Uganda's NDP IV to be ready by September 2024 - Minister Lugoloobi

National Development Plan IV (NDPIV) National Planning Conference officiated by Minister of State for Planning, Amos Lugoloobi
NDPIV to be ready by September 2024 to inform macroeconomic framework and budgeting processes for fiscal year 2025/26
NDPIV aims to achieve higher household incomes and employment for sustainable socio-economic transformation

Minister of State for Planning, Amos Lugoloobi, has kicked off the National Development Plan IV (NDPIV) National Planning Conference organised by the National Planning Authority at the Office of the President Auditorium.

During the conference, Lugoloobi announced that the NDPIV will be ready by September 2024 to inform the country's macroeconomic framework and budgeting processes for the fiscal year 2025/26, as the current NDP III expires in June 2025.

Lugoloobi highlighted the significance of the NDPIV, stating, "The NDPIV is the fourth out of the six National Development Plans that are meant to implement Uganda Vision 2040. It is also the last plan to deliver the global agenda 2030 of the Sustainable Development Goals and the first within the implementation of the government’s strategy for achieving 10-fold growth."

The goal of NDPIV is "to achieve higher household incomes and employment for sustainable socio-economic transformation," with the theme: "Sustainable industrialization for inclusive growth, employment, and wealth creation."

The strategic direction of NDPIV, approved by the Cabinet in March 2024, aligns with the strategy of growing the economy ten-fold from the current USD 50 billion as of FY 2023/24 to USD 500 billion over the next 15 years in a transformative, inclusive, and sustainable manner.

The NDPIV will be achieved through five strategic objectives:

Sustainably increasing production, productivity, and value addition in agriculture, minerals, oil, and gas.
Enhancing tourism, ICT, and financial services.
Enhancing human capital development.
Supporting the private sector to drive growth.
Building and maintaining strategic sustainable infrastructure.
Strengthening good governance, security, and the role of the state in development.

Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury (PSST), Ramathan Ggoobi, emphasized that the NDPIV should be fiscally realistic. He noted that the introduction of Indicative Planning Figures (IPFs) ensures that the government's limited resources are used efficiently, safeguarding ongoing commitments, and strategically adopting new priorities in line with the 10-fold growth strategy. Ggoobi also highlighted the importance of continuing critical projects such as the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) and oil projects in NDPIV.

Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury (PSST), Ramathan Ggoobi pulse uganda

Ggoobi called for commitment to prudent and effective planning in developing NDPIV, stressing the need to ensure that development plans are based on the availability of resources, aligning resources with revenue forecasts to maintain financial stability, and guarding against the pitfalls of overambitious projections and underfunded priorities. He encouraged program leaders to focus on developing detailed Program Implementation Action Plans (PIAPs) with clear resource allocations and called for effective coordination and collaboration between the government and development partners to maximize resource utilization and minimize duplication of efforts.

Lucy Nakyobe, Head of Public Service and Secretary to Cabinet, pointed out that the silo approach towards service delivery has persisted, limiting the intended purpose of the program approach to planning and implementation. She proposed measures to improve service delivery, including the development and enforcement of service and service delivery standards, which will provide a benchmark for monitoring and accountability.