MANIFESTO IMPLEMENTATION UNIT

𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐔𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚’𝐬 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 The Head of the Manifesto Implementation Unit, Willis Bashasha, has called for stronger mobilisation of domestic and international capital to finance Uganda’s development priorities. Bashasha was representing the Secretary in the Office of the President, Hajji Yunus Kakande, at the High-Level Policy Dialogue on Uganda’s Development Financing Architecture at Sheraton Kampala Hotel. He said the Tenfold Growth Strategy, which seeks to expand Uganda’s economy from approximately US$50 billion to US$500 billion by 2040, requires a financing architecture capable of mobilising resources at the scale of the country’s ambitions. He highlighted agro-industrialisation, tourism, minerals, oil and gas, manufacturing, science, technology and innovation as key sectors requiring increased investment to drive production, productivity, value addition, exports, employment and higher household incomes. Bashasha said Uganda must convert these opportunities into bankable, investable and implementable propositions capable of attracting the required capital. While Government will continue strengthening domestic revenue mobilisation and directing public resources towards national priorities, he stressed that public finance alone cannot deliver the scale of transformation Uganda seeks. He called for stronger domestic capital mobilisation, deeper capital markets, development finance, expanded PPPs, greater private investment and innovative financing mechanisms, including blended and Islamic finance. Bashasha also highlighted the importance of domestic savings, noting the Tenfold Growth Strategy’s aspiration to raise national savings towards 40% of GDP by 2040. He challenged stakeholders to determine how increased domestic savings can be converted into productive investment, how capital markets can provide long-term finance, and how development finance institutions can better support productive sectors. He also called for appropriate instruments to enable pension funds, insurance companies and other institutional investors to participate safely and productively in national development. On the private sector, Bashasha said the Tenfold Growth Strategy cannot be delivered by Government alone and called for public resources to be strategically used to leverage and crowd in private capital through PPPs, blended finance and other risk-sharing arrangements. He further called for Uganda’s partnerships with development partners and international financial institutions to evolve towards investment, trade, technology transfer, institutional capacity, affordable long-term capital and mobilisation of private investment. He said concessional resources should increasingly be used strategically to de-risk projects and leverage additional private and institutional capital. Bashasha stressed that the ultimate objective of financing is transformation increased production and productivity, value addition, exports, employment, enterprise growth, higher household incomes and improved living standards. He called for the dialogue to identify the policy, regulatory and institutional reforms needed to unlock domestic, private, institutional and international capital and strengthen Uganda’s development financing architecture.