Uganda versus United Kingdom and France Economies

• Meredith McLamb

Introduction

Africa is a continent filled with third world nations. Many countries there are plagued with poor housing, lack of clean water and sanitation systems, inadequate power sources, unsafe roadways and insufficient government. There is generally not enough financial support to help these nations thrive economically and not an adequate infrastructure to support the nations. If more resources, sources of employment, and financial support could reach these nations they could begin to build up and see economic growth. Uganda is no exception. Located on the eastern part of the continent, Uganda is full of wildlife and beautiful landscapes. Uganda received its independence after being ruled by Britain in 1962, but suffered severe demise under the leader Idi Amin during the 1970s. The vast majority of the Ugandan population lives in the rural areas of the country and they remain one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world.

Uganda Economy/GDP

Uganda, as with many of the countries in Africa, does not have the infrastructure it needs to support adequate economic growth and development. With only 5% of their country’s population connected to their own nation’s power grid, they are lacking in adequate power. Roads are not well maintained and water and sanitation are typically only available in the more urban areas. These urban areas only account for about 15% of the country’s population. The unacceptable state of the country’s infrastructure has hurt the possibility of improving their trade relations and therefore has hindered a lot of potential growth (Research & Markets, 2012).

Uganda is expected to increase in growth in the year 2014. In the first half of 2013, the gross domestic profit (GDP) data was going as expected with a growth rate of 4.3% to 5.1% (Country Intelligence, 2013). Back in 2010, the GDP was an estimated US $42.15 billion which was $1300 per capita (White, 2011). IHS expects the GDP growth rate to continue to 6.4% in 2014, this coming with investments into the hydropower and oil sectors. There was a decrease in the construction sector of the infrastructure during the beginning of 2013 with the Karuma hydropower project. This project is planned as one of Uganda’s largest infrastructure projects. The progress on this project may be very slow moving, however it is being made and moving forward. The Karuma hydropower project was able to begin after financing for the project was secured from China (Country Intelligence, 2013).