AFRICA/UGANDA - Despite ambitious infrastructure projects, the Country remains poor

Kampala (Agenzia Fides) - Uganda has recorded one of the highest growth rates in Africa despite being a Country without large mineral resources and has always lived from the export of agricultural products. Sadly famous for the bloody dictatorship that ruled between 1971 and 1979, it has continued to grow at a good pace since 2001, often more than the annual average of 5%. Experts claim that political stability and the rules of macroeconomics imposed from outside have been the pillars of economic progress.
However, despite this success, poverty in the Country continues to be unresolved. About 65% of the population lives on less than $ 2 a day. Only 14% have access to electricity. The economic situation is complicated by several factors, one of them due to the collapse of commodity prices. Coffee, accounts for about 22% of the Country's exports, decreased by 40% in 12 months.
Only 8% of Ugandans are employed regularly. Most of the population lives on agriculture and informal economy. Torrential rains caused by the El Niño phenomenon damaged crops soaring food prices. Moreover, with the fall of the local currency and the high costs of the government during the election year, inflation reached 9%, creating serious problems of livelihood for the population with fewer resources. In order to address these problems, Uganda has started to invest in infrastructure, with private and public capital, both for the generation of energy and in transport networks. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 22/12/2015)

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