Our Projects

This was the first evaluation of the NDP1 which was assessed bsed on the themes below: (i) Economic management; ii) Political Economy; iii) Development partnership; iv) Results Framework; v) Institutional Framework, vi) Policy and Strategic Direction. This provided in put in development of the new National Development Plan. Dr. John-Mary Matovu (RTDC), our proposed team leader consultant, was the overall team leader of this assignment and supervised a team of more than 14 consultants. 

The main objective of the evaluation was to take stock of UNDP's contribution to the achievement of NDP objectives through the 10 CPAP 2010 – 2014/15 outcomes.  The Evaluation mission reviewed the design of the program; evaluate the strategy and approaches taken in the implementation of the program, and draw lessons and conclusions from the results generated so far including how gender has been mainstreamed in the program. Dr. John-Mary Matovu (RTDC) our proposed team leader handled the area of economic development and social inclusion in this assignment.

This assignment involved drafting the strategic plan for the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development. The work involved assessing the macroeconomic implications of undertaking specific interventions in the sector and the resource requirements for the strategy. Dr. John-Mary Matovu (RTDC), our proposed NDP team leader, was one of the consultants that participated in this exercise and this sector experience will be useful for the NDP2 and NDP1 assignments

Using the National Transfer Accounts (NTA) methodology we assess how Uganda will potentially be able to benefit from the demographic dividend given the current life-cycle behavior of individuals. The specific objectives are to: Assess the current dependency and support ratios of individuals by examining their consumption and incomes over their life-cycle; Assess the intra-household transfers as well as transfers between government and individuals and the extent to which these transfers could be used to accelerate achieving the demographic dividend; and assess the savings and assets accumulation process of individuals and whether the current savings behavior would support the expected growth in per capita income by 2040. Download draft.

The general objective of the assignment is to advise on improvements to the macro-economic forecasting model and to prepare a roadmap for transition to a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) Model. Specific areas include the following: Design a road map for the development of CGE specifying the successive steps; Present a Supply User Table (of which the input-output table is a subset of the SUT) required for the CGE. Prepare methodology for development of the SAM and identify what is required. Drafting the questionnaire for an enterprise surveys, advice on the design of the survey (define sectors of activity, determine sampling technique) types of CGEs and their methodological underpinnings and what might be required and capacity development required at the various stages of the road map.

The basic objective of this study was to identify obstacles to SME use of capital markets for long-term financing and to identify policies for mitigating those challenges. Specifically, the study aimed at: Identifying the major barriers to access to long term capital for SMEs through the capital market and other forms of formal financing; Outlining phased policy action plan for addressing those barriers explicitly indicating the short-, medium-, and longer-term measures; and stimulating dialogue on reform opportunities for SMEs to access long-term capital financing. The study’s primary contribution includes identifying policy recommendations and other options for increasing SMEs’ access to long-term financing through the capital markets and other sources, drawing on lessons from successful approaches in other countries in Africa and globally.

Despite this unprecedented growth rate, this has not been rapid enough to create jobs needed to keep pace with a high population growth rate estimated at 3.2 percent. According to the 2009/2010 Uganda National Household Survey, the level of unemployment is registered at 4.2 percent, an increase from 1.9 percent in 2005/06. The survey also shows that the pressure for creating jobs has intensified with the proportion of the youth (18-30 years) increased from 44 percent in 2005/06 to 48 percent in 2009/10. The level of youth unemployment has also considerably increased currently estimated at 32 percent. Likewise, the labour force has also increased from 9.5 million persons in 2005/06 to 11.5 millions in 2009/10 which poses challenges for the country to secure more jobs to match the increasing labour force. To fully capture the macroeconomic implications of government interventions, an economy-wide model is necessary to study the complex interactions produced under the various policy regimes. This paper uses a dynamic computable general equilibrium model. The advantage of using a CGE model is the fact that it combines the logic of partial equilibrium models to derive for labour demand with prices and wage rates. Within this framework, assumptions about the labour force participation rate can be combined with population forecasts to determine the supply of labour endogenously. The model can also accommodate a wide range of labour types for instance by skill types or occupational categories. 

The overall objective of the project was to evaluate socially-inclusive macroeconomic policies aimed at facilitating the achievement of the MDGs through the adaptation of an integrated modelling framework to country-specific conditions. The methodological framework is based on the adaptation of the economy-wide model system, known as Maquette for MDGs Simulation (MAMS) – a dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model that includes a special module for the “production” of services associated with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It also compromises methodologies at the micro level to identify determinants of MDG achievement, on the one hand, and to quantify effects on poverty and inequality, on the other. The key finding based on a dynamic CGE model is that Uganda would need to spend an additional 10 percent on social sectors to meet the targeted MDGs by 2015. See Details.

This research focuses on the expected impact of oil revenues on the macroeconomy by examining the associated dutch disease problems associated with exploitation of natural resources. The paper examines the tradeoffs of directly investing the oil revenues in infrastructure and development of human capital versus creation of a fund taking into consideration intergeneration equity concerns. See Details.