By: Ismael Kasooha
KAMPALA
Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, a renowned economist and global leader in sustainable development, has said Uganda should seek long-term loans to finance its development programmes.
“Uganda needs long-term loans of 30 years, preferably 40 years,” he added. “This money should be invested in key strategic sectors to drive development,”.
Sachs arrived in Uganda from the United States together with his wife Dr. Sonia Sachs on Sunday. He was invited to Uganda by Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja at a meeting with him during the UN SDG Summit in New York last year.
Nabbanja convened a meeting for various Ministers to engage with the Professor at the Office of the Prime Minister in Kampala on Tuesday.
The Ministers and Sachs discussed Uganda’s sustainable development agenda implementation progress and areas that need intervention to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Sachs told the Ministers that developing countries like Uganda need long-term financing because they do not have enough resources to fund their development.
The Professor said Uganda should plan for its growing population which is projected to grow to 90 million people by 2050. Sachs lauded the Government for initiating the Parish Development Model (PDM) programme as one of the vehicles for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
He enlisted education, primary healthcare, agriculture, urban infrastructure, and ICT, among some of the areas Uganda needs to prioritise for investment. Nabbanja said that Uganda is looking forward to exploiting the professor’s vast experience in development.
The Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Matia Kasaija, said the country has registered remarkable economic growth over the past years but still faces some challenges including low productivity in agriculture. However, he said that Government is addressing the challenges to facilitate socioeconomic transformation.
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