Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has called on his fellow citizens to become more involved in the cash economy to secure their income and protect their economic assets. According to him, this participation promotes access to credit, stimulates national development, and helps reduce dependence on informal transactions, while strengthening long-term planning and investment.
With a view to encouraging financial inclusion, securing and protecting economic assets, stimulating national economic development, reducing dependence on the informal sector, and raising awareness about planning and investment, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni recently urged citizens to actively engage in the cash economy to preserve and strengthen their economic assets. In his remarks, he emphasized that participation in formal financial systems not only helps secure income, but also facilitates access to banking services, credit, and investment opportunities.
To protect the gains we have made and move Uganda to upper middle-income status, every Ugandan must engage in productive activities, especially commercial agriculture, services and ICT, among others, to earn money and create wealth.
Yoweri Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda
President Museveni’s call to embrace the cash economy involves several strategic, economic, and social challenges for Uganda, including financial stability, access to credit and investment, and the development of the banking sector. Highlighting the remarkable growth of the economy since 1986, Museveni noted that Uganda’s GDP has grown from $3.9 billion to $66 billion, a 17-fold increase.
We need to have clear strategic considerations, and in my view, these strategic considerations concern production. It is about producing goods and services, because trade includes goods and services. You don’t trade just with words.
Yoweri Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda
The Ugandan president also pointed out that in 2013, 68% of households were largely outside the cash economy, but initiatives such as Operation Wealth Creation have reduced this figure to 33%. The Ugandan economy is expected to grow by 6.0% in the 2023/24 financial year, compared to 5.3% in 2023.
