‘Change in attitude will push Uganda forward’

However, Henry Banyenzaki, the state minister for economic monitoring argued that considering that the government has secured peace and stability not only in Uganda but the Great Lakes region as a whole, Uganda has the opportunity of taking off. He said one of the biggest challenges the government has is to nurture the resources such as petroleum to ensure that they benefit the current generation and the generations ahead.

He said the biggest opportunity for Uganda lies in the fact that most of the natural resources are still with us, adding that the country cannot afford to repeat mistakes that have happened with the other resource rich countries on the continent.

“We don’t have any excuse to get things wrong in oil management because we know the things that Nigeria, Congo Republic, and Angola did. But we will need to change our attitude and mindset to get where we want,” he said.

Banyenzaki who was the chief guest and officially launched a special edition of the ACTADE Magazine featuring a range of topics noted that good governance and transparency will be key in transforming Uganda to the desired status.

“If we join hands together, we can transform Uganda into a first world country within one generation.”  Banyenzaki said countries like Oman, Botswana and the United Arab Emirates have made significant progress within a generation.

But Mathias Kamp, the Programme Officer at Konrad Adenauer-Stiftung foundation noted that investing more in Uganda’s youthful population which currently is more than half the general population could propel the country to the next level much faster than oil can do.

Amidst the opportunities that globalization and the regional East African Community  bloc presents, if you give them the opportunities and train them well to take up these opportunities, Kamp said,  they can make Uganda richer much faster than oil.

However, for the youth to contribute meaningfully to Uganda’s economic development, they will need to be thoroughly trained, noted Emmanuel Mutahunga, an official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives.

“If we schedule well the skilling of Ugandans, we are a step further on getting onto the right path,” he said.

“The youth are many and they are so eager to learn and this government can do very well to harness their potential.”