Uganda’s economic debate is shifting from how fast the economy is growing to a more practical question: how much of that growth is reaching households?
This will be the central question at the UG Economic Forum 2026, which will focus on household income, job creation and the pathways through which ordinary Ugandans can participate more meaningfully in the economy.
Organised by Next Media in partnership with public and private sector stakeholders, the four-day forum will run from September 29 to October 2 at the Next Conference Centre in Kampala under the theme “Putting Money in People’s Pockets.”
The shift places household purchasing power at the centre of an economic discussion traditionally dominated by GDP growth, investment, inflation and government expenditure.
Uganda’s economy has continued to expand, supported by investment across infrastructure, services and productive sectors, while the country prepares for commercial oil production. Yet stronger headline economic indicators do not automatically translate into higher incomes for farmers, informal workers, young people and small businesses.
The forum therefore intends to examine how productive sectors can generate more income at household level. Its discussions will follow an ATMS framework covering Agriculture, Tourism, Minerals and Services, four areas with large employment and enterprise networks.
Agriculture will take the first day, with discussions expected to focus on productivity, agro-processing, value addition, commercialisation and access to regional markets. The emphasis is on moving producers beyond selling raw commodities towards capturing more value within the supply chain.
Tourism will follow, with attention on hospitality, community tourism and local supply chains. The sector creates opportunities beyond hotels and tour operators, including transport, food production, crafts, entertainment and other services linked to visitor spending.
Minerals will form the third pillar, with the forum focusing on artisanal and small-scale mining, regulation, value addition and retaining more economic activity in resource-producing communities. The final day will focus on services, including digital work, creative industries, transport, digital trade and other activities increasingly providing income for young Ugandans.
The framework reflects a broader economic challenge. Uganda has a large working-age population, but much of economic activity remains informal and operates outside systems that provide businesses with reliable access to finance, markets, technology and formal value chains.
For households, the issue is not simply whether the economy is producing more. It is whether people have productive opportunities through which they can earn, save, invest and build assets.
That makes the forum’s “Putting Money in People’s Pockets” theme more than a slogan. It raises the question of how Uganda can convert production in agriculture, tourism, mining and services into sustained household incomes.
The forum will bring together policymakers, private-sector leaders, entrepreneurs, civil society organisations and members of the public. It will run daily from 9 am to 1 pm, with free public entry, and will be broadcast on NBS Television and streamed on MTN TV through AfroMobile. For Uganda, the bigger test is whether discussions about economic transformation produce practical mechanisms linking households to markets.
Economic growth becomes meaningful at household level when a farmer earns more from production, a young person secures a sustainable income, a small business expands its market, or a community captures more value from the resources and services it produces. That is where Uganda’s next economic conversation is heading: from measuring the size of the economy to examining who earns from it.
