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...

connects with Tororo

Tororo

Tororo is a town in Eastern Uganda. It is the main municipal, administrative and commercial center of Tororo District. The district was named after the town.-Location:...

, where it branches westward to Jinja

Jinja, Uganda

Jinja is the largest town in Uganda, Africa. It is the second busiest commercial center in the country, after Kampala, Uganda's capital and only city. Jinja was established in 1907.-Location:...

, Kampala

Kampala

, and Kasese

Kasese

Kasese is a town in Western Uganda, lying north of Lake George. It originally grew around the copper mine at Kilembe, while attention later turned to cobalt mining. It is the 'chief town' of Kasese District and the district headquarters are located there...

and northward to Mbale

Mbale

Mbale is a city in Eastern Uganda. It is the main municiplal, administrative and commercial center of Mbale District and the surrounding sub-region. The district is named after the town.-Location:...

, Soroti

Soroti

Soroti is the main municipal, commercial and administrative centre of Soroti District in Eastern Uganda, lying near Lake Kyoga. It is known for the rock formation near the town as well as a variety of Muslim mosques, Hindu temples, Sikh gurdwaras as well as several churches that meet in various...

, Lira, Gulu

Gulu

Gulu is a city in Northern Uganda. It is the commercial and administrative centre of Gulu District. The city is located at 2˚46'48N 32˚18'00E, on the metre gauge railway from Tororo to Pakwach. Gulu is located approximately , by road, north of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city...

, and Pakwach

Pakwach

- Location :Pakwach is located in Nebbi District, in West Nile sub-region, in Northern Uganda. It is situated approximately , by road, southeast of Arua, the largest town in West Nile. This location lies along the western bank of the Albert Nile, approximately , by road, southwest of Gulu, the...

. Uganda's important road and rail links to Mombasa serve its transport needs and also those of its neighbors-Rwanda

Rwanda

Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...

, Burundi

Burundi

Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...

, and parts of Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...

and Sudan

Sudan

Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...

. An international airport is at Entebbe

Entebbe

Entebbe is a major town in Central Uganda. Located on a Lake Victoria peninsula, the town was at one time, the seat of government for the Protectorate of Uganda, prior to Independence in 1962...

on the shore of Lake Victoria

Lake Victoria

Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. The lake was named for Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, by John Hanning Speke, the first European to discover this lake....

, some 32 kilometers (20 mi.) south of Kampala.

The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) regulates communications, primarily "delivered through an enabled private sector."

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