The President of African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, has called on African countries to establish measures that can enable resilience against climate change which could in the end save resources spent on weather-related emergency relief for the vulnerable.

“Africa must be more active in finding solutions to the scourge,” Adesina said in opening remarks, read on his behalf at a symposium marking the Bank’s “Climate Change and Green Growth Day held at the Abidjan headquarters.

“As a continent, we must be resolute in our efforts to find solutions. Africa must not be a passive bystander in this effort,” Adesina said, referring to global efforts to curb the impact of Climate Change on livelihoods. The bank’s Acting Vice President, Power, Energy, Climate Change and Green Growth, Wale Shonibale, read the statement on his behalf.

The Abidjan symposium, the first of its kind, is themed: “Moving from emergency relief to building resilience.” It comes in the wake of two devastating tropical cyclones, Idai and Kenneth, which ripped through five African countries; Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and the Comoros within a month.

Idai, the worst cyclone in history to hit the African continent, is estimated to have caused more than 1,000 deaths and $1 billion in damages. The Bank announced a special relief fund of $1.7 million for Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi, specifically for the immediate humanitarian relief effort in the worst affected areas.

The Bank is doing more to confront these emergencies but because the threats from extreme weather events are predicted to intensify, longer-term actions for disaster risk management are needed, especially in disaster risk reduction through resilience building.

The Bank’s Director of Climate Change and Green Growth, Dr. Anthony Nyong called for increased focus on helping countries to reduce their vulnerabilities, and building their resilience and adaptation capacities.

This includes building effective information systems and improving coordination policies across borders, Nyong said.

The two-day event featured two panels and an exhibition on the achievements made and challenges faced in addressing climate change through Bank activities across all sectors. The first panel explored approaches, opportunities and challenges in building resilience in Africa, while the second discussed financing and business models for building climate-resilience in Africa.

Among the notable panelists discussing approaches, opportunities and challenges to building resilience in Africa were Dr. Augusta Maita, the Director General of Mozambique’s Disaster Management Institute and Ambassador Jobst von Kirchmann, Head of the EU Delegation, in Abidjan.

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The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Acting Mission Director Rick Somarriba and the Ugandan Minister of Agriculture, Vincent Ssempijja, have signed a declaration of partnership that affirms the two governments’ shared commitment to accelerating agriculture-led economic growth.

The partnership is aimed at increasing food security and enhancing resilience in collaboration with the private sector and development partners in Uganda.

At the ceremony, Ambassador Malac emphasized the U.S. government’s pledge to work with the government of Uganda through the Feed the Future initiative to transform the agricultural sector from one dominated by subsistence farming to a competitive, profitable and sustainable one.

“Uganda was re-selected by the U.S. Government as one of only twelve feed the Future target countries around the globe. This reinforces the partnership between the United States and Uganda and our commitment to improving food security and sustainable escapes from poverty,” Ambassador Malac said.

Prime Minister Rugunda praised the continued partnership between the two governments and the private sector boosting economic growth through agriculture.

Since 2011, the U.S. government’s Feed the Future initiative, together with the Ugandan government, has worked to improve agriculture and food security, providing assistance to close to two million Uganda farmers. Through the program, farmers and traders have increased sales by over $400 million, helping to improve people’s income and well-being.

The declaration of partnership s enshrines continued collaboration and shared goals between the United States and Uganda for the next five years.

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The third victim of Wednesday robbery at Cheap Hardware in Nansana has died.

The deceased has been identified as Amin Bugembe.

Bugembe died Thursday morning from Mulago hospital after being rushed there to nurse bullet wounds sustained during the robbery.

Two people died on spot in the incident.

Meanwhile, three people have been arrested to help in investigation. “We will not reveal their identities as it may foil on-going investigation,” The police say, adding that investigations in to the matter are continuing.

“There are good leads which we are following,” KMP spokesman, Patrick Onyango said in a statement.

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Although real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth remained strong at 6.4 per cent during the first half of FY18/19, per capita growth is insufficient to propel Uganda to lower middle-income status, says the 13th edition of the Uganda Economic Update launched on Thursday at Makerere University by the World Bank.

According to the document, growth has largely been driven by strong investment and consumption performance, favorable weather conditions and strengthened credit. The Information and Communications (IC) sector sustained double-digit growth levels, financial services continued to recover, and agriculture was boosted by another decent harvest, it notes.

“Given the very high population growth rate of over 3 per cent per year, GDP growth will need to accelerate. Moreover, heavy reliance on rain-fed agriculture makes GDP and exports more volatile, with disproportionate costs for the poor. Therefore, an increase in agricultural productivity and absorption of excess rural labour into better and more productive employment is critical for making growth more inclusive,” it says.

Revenue collections

The report says revenue performance has been strong in the first half of FY18/19 and can be further enhanced if government remains committed to implementing the new domestic revenue mobilization (DRM) strategy. It notes that tax revenues have been on an upward trajectory, increasing to 14.5 per cent of GDP in the first half of FY18/19. Strong coordination and effective implementation of government’s five-year DRM strategy will be necessary for further revenue growth, it says. It calls for the establishment of a framework for managing tax exemptions, which it says continue to be a drain on public finances.

Ensuring robust and diverse revenue base

The report further says ensuring a robust and diverse revenue base is critical before any significant oil revenues start accumulating. “This will help contain the rise in public debt, ensure a stronger social compact in the use of revenues and provision of services, and would later allow oil revenues to be invested for strategic, long-term needs,” it says.

Capital expenditure fall short of expectations

According to the report, Uganda’s capital spending continues to fall short of expectations, diminishing the expected return from public investments and committing resources away from other pressing needs. Actual first half FY18/19 capital spending amounted to about 6.1 per cent of GDP, which is well below the levels of spending in the first halves of FY’s 14/15 and 15/16, of above 7 per cent of GDP, and only about a quarter of the FY18/19 development budget, it says. Compared to peers, capital spending in Uganda stood at 5.9 per cent of GDP in FY17/18, which was substantially lower than Rwanda (10.3 per cent of GDP) and Kenya (7 per cent of GDP), it says.

“Combined with deficiencies in the ‘quality at entry’ of projects, cost escalations, and poor quality of some projects, this under-spending is constraining Uganda’s ambitions for rapid growth and socio-economic transformation. Therefore, concerted efforts are required to select projects more carefully,” it argues. For instance, it says power generation investments have not been well sequenced with investments into transmission and distribution systems) and to improve public investment management (PIM).

Public debt expected to hit 44 percent of GDP

The projected widening of the fiscal deficit in FY18/19 and use of non-concessional financing will keep public debt on a steep upward trajectory. Public debt is expected to hit 44 percent of GDP in FY18/19. The growth in budget deficits and the increasing use of non-concessional financing are creating pronounced vulnerabilities. “Non-concessional borrowing results in larger principal and interest payments and makes debt more vulnerable to external shocks. Larger interest payments also consume fiscal space for spending on poverty reduction and public goods,” it says.

2021 elections could lead to drop in investment

The report notes that while the growth outlook for Uganda is positive, risks are tilted to the downside. The economy is expected to grow by 6 per cent in FY18/19 and FY19/20, driven by intensified public and private investments, especially to support developments in the energy and oil sectors. However, as the 2021 elections draw closer, heightened political activity and uncertainty could lead to a drop in investment and economic activity.

It says reliance on rain-fed and subsistence agriculture continues to expose the economy to risks from adverse weather. “Prioritizing spending more effectively, improving spending execution rates, and increasing revenue mobilization would maintain Uganda’s macroeconomic stability and reduce debt vulnerabilities,” it says.

Tensions with Rwanda and volatility in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South Sudan, and other export markets present risks to external stability and export performance, it says.

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The World Bank’s analysis of cross-country data on human capital indicates that Uganda is underinvesting in the future productivity of its citizens. A child born in Uganda today will only be 38 percent as productive when she grows up as she could be if she enjoyed complete education and full health, says the 13th edition of Uganda Economic Update authored by the World Bank Group.

According to the report, Uganda is ranked among the countries in the lowest quartile of the Human Capital Index (HCI) distribution, with an index slightly lower than the average for the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region, and below what would be predicted by its income. “Uganda’s low ranking in the HCI is mainly due to the country’s low education outcomes,” the report says.

The report launched on Thursday at Makerere University, says a child born today in Uganda is expected to complete only 7 years of education by age 18, compared to a regional average of 8.1. Because of the low levels of learning achievement in Uganda, this is only equivalent to 4.5 years of learning, with 2.5 years considered as “lost” due to poor quality of education. Uganda’s score on this component is the lowest amongst the comparator countries and below the SSA average.

To improve its ranking in the HCI, the report says Uganda needs to adopt a dual priority approach focusing on schooling, specifically on expanding access to pre-primary and secondary education, and learning, through improving quality at all levels. “The country currently shows extremely low gross enrollment rates (GER) at pre-primary and secondary levels. In primary education, the near-universal access veils very modest completion rates and alarmingly low learning outcomes,” it says.

With the system’s current quality, efficiency, financing characteristics and trends, it is expected that enrollment rates in primary and secondary education will stagnate and decline by 2025. This would be a major setback, rarely seen in any country in a time of peace, it says.

To rectify the above trend, the report says Uganda needs a three-pronged strategy that aims at; improving the quality and the completion rate of primary education, expanding access to secondary education while improving its quality, equity and efficiency and devising ways to finance such efforts in a sustainable manner given that absorbing the enrollment increases will cost an additional US$ 330 million on average per year from 2019–25.

To bridge the budget gap, in addition to raising efficiency, the report says the government needs to mobilize extra public resources. “The government should gradually increase its levels of spending on education with a view to allocate 16 percent of the budget by 2025, which is the average for countries in SSA. This could generate up to US$1.6 billion in additional resources between 2019 and 2025,” it says.

The report says the private sector needs to be utilized better, as it often delivers similar results at a lower cost compared to the public sector. “This can be achieved through introducing subsidies to support vulnerable children and using the non-state sector to manage schools. “Efficient engagement of non-state providers should generate significant savings, as compared to the heavy fiscal burden the government would incur because of the current withdrawal of the PPP scheme,” it says.

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