Government says an efficient, accountable, and responsive public sector is the engine of private sector competitiveness, especially in less diversified economies such as Uganda.
Speaking at the Second Annual Doing Business Forum in Kampala, a forum that brought together senior government officials, private sector leaders, development partners, and civil society representatives, key speakers including head of Public Service and secretary to Cabinet Lucy Nakyobe, permanent secretary and secretary to the Treasury Ramathan Ggoobi and head of private sector development at the Ministry of Finance Dianah Nannono, acknowledged that for the private sector to thrive, the public sector must be accountable and strong.
Ms Nakyobe, who opened the forum, underscored the importance of efficiency in achieving Uganda’s ambitious target of a $500b economy by 2040, noting that despite projected economic growth of 7 percent in the next financial year, progress would depend on cutting bureaucratic delays, streamlining licensing, and improving access to industrial parks and utilities.
‘Efficiency must be measured not by promises but by results; faster service delivery, lower costs, and reduced red tape,’ she said, citing reforms such as the Online Business Registration System at URSB and enhanced digital tax administration at URA, which collected Shs31.6 trillion, as examples of how technology is improving service delivery and reducing business costs.
The progress
Mr Ggoobi, on the other hand, highlighted progress made under the Public Sector Transformation Programme, which seeks to improve staffing, transparency, and digital service delivery, expansion of the National Backbone Infrastructure with over 4,387 kilometres of optic fiber laid across 56 districts, establishment of 300 Wi-Fi hotspots in major business centers, and rollout of the e-government procurement system in 62 ministries, departments and agencies and 134 local governments, as key in powering private sector growth.
Government is also finalising the Doing Business Portal, an online feedback system that will allow businesses to track reforms and communicate directly with policymakers
‘Efficiency is a shared responsibility between government and the private sector. Together, we can make efficiency the driver of competitiveness,’ Ggoobi said.
Ms Nannono outlined several interventions supporting enterprise growth, including the capitalisation of UDB with Shs1.5 trillion, additional funding of Shs1 trillion, and a $74m programme to improve electricity reliability for SMEs as well as a Shs176b commercial agriculture financing scheme targeting large-scale farmers and continued improvements in land registration through Uganda National Land Information System, which has cut registration time to days as key drivers that continue to support private sector growth.
‘We are building a public sector that is efficient, responsive, and predictable, creating an environment where businesses can flourish,’ she said.