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Astrid Haas

Astrid Haas is a Country Economist for South Sudan and Uganda at International Growth Centre, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Uganda’s economy has been growing steadily over the past decade. Like many other developing countries, its growth has benefited from a confluence of external events, including a sustained increase in commodity prices and partial debt relief. But since the end of the financial crisis, capital markets have become more risk averse, and with the fall in commodity prices and its corresponding decrease in export revenues, Uganda will have to increase internal savings to finance its investments. This will require structural transformation in its economy, which is still characterised by low productivity and a majority of population being self-employed in agriculture. As the case of East Asia has shown, urbanisation is a key route to achieving a so-called “productivity miracle”. This …