EPRC e-library
January 2026
How the gender gap in phone ownership limits women’s access to formal financial services in Uganda.
This policy brief examines how the gender gap in mobile phone ownership limits women’s access to formal financial services in Uganda. The 2023 Finscope survey reveals that while mobile phone ownership has risen to 72% nationally, a persistent and widening gender gap exists, with 80% of men owning mobile phones compared to only 64% of women. This disparity has far-reaching implications for women’s access to formal financial services. These include limited mobile money access, exclusion from the digital economy, and reduced access to credit and savings opportunities. For example, women are less likely to qualify for mobile-based loans due to limited digital transaction hi...
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December 2025
EPRC Annual Report 2024-2025
The Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) is Uganda’s leading think tank in economic research and development policy. We provide policy analysis to support the formulation, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of government policies. EPRC has also broadened its scope and repositioned itself to respond to emerging development issues beyond Uganda through evidence-based research. EPRC is an autonomous not-for-profit organisation limited by guarantee. The Centre was established in 1993 to fill the void in economics research, policy analysis, and capacity building for effective in-country contributions to Uganda’s policy formulation process. Since its inception, EPRC has grown into a c...
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November 2025
Uganda’s Business Climate improves amidst declining manufacturing and agricultural sector performance
The Business Climate Index (BCI) improved marginally by 7.7 index points from 117.9 in the previous quarter April-June 2025) to 125.6 in the current quarter (July - September 2025). Improved input prices, favourable product prices and increased business activities, as well as business sales/ more business orders, caused the increment in business sentiments during the current quarter. This increase was largely because of improved macroeconomic factors, especially the exchange rate, higher product prices, and increased demand, which was more evident in medium-sized businesses. At the sectoral level, business sentiments within the service sector registered sharp improvements of 15.2 i...
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November 2025
Beyond Business Registration: Does the Regulatory Environment drive Uganda’s informal Sector?
This Note presents the link between Uganda’s regulatory environment and economywide informality in the country. It demonstrates how business licensing reforms and the wider regulatory environment for land, labour, as well as the Tier 4 microfinance regulatory environment may exacerbate both business and workers informality. The evidence indicates that outstanding reforms in key informal sectors are still a major barrier to legal registration, even though Uganda has been trying to reduce compliance costs since 2012. Sectors such as agriculture, trade, transport, logistics, and tourism, which have the highest prevalence of informality, also have the highest administrative licensing cos...
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Forthcoming Publications
January 2026
How the gender gap in phone ownership limits women’s access to formal financial services in Uganda.
This policy brief examines how the gender gap in mobile phone ownership limits women’s access to formal financial services in Uganda. The 2023 Finscope survey reveals that while mobile phone ownership has risen to 72% nationally, a persistent and widening gender gap exists, with 80% of men owning mobile phones compared to only 64% of women. This disparity has far-reaching implications for women’s access to formal financial services. These include limited mobile money access, exclusion from the digital economy, and reduced access to credit and savings opportunities. For example, women are less likely to qualify for mobile-based loans due to limited digital transaction hi...
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April 2025
Agricultural Finance Yearbook 2024
The 2024 Agricultural Finance Yearbook, which is the thirteenth edition in the series, offers the key highlights of Uganda’s Agricultural financing environment. The theme for this edition is “Achieving sustainable financing of Agriculture leveraging Wealth Creation Funds”.
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August 2023
Diabetes costs the Ugandan Government and households UGX 2.2 trillion annually
The IDF regards Uganda as one of the 48 countries with a growing diabetesrelated health issue. With a prevalence of 4.1 percent for all types of T2DM (diagnosed and undiagnosed) in Uganda in 2019, 1.69 million Ugandans have T2DM. It is costly to manage and treat T2DM. The brief highlights that in 2022, diagnosed T2DM management and treatment cost the government and households a total of UGX 2.2 trillion, the burden falling more on households. Oral drugs and OPD consultations were the key cost drivers for treating T2DM without complications. At the same time, diabetic eye treatment of laser and cataract type, haemodialysis, and strokes drove the high costs of T2DM-related com...
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August 2023
Diabetes costs the Ugandan Government and households UGX 2.2 trillion annually
The IDF regards Uganda as one of the 48 countries with a growing diabetesrelated health issue. With a prevalence of 4.1 percent for all types of T2DM (diagnosed and undiagnosed) in Uganda in 2019, 1.69 million Ugandans have T2DM. It is costly to manage and treat T2DM. The brief highlights that in 2022, diagnosed T2DM management and treatment cost the government and households a total of UGX 2.2 trillion, the burden falling more on households. Oral drugs and OPD consultations were the key cost drivers for treating T2DM without complications. At the same time, diabetic eye treatment of laser and cataract type, haemodialysis, and strokes drove the high costs of T2DM-related com...
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October 2023
How can renewable energy development trigger violent conflict in Uganda?
Renewable energy consumption and production are rising across African countries, and Uganda is no exception. Uganda relies on a mixture of sources to meet the energy needs of its population. According to the World Bank, less than half (42%) of the Ugandan population has access to electricity. As a result, most Ugandans rely on biomass to meet their daily energy needs. Electricity generation has historically been based primarily on hydropower and remains so due to its large riverine resources (including the Nile River). The government’s Renewable Energy Policy of 2007 and its 2022 Energy Policy both prioritize increasing the country’s use of renewable energy sources. U...
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May 2023
Skilling Uganda’s youth for the fourth industrial revolution
The Global South is home to 90% of young people worldwide, and by 2030 young people will make up almost half of Africa’s population (El Habti, 2022; GCA, 2021). This youth bulge is an opportunity for Global South countries to take advantage of a larger pool of potential workers to foster economic development. However, limited access to quality education, skills training, and economic opportunities limit the ability of Global South countries to harness this youth bulge (UNDESA, 2015; Gage, 2018). In fact, over 70 million youth globally are unemployed, with young people in the Global South twice as likely to be unemployed or underemployed as compared to the Global North (D’Al...
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