Driving Transformational Change in Uganda: Fostering the Economic Growth Forum

In 2013, Uganda faced declining growth rates, prompting policymakers to look for strategies to accelerate growth through independent and high-quality research and analysis. Efforts to integrate high-quality research into policy faced challenges, such as communication gaps across government and limited dissemination, constraining the broader impact of evidence-informed insights on policy dialogue. 

Uganda’s Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development (MoFPED) and the IGC collaborated to enable policy dialogue in Uganda by bringing together researchers, policymakers, civil society and international donors. This led to the launch of the Uganda Economic Growth Forum (EGF) in 2017 as a joint initiative of MoFPED and IGC. The EGF, currently in its 8^th edition, has become a cornerstone of evidence-informed policymaking, fostering dialogue and becoming a government-owned platform that directly integrates research findings into national policy and budgetary decisions. 

Based on our Transformational Change methodology, we study how our efforts supported Uganda’s renewed approach to economic planning and what drove the change.   

Figure 1: A timeline of the Transformational Change in Uganda's Economic Growth Forum.

How did IGC contribute to this change? 

1. We collaborated with policymakers to promote evidence-informed policymaking. 

In 2013, Uganda’s Commissioner for Macroeconomic Policy, Albert Musisi, and former MoFPED Permanent Secretary, Keith Muhakanizi, turned to the IGC for evidence-informed support to enhance policy discussions. Together, they launched the Economic Growth Forum—a pivotal forum connecting relevant stakeholders to discuss and develop economic growth policy solutions grounded in academic evidence. 

The EGF’s inclusive engagement model ensures that research findings are presented and discussed, often informing government policies and practices. The immediate impact of the first EGF became evident when two of the three key investment priorities in the Prime Minister’s subsequent budget speech — agriculture and industrialisation—aligned with the themes of the 2017 EGF. The government of Uganda then requested IGC’s support with the EGF again the following year. 

“The EGF acts as a bridge between research and policy, allowing us to package findings in a way that is useful for policymakers.” - Isaac Shinyekwa, senior Ugandan researcher and Head of Trade and Regional Integration Department at the Economic Policy Research Centre.

2. We supported Uganda’s economic strategy through high-quality research. 

We ensure that the research presented at the EGF is of high quality and relevant to the current policy debates. During the seven editions of the EGF up until 2023, the IGC leveraged the expertise of 76 distinguished academic experts—30 Ugandan and 46 internationals— who delivered 110 academic presentations across 16 topics critical to Uganda’s economic growth, offering senior policymakers a wide range of perspectives. To further amplify the impact of the EGF and ensure broader dissemination of its ideas, we supported publications that drew on EGF discussions, including the 2021 release of the book Beyond Recovery: Policies Towards Resurgent Growth in Uganda. 

If you listen to our budget speeches, there is always a section called the economic growth strategy that borrows from the EGF recommendations.” - Albert Musisi, Commissioner of Macroeconomic Policy Department at MoFPED.

Insights from the EGF have helped reshape ideas and frame debates on agriculture, taxation, tourism, and climate change, and influenced key national strategies, from increased investment in tourism infrastructure to reforms in tax incentives. The EGF’s discussions have also guided the development of Uganda’s National Development Plan. Beyond its direct influence on policy, the EGF also has strong potential to act as a platform for local researchers to present their work, interact with international experts, and strengthen relationships across research and policy ecosystems, shaping both national and international research agendas.  

3. We facilitated the institutionalisation of the EGF.

Strong demand from the government of Uganda’s Macroeconomic Policy Department, coupled with IGC’s support, has helped to sustain and develop the EGF. This gradually led to increased government funding, the allocation of dedicated MoFPED staff supporting the event, the establishment of the National Organising Committee and national media coverage. The EGF is now fully integrated into the country’s budget cycle, with MoFPED leading in organising it and IGC providing the academic guidance. 

The EGF has gained widespread attendance, with the audience growing from 200 participants in its early years to over 450 in 2024, including representatives from regional offices and civil society. National media coverage and the broad participation of international partners have further cemented the EGF’s role as a cornerstone of Uganda’s policy landscape. In terms of scalability, the EGF’s model has also been replicated in Zambia, where two similar forums have been held with high-level participation, showcasing its potential to inspire evidence-informed policymaking beyond Uganda. 

What drove change? 

We identified the following key factors that enabled IGC’s engagement to contribute to change: 

1. Ownership and support from policy champions: Leadership from MoFPED officials ensured the EGF remains government-led and aligned with government priorities. This has also enabled its institutionalisation within the budget cycle. 

2. Understanding the local demand for research and rigorous evidence: The EGF was established and has evolved in response to a clear government demand for a platform to facilitate objective, high-quality discussions on priority economic policy issues. 

3. Effective communication and inclusive dialogue: By engaging stakeholders across government, academia, civil society, and the private sector, the EGF has fostered a comprehensive approach to economic growth while nurturing structured debates on complex topics grounded in robust evidence and research 

4. Supporting agile research and policy engagement processes through the strategic use of various funding streams: IGC’s ongoing support, from event content planning to post-forum dissemination, has helped to sustain the EGF’s academic relevance and quality. 

5. Fostering long-term research collaborations: The presence of an in-country team has fostered collaboration between researchers and policymakers, ensuring that high-quality research informs Uganda’s economic strategy. The country team’s presence has allowed IGC to continuously support the EGF, with IGC occupying a seat at the National Organising Committee. Further efforts still need to continue to be carried out to ensure strong partnerships with local researchers and local research institutions to ensure the diversity and inclusivity of the Forum. 

To learn more, read our case study Transformational Change: Uganda Economic Growth Forum and find out more about our Transformational Change work here.