 Why is Uganda so rich? Uganda is an East African country with a varied landscape that includes the snow-capped Arwanzari Mountains and the massive Lake Victoria. Among the diverse wildlife are chimps and unusual birds. The endangered mountain gorillas are protected in the remote B-Windy and Penetrable National Park. Merchison Falls National Park in the Northwest is famous for its 43-meter-high waterfall and fauna. Uganda's economy has significant potential and appears to be on a path of rapid growth and development. The country is rich in natural resources such as fertile land, consistent rainfall, and mineral deposits. Uganda has experienced chronic political instability and unpredictable economic management since gaining independence, resulting in a record of prolonged economic decline, placing it even among the world's poorest and least-developed countries. The informal economy, which is dominated by women, can be defined broadly as a group of vulnerable people who work without protections. Women face numerous gender-specific barriers to accessing Uganda's formal economy, and research has revealed prejudice against lending to women in the informal sector. Despite the discovery of vast petroleum reserves in the country's west, national energy needs have typically outpaced domestic energy generation. Hello and welcome to another day of exploration on Africa Reloaded. Today we take a tour of Uganda to delve into its riches and see how they benefit the country, other African countries, and the world at large. Economy of Uganda Following the upheaval of the Amun era, the country began its economic reconstruction program in 1981 with substantial foreign aid. Excessive fiscal and monetary policies, as well as a resurgence of civil strife, resulted in a drop in economic performance beginning in mid-1984. Since the 1990s, the economy has expanded from 1990 to 2015. Real GDP increased by an average of 6.7% per year, while real GDP per capita increased by 3.3% per year. During this period, the Ugandan economy experienced significant changes. Agriculture's share of GDP value added fell from 56% in 1990 to 24% in 2015. Fisheries share increased from 11% to 20%, with manufacturing increasing at a slower rate, from 6% to 9% of GDP, and services share increased from 32% to 55%. With the increased discovery of petroleum reserves, the current economy is experiencing rapid growth, factors that contribute to the growth of the country, international trade and finance. Since assuming power in early 1986, Museveni's government has made significant strides toward economic recovery. After being damaged by conflict and neglect, the country's infrastructure, particularly its transportation and communication systems, is being rebuilt. In 1987, Ugandan signed a policy framework paper with the IMF and World Bank, recognizing the need for additional foreign assistance. Ugandan began implementing economic policies aimed at restoring price stability and a sustainable balance of payments, as well as increasing capacity utilization, infrastructure rehabilitation, producer incentives through correct price policies, and public sector resource mobilization and allocation. These so-called structural adjustment programs significantly improved the shape of Ugandan's economy. They did not result in economic growth in the decade following their implementation. Since 1995, Ugandan has experienced rapid economic growth, but it is unclear how much of this progress can be attributed to structural adjustment. Ugandan has been a member of both the World Trade Organization, WTO, and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, G&TT, since January 1, 1995. Coffee alone accounted for about 17 percent of Ugandan's exports in 2017 and earned the country $545 million in foreign exchange earnings. Clothing, hides, skins, vanilla, vegetables, fruits, cut flowers, and fish are all popular, while cotton, tea, and tobacco remain stables. Ugandan produced the following in 2018. Sugarcane 3.9 million tons. Plantain 3.8 million tons. Fourth largest producer in the world, trailing only Congo, Ghana, and Cameroon. 532,000 tons banana. 360,000 tons onion. 298,000 tons sorghum. 260,000 tons rice. 245,000 tons sunflower seed. 242,000 tons piment. 211,000 tons coffee, tenth largest producer in the world. 209,000 tons millet cotton. 87,000 tons. Tea, 62,000 tons. Tobacco, 35,000 tons. And chocolate, 27,000 tons are all produced in smaller quantities. Mining and petroleum. The South contains gold, tumsin, tin, barrel, and tantalite. The North contains tumsin, clay, and granite. In late 2012, Ugandan's government was sued over a value-added tax imposed on goods and services purchased by Tullo Oil, a foreign oil company operating in the country at the time. The legal case was heard in an international court in the United States. According to the Ugandan government, Tullo could not claim taxes on supplies as recoverable costs until oil production began in Uganda. The main concern right now, according to government sources, is how millions of dollars have been lost over the last decade. Money that could have allegedly stayed in Uganda for public sector investment. A recent Global Financial Integrity report revealed that illicit money flows from Uganda totaled $680 million between 2001 and 2012. Tullo Oil was represented in court by Kampala Associated Advocates, whose founder is Eli Kurehanga, President of Tullo Uganda. Peter Kabatzi, a partner at Kampala Associated Advocates, was Uganda's Solicitor General from 1990 to 2002, and he has denied negotiating contracts with international oil companies during that time. Tullo Oil and the Ugandan government reached an agreement in June 2015 to settle a long-running dispute over the amount of capital gains taxes owed to the government. The corporation owes $435 million, according to the authorities. The claim, however, was settled for $250 million. In April 2018, the government signed agreements with the Albertine Graben Refinery Partnership, a multinational consortium led by General Electric of the United States to build a 60,000 barrel per day Uganda oil refinery in Western Uganda. The project is estimated to cost around $4 billion. Women in the Economy Women laborers play an important role in Uganda's agriculture sector, which accounts for nearly 40% of the country's GDP, particularly in product management, marketing, and crop subsector. Women produce 76% of food crops and approximately 66% of traditional exports, such as coffee and tea, while men produce 80% of food crops and 60% of traditional exports, such as coffee and tea. Men account for 61% of labor in the official, non-agricultural economy, while women dominate the informal economy, which can be attributed to the country's lack of gender equality. According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, 88.6% of women and 84.2% of men worked in urban areas in 2015. Women are unable to enter certain sectors, particularly the formal economy, due to their inability to provide large initial financing and are forced to remain in commerce and service. Men, on the other hand, dominate more lucrative industries like manufacturing. Women merchants account for 70% of those in marketplaces and 40% of those in shops, in addition to dominating other industries such as service, crafts, and tailoring. Women are frequently undervalued in data collection, particularly in household roles. Women frequently match, if not exceed, their husband's contribution to their family's income when considering the value of their labor and the profits generated from selling excess food, for example. Women in cities earn between 50% and 70% of their household income. Transportation In 2017, Uganda had approximately 130,000 kilometers or 80,778 miles of road with approximately 5,300 kilometers. 4% paved. The majority of paved roads in Uganda originate in Kampala, the country's capital and largest city. As of 2017, Uganda's meter-gauge railway network was approximately 1,250 kilometers long. Approximately 56%, 700 kilometers or 435 miles, of this is operational. A railroad connects Mombasa, Kenya, and Tarouro, Uganda, and branches west to Jinnah, Kampala, and KC's, and north to Mbalay, Saroti, Lira, Gulu, and Pakwetch. The single railway line to Kampala, on the other hand, remains operational. Tourism Tourism is becoming increasingly important to Uganda's economy. Because of an increasing number of domestic tourists, international arrivals accounted for 7.75% of GDP and 6.7% of total national employment in 2018. Africa is home to the vast majority of international immigrants. Haiti, outside of Africa. The regions with the highest arrivals in 2018 were Europe. 8% up for the first time in five years. Asia Pacific, 6% up significantly from the previous year. And the Americas, 6% up significantly from the previous year. 5%. Following the implementation of e-visas and changes to data collection systems, tourism data for 2018 and 2019 is based on modeling. As a result, the most recent data on individual source markets is from 2017, when Rwanda, 32% of arrivals, Kenya, 24%, Tanzania, 6%, the United States, 4%, and India, 4%. With the top five source markets, 3%. The United Kingdom, 2.4% was Europe's largest source market, followed by the Netherlands, 0.7%. In Germany, 0.4%. 0.6 percentage point. Annexa contains the actual visitor counts for 2017. Leisure visitors are highly valued, accounting for 89% of visitors spending, but only 21% of arrivals. More than 75% of visitors to Kenya and Tanzania, on the other hand, are there for pleasure. These countries also have three to six times the number of European visitors that Uganda does. Uganda's best opportunity is to invest in recruiting adventure travelers. This market sector is very profitable, and adventure travelers seek out Uganda's unique experiences like Saffaris, hiking, bird watching, and community-based cultural tourism. The factors mentioned here all contribute to Uganda's wealth. Uganda would be a very poor country, if not for all of these contributions from various sectors. The growth of the various sectors will determine the nation's growth in the near future. Thank you for your time. I hope you enjoyed watching this video. Give us a thumbs up and subscribe to our channel for more updates.