Uganda’s economy is expected to pick up to 4.6% in 2017/18, upfrom a growth rate of 3.9% in 2016/17, according to Barcelona-based Focus Economics.
The report released last week says large public investment projects in the transport and energy sectors are expected to fuel growth in the years ahead. “Panelists forecast that GDP will expand 4.6% in 2017. For 2018, our panel foresees GDP growth picking up to 5.6%, which is unchanged from last month’s forecast,” says the report.
The survey which tracks projections from 11 top global firms sees Ethiopia (7.3%), Ivory Coast (6.7%), Tanzania (6.3%) and Ghana (6.0%) as major economies likely to grow faster in Sub-Sahara Africa.
Kenya is expected to grow at 4.8% in 2017.
The survey says Uganda’s economic activity continued to gather speed at the start of the third quarter, following what is expected to have been a respectable second quarter.
“The Central Bank’s economic activity index showed a solid, albeit slightly slower, expansion in July. Rising confidence points to the pace of growth being sustained, or even accelerating, in the months ahead: The Central Bank’s business confidence indicator rose an eighth consecutive month in August, reaching its highest level in over three years,” the survey says.
It adds: “The economy continues to recover from the severe disruptions caused by the 2016 presidential elections, in which 73-year-old President Museveni won yet another term.”
Uganda’s economic growth has been sluggish since 2011 due to political and macroeconomic challenges.
However, a number of recent reports have indicated Uganda’s steady recovery.
The Headline Stanbic Bank Uganda Purchase Manager’s index for August signaled a further improvement in the health of the Ugandan private sector. At 54.1 in August up from 54.3 in July, the seasonally adjusted index was above the average recorded over 15 months of data collection so far.
