Olympic Committee president pledges to establish sports amenities in Uganda
kawowo.com, David Isabirye, October 23, 2024 | At a time when Uganda needs more sports infrastructure in place, there is a timely offer in place from the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach.
Bach made the bold promise on the second day of his three-day official visit to Uganda at Entebbe State House as he was hosted by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
“The International Olympic Committee is committed to construct an Olympic Center and a swimming pool for Uganda if land is provided before December 2024,” Bach remarked.
“I will quickly assist in the necessary land to put up these facilities as promised by the International Olympic Committee,” said President Museveni, flanked by First Lady Janet Kataha Museveni, also the Minister of Education and Sports.
The 1976 Olympic gold medalist in Fencing arrived in Uganda on Tuesday, 22nd October 2024 and he was received by three of Uganda’s Olympians Joshua Cheptegei, Winnie Nanyondo and Halima Nakaayi as well as the IOC member William Fredrick Blick, Uganda Olympic Committee president Dr Donald Rukare, National Council of Sports (NCS) chairman Ambrose Tashobya, general secretary Dr Bernard Patrick Ogwel and other dignatries.
He had a guided tour at the Uganda Wildlife Education Center (UWEC) where he had a great interface with Mountain Gorillas, giraffes, elephants and the White Rhinos.
At UWEC, he also planted a unique tree species called Warburgia ugandensis. (Mukuzannume) that is a highly medicinal plant.
Alongside his entourage, Bach was hosted to a cocktail at Speke Resort Munyonyo by the Athletes’ commission where former and current Olympians were invited for a friendly interface before dinner was served.
He held fruitful meetings with Prime Minister Rt Hon. Robinah Nabbanja and was entertained by young players under the Game Connect project at the YES Center in Nsambya, a suburb of Kampala city.
The Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (MoFPED), along with the International Growth Centre, co-host the 8th Economic Growth Forum (EGF VIII) on August 29-30, 2024.
The forum focuses on how Uganda can enhance its competitiveness for sustainable economic growth amidst challenges such as reduced capital flows, rising global interest rates, protectionism, geopolitical tensions, and climate change risks. It brings together senior government officials, donors, academia, and the private sector to discuss Uganda's long-term growth path, with policy recommendations feeding into the 2025/26 national budget strategy. The key themes include growth strategy for structural transformation, industrial policy, turning climate challenges into opportunities for growth, overcoming financing constraints, transforming subsistence farming into urban growth, and developing high productivity services.
For more information about the conference, please email uganda@theigc.org
Speaking at the week-long retreat for ambassadors and heads of missions at the Civil Service College in Jinja, under the theme “Strengthening Governance and Performance of the Foreign Service for National Development,” Mr. Ggoobi emphasized the importance of attracting tourists and investors to achieve the country’s 10-fold growth strategy.
“Tourism is a low-hanging fruit that should be prioritized by Ambassadors abroad,” Mr. Ggoobi said, adding that the country targets to double the economy every five years in the medium term despite crises.
Mr. Ggoobi presented an overview of Uganda’s economic growth, noting that the country’s GDP growth has recovered from various shocks, crises, and false alarms, reaching 6% in FY 2023/24 from 3% in FY 2019/20. He attributed this recovery to good macroeconomic management, favorable weather conditions, and improving global economic conditions.
He further noted that growth has been broad-based, with all sectors growing: Services by 6.6%, Industry by 5.8%, and Agriculture by 5.1% in FY 2023/24. Mr. Ggoobi projected that growth is expected to reach 6.4% in the current financial year and at least 7% over the medium term.
Under the 10-fold growth strategy, including oil and gas production, GDP growth is expected to surpass 10% in the initial years, he added.
Mr. Ggoobi outlined the new action agenda for achieving 10-fold growth, focusing on anchor areas such as agro-industrial development, tourism development, mineral-based development, oil and gas, and science, technology, ICT, and innovation.
He discussed the financing options for achieving 10-fold growth, including tax revenue, total debt, market capitalization, and private sector credit.
Mr. Ggoobi urged Ambassadors and heads of missions to work together to promote Uganda’s economic growth and achieve the country’s 10-fold growth strategy.
He stressed the need for policy and goal consensus, execution discipline, civic and trade order, natural capital preservation, physical capital development, and human capital skill enhancement.
He further noted internal and external risks, including corruption, inequality, climate change, global economic shocks, and resource conflicts, and proposed mitigants such as maintaining inclusive policies, diversification, and deeper regional integration.
Thanking his Finance counterpart for the engagement, Foreign Affairs PS, Vincent Bagiire pointed out that his Ministry’s efforts may not always be visible, but their impact is significant. He cited the Jinja Bridge which was a result of negotiations by Uganda Embassy Tokyo and construction of an airport in Karamoja as an example of a result initiated by the Uganda Embassy in Abu Dhabi. He further mentioned a polytechnic institute built by Sharjah in Uganda as another notable project.
The Ambassadors’ Conference was opened on by Gen. Odongo Jeje Abubakhar, Minister of Foreign Affairs, who urged Ugandan Ambassadors and Heads of Missions abroad to align the Ministry’s work with Uganda’s National Development framework, including Vision 2040 and the Third National Development Plan.
Gen. Odongo emphasized the need for Uganda’s foreign policy to drive economic growth and regional integration. He highlighted economic and commercial diplomacy as key drivers of Uganda’s development, stressing the need for ambassadors to promote value addition, industrialization, and trade.
The conference aims to enhance performance and innovation among missions, facilitate peer-to-peer knowledge sharing, and promote regional and international peace and security.
Uganda's Population Clocks 45.9 Million People – UBOS
softpower.co.ug, Rogers Atukunda, June 27, 2024 | Ugandas population has reached 45.9 million people, according to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS).
File Photo/Courtesy: Dr.Chris Mukiza, UBOS Executive Director and Census Commissioner.
We now have a population of 45,935,046 people up from 34.6 million counted in 2014,' said Dr Mukiza.
of these, 22 million people are males while 23 million are females.
He said this represents an increase of 11.3 million in the last 10 years and includes 780,061 refugees.
According to Dr Mukiza, Uganda is a young country with; 50.5% being children (0-17 years), 22.7% Youth (18-30 years), 5.0% Older persons (60+) and 55.6% Working Age Population (14-64 years).
This was the 11th census in Uganda, the s0xth post-independence census and the first digital census that happened from 10th May - 26th May 2024.
"We had 135,230 field workers, 14,669 enumeration supervisors and 4715 sub county/ division supervisors with 5 sets of questionnaires," noted Dr Mukiza.
He cited some challenges including hard-to reach areas, failure to access some households, refusals by some religious cults and deliberate refusals of households in gates, and internal border conflicts like in Apaa, Ombechi, and Nyamisingiri, among others.
"There were unavailable respondents i.e. single-person households that leave early and come back late. Also, the geography of Some areas was not updated on the system."
UBOS is releasing these preliminary census results exactly 31 days after the closing of the census. "What we promise as UBOS we deliver. The Census cost per capita was $1.9 compared to $2 in Kenya," stated Dr Mukiza.
Delivering a keynote speech at the 2024 Post Budget Dialogue organized by Absa Bank Uganda in collaboration with Deloitte and other partners at the Kampala Serena Hotel, Ggoobi said, “In the next financial year, we have allocated funds for wealth creation initiatives, commercial agriculture, and value addition. The Parish Development Model aims to bring more people into the money economy. We have capitalized UDB to provide patient, low-cost capital to support enterprises. There are funds available through Emyooga and the Agriculture Credit Facility (ACF), totaling UGX 2.64 trillion,” he stated.
Ggoobi added, “We have also allocated funds for skilling the youth and supporting small-scale businesses. We are working with the Private Sector Foundation of Uganda to ensure that women-owned businesses mature into formal enterprises.”
He emphasized that the private sector, including banks, needs to align with key budget themes such as agro-industrialization, mineral development, and tourism.
Regarding budget priorities for the financial year 2024/25, Ggoobi highlighted investing in the people of Uganda through education, health, water, and sanitation, with a budgetary allocation of UGX 10.2 trillion. Other priorities include peace and security (UGX 9.1 trillion) and infrastructure maintenance (UGX 5 trillion).
Absa Bank Uganda Managing Director Mumba Kalifungwa noted that the Financial Year 2024/25 National Budget represents a crucial milestone in Uganda’s economic development, setting the tone for fiscal policy and outlining the government’s revenue and expenditure priorities for the coming year.
“I commend the government for its commitment to driving economic growth and fostering an environment that supports sustainable development. The 2024/25 National Budget outlines several key areas that will significantly contribute to our nation’s progress,” he said.
Kalifungwa added, “Our economy has remained resilient and is projected to grow at 6%, despite a slowdown in quarter-on-quarter growth. Globally, uncertainty remains due to the impact of geopolitics, international commodity prices, weaker global growth, global inflation, and monetary policy responses on our economy.”
File Photo/Courtesy: PSST Ramathan Ggoobi shakes hands with PSFU’s Sarah Kagingo as Absa’s Mumba Kalifungwa looks on.
Revenue Sources
Ggoobi stated that the primary source of revenue to finance the Financial Year 2024/25 National Budget is domestic revenue (both tax and non-tax) at UGX 32 trillion. Other sources include budget support at UGX 1.4 trillion, domestic borrowing at UGX 9 trillion, petroleum funds, and local government revenues amounting to UGX 294 billion.
.jpeg)
