By David Rupiny
The Ugandan President, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, has said the country’s GDP is projected to grow from the current 69.3 billion dollars to 80 billion dollars in the next financial year.
Delivering the 2026 State of the Nation Address, President Museveni said: “We are now set for further and faster economic growth and transformation”.
Ge said with oil production expected to commence by the end of 2026, the economy is projected to grow at 10 percent in the next year, up from the current 6.8 percent.
The President said the economy has expanded 17 times in the last 40 years and is on a solid growth trajectory, fueled by commercial agriculture, manufacturing, services, and ICT, among others.
He said Uganda is now in a lower middle-income status with a per capita income of 1,279 dollars and is expected to keep rising, as the middle-class of Ugandan entrepreneurs continues to grow.
President Museveni said 39 new products have been added to Uganda’s export basket. These include pharmaceuticals, refined gold, steel products, ICT products, ceramics, plastics, and dairy, among others.
He disclosed that exports grew to 18 billion dollars in the 12 months to March 2026.
Gold brought in $ 851.35 million, up from $ 462.8 million. Other key export products are coffee, tea, fish, cotton, simsim, maize, beans, flowers, and tobacco.
The President said there is now a surplus of many products, including milk, fish, coffee, cocoa, cement, steel, sugar, maize, bananas, and cassava.
President Museveni said the government has provided 1.6 trillion shillings through the Uganda Development Bank for investors and businesses in commercial agriculture, manufacturing, ICT, and services.
Uganda’s economy expanded by 8.5 percent in the second quarter of the financial year 2025/26, up from 5.4 percent in the same period the year before.
The industry sector led the growth, growing by 9.1 percent, driven by manufacturing, construction, and electricity production.
According to the Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury, Dr. Ramathan Ggoobi, the drivers of the strong economic growth include the Parish Development Model (PDM) and Emyooga, infrastructure investment, increased foreign direct investment, commencement of oil production, export growth, and a stable macroeconomic environment.
Regionally, Uganda has the lowest inflation rate in the East African Community at 3.2 percent as of May 2026. In April 2026, the shilling gained 0.4 percent against the dollar to trade around 3,717 shillings per dollar, rebounding on export inflows and portfolio investment.
The Ugandan Shilling is performing better than its regional peers against the US dollar.
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