Is the new development plan, "Vision 2040" feasible in transforming Uganda into a middle income country by 2017?
Background: As Uganda marks 50 years of independence, the government is set to launch a new development plan dubbed Vision 2040. The handiwork of National Planning Authority, Vision 2040 has plans geared towards transforming Uganda into a prosperous country by 2040, a period of 30 years from now. More intriguing is that by 2017, that is in five year’s time Uganda would have transformed into a middle class country with each citizen earning on average 9,500 dollars; that is about 23 million shillings per year. During the vision period, Uganda’s economy is expected to grow at an average of 8.2 percent per year. To achieve this goal, the government will combine a free market economy with targeted government investments. The government also intends to use resources from oil to boost infrastructure, agriculture, tourism, and youth employment and information and communication technology, among others. But this is not the first time the government is coming out with a national development plan. In 1999, it came out with the Vision 2025 which died at conception. There have also been other smaller version like the Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP) and Plan for Modernization of Agriculture (PMA) that has had marginal success. Already sections of the population, like the members of parliament, say the plan was not inclusive and describe it as ‘cosmetic’. Others though believe that if incomes from oil are used well and corruption is minimized the plan will succeed.