Where is the money in the 2026/27 budget?

Mr Moses Ajiku, a farmer in West Nile, argues that the budget fails to address his immediate realities: market access and storage facilities.

His peers across the region echo the same sentiment, trapped between a lack of buyers, poor storage, and rising production hurdles.

While farmers fight logistics, urban traders are battling the taxman. Kampala’s textile and garment dealers say they are suffocating under the burden of excessive taxation.

For example, textile industry players alone contend with seven core categories of taxes and levies, including customs duty of either 35 percent or $2 per kilogram—whichever is higher.

“If you add on all import duties, VAT [Value Added Tax] and different types of withholding taxes, the total effective tax burden on the textile industry players is 90 to 95 percent,” explains Mr Bahasha, who also serves as the research and policy advocacy officer at the Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA).

He continued: “This is why textile and garment players oppose certain import taxes and kilogram-based valuation methods because they significantly inflate import costs and squeeze profit margins. So, for an ordinary trader, this budget does not speak to us.”

Investment frontiers
Agriculture is transitioning from subsistence farming to commercial, export-led production. 
There is high demand for commercial horticulture, greenhouse farming, vegetable cultivation, and certified seed multiplication. Grain milling, fruit juice concentration, and dairy processing remain open for investment.

Logistics and infrastructure
Severe shortages persist in specialised cold-chain logistics, modern warehousing, and animal feed manufacturing.

Coffee sector expansion
Coffee remains Uganda’s premier economic engine. In the calendar year 2025, the country exported a record-breaking 8.7 million bags, generating $2.5 billion in earnings. 

Investment opportunities lie in massive supply gaps existing beyond the farm, specifically in regional crop aggregation, industrial roasting, domestic branding, and direct-to-market export channels.

Oil, Gas, and ancillary services
With commercial oil production slated to begin, the sector is projected to drive 5.5 percent of Uganda’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2030. 

Backed by a Shs473.51 billion budget allocation in FY 2026/27, a cumulative $20 billion in investment is moving into the ecosystem. Capital is hovering around the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), the Uganda Refinery Project, and the Kabalega Industrial Park. 

This influx is creating high demand for local suppliers in engineering, heavy fabrication, construction, specialised transport, hazardous waste disposal, industrial catering, and corporate hospitality.

Manufacturing, industrial parks
Armed with a Shs1.03 trillion budget allocation, the government is expanding serviced industrial parks and export processing zones. Import substitution and regional export markets offer viable opportunities for steel fabrication, pharmaceuticals, textiles, construction materials, eco-friendly packaging, and electronics assembly. 

Energy and green investments
The FY 2026/27 budget pivots toward climate-resilient and low-carbon infrastructure. Entry points include electric mobility (E-mobility) solutions, commercial solar installations, off-grid mini-grid development, and solar-powered agricultural irrigation systems.

Digital economy
To harness the potential of the youth tech demographic, the government is focusing on expanding the digital economy and tapping into Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). 

The ICT programme has been allocated nearly Shs514 billion for the 2026/27 financial year, primarily to develop infrastructure to drive digital employment.

While Uganda’s ICT sector contributes about 7 percent to GDP, digital adoption across government and business remains fragmented.

However, this gap presents a massive marketplace.
Supported by nearly 30 percent internet penetration, 14.2 million internet users, and 47.5 million mobile subscriptions, the private sector is seeing rapid growth in software development, graphic design, digital marketing, data management, online freelancing, and customer support.

Creative sector
The creative industry is another high-potential avenue aimed at tackling double-digit youth unemployment. The government has committed to deepening investments in this sector to drive Uganda’s next phase of economic transformation, building on existing financing and copyright reforms.

The industry is projected to employ over one million Ugandans, driven by private sector opportunities in film production, music, photography, fashion, and digital content creation.

The success of these initiatives hinges heavily on execution. 
Mr Julius Mukunda, a budget and policy analyst, notes that realising these opportunities depends on effective programme implementation and business access to finance.

While Mr Mukunda, who is also the executive director of the Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG), believes the budget provides a solid foundation for inclusive and sustainable economic growth, he stresses that actual implementation remains the decisive factor.

Funding opportunities
The Government has unveiled significant investment opportunities and funding allocations within the Financial Year 2026/27 national budget, heavily targeting agricultural productivity and affordable credit access.

Government investments in animal health systems, specifically local vaccine production, are projected to boost livestock productivity.

The livestock sub-sector remains one of Uganda’s fastest-growing agricultural segments, currently contributing approximately 4.5 percent to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Budget analysts highlight rising commercial opportunities in dairy farming, poultry, goat rearing, beef production, and animal feed manufacturing.

Parish Development Model
Under the ongoing Parish Development Model (PDM), the government has cumulatively disbursed Shs4.4 trillion across 10,589 parishes.

According to official performance data, this initiative currently supports over 4 million households engaged in primary agriculture, livestock, poultry, and value-chain enterprises.

Expansion of agricultural finance
To accelerate economic monetisation, the government has allocated an additional Shs2.49 trillion toward wealth-creation programmes for FY 2026/27. 
This builds on previous agricultural and enterprise financing schemes, which have injected over Shs3 trillion into agribusinesses in recent years.

Specific budgetary capitalisations for key financial facilities include: Uganda Development Bank (UDB), which was allocated an additional Shs442.2 billion to expand long-term development financing. 
The Presidential Initiative on wealth and job creation (Emyooga) was granted an additional Shs100 billion and Small Business Financing Programmes and Agricultural Credit Facility (ACF) each receiving an additional capitalisation of Shs47.6 billion.

Then there is the Large-Scale Commercial Farmers Financing Scheme with Shs41 billion to support farmers cultivating over 50 acres of grains and animal feeds.

Then, there is Micro-Targeted and Alternative Credit Channels in urban trade. The Microfinance Support Centre, the institution responsible for scaling it, codenamed it “Katale Loan Facility”.

It is being piloted across major Kampala hubs, including St. Balikudembe (Owino), Nakawa, Kalerwe, Busega, Nakasero, and Ggaba markets. This facility provides traders with working capital loans at a fixed annual interest rate of eight percent.

For startups and major infrastructure projects, the government is promoting alternative financing mechanisms outside traditional banking. 

These non-traditional frameworks include venture capital, private equity, Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), Islamic Sukuk financing, and broader capital markets development.

Current uncertainty
Global shocks aside, Uganda’s official economic pulse is racing, according to the government. 
The Finance Ministry reports low inflation, a steady shilling, and accelerating growth.
But does paper progress reach the pocket? 

For households looking to outpace last year’s ledger, the Shs84.3 trillion 2026/2027 national budget points to a few specific pockets of opportunity.