On right track, Uganda’s ICT sector has in the last decade registered tremendous growth.
The minister of information and communication technology (ICT), Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, has said government’s decision to invest more in education, infrastructure and agriculture will in the long run help enhance the development and the use of ICT in Uganda.
In an interview with daily monitor, Dr. Rugunda said while the allocations to ICT stayed low, investments in priority sectors will put in place a favorable business environment that will enable more people to easily involve in ICT inventions, innovations and usage.
“Massive investment in key sectors mainly education, infrastructure and agriculture will boost ICT performance. When you invest in these sectors, you are in effect increasing wealth of more Ugandans and improving the business environment,” Dr Rugunda said.
He added: “The development of ICT will not be a product of the budget allocations to the sector but rather a product of the availability of a good education system, energy and infrastructure. The government attaches great importance to the ICT sector.”
While the ICT sector is among the leading sectors of the economy contributing about 6 per cent to Uganda‘s GDP, resources allocated to it have stayed low.
In the 2012/13 budget, it was allocated shs12.2 billion, shs100 million more than the shs12.1 billion it received in the 2011/12 budget.
This allocation represents about 0.1 per cent of the national resource envelop.
From Monitor
