Private Sector Development, Privatization, and Industrial Policy

2022-02, International Finance Corporation

This Country Private Sector Diagnostic (CPSD) investigates the potential for greater private sector investment to meet some of Uganda's development challenges. At least 600,000 Ugandans enter the labor market every year, making for a workforce that is increasingly younger and urban based. To address the country’s simultaneous productivity and job challenge requires a focus on growth in sectors that can leverage demand from abroad, are labor intensive, and low skilled. Three sectors hold promise in this regard: agribusiness, which is important for productivity, employment, and export growth; energy as an enabler of overall productivity; and housing because of its role in fueling growth in the labor-intensive construction sector and alleviating the demographic pressures that rapid urbanization puts on Ugandan cities. Within the agribusiness sector, the CPSD considers three of the most promising value chains—fish, dairy, and maize—and undertakes a more disaggregated assessment of the environment for private investment.