Dr. Ongom: Region risks exporting raw materials as others add value.
By Dr. Morris Chris Ongom
Economist & Director, Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry – Lira City and Lango Chapter–June 11, 2026
The FY2026/27 National Budget is more than a government spending plan. It is the first year of implementing the NRM Manifesto for the 2026-2031 term and a strategic blueprint for Uganda’s next economic phase.
With a budget of Shs84.39 trillion, Government has sent one clear message: the future belongs to producers, innovators, investors, exporters, and value creators.
The theme, “Full Monetisation of Uganda’s Economy through Commercial Agriculture, Industrialisation, Expanding and Broadening Services, Digital Transformation and Market Access,” signals a shift from simply growing the economy to ensuring every household, enterprise, and region actively creates wealth.
For Lango Sub-region, this Budget is not just a list of allocations. It is a wake-up call and a strategic opportunity.
Uganda enters new economic phase
Uganda’s economy is projected to grow from 6.4% this financial year to 10.2% in FY2026/27, driven by oil production, exports, private investment, and infrastructure.
Exports have hit $18b, remittances $2.8b, and foreign direct investment $3.2b. Future growth will depend on production, exports, industrialisation, technology, and regional trade — not domestic consumption alone.
Government is now a facilitator. The private sector must create jobs, expand industries, and generate wealth.
Productive sectors win big
The biggest winners are sectors that generate income, exports, and jobs. Agro-industrialisation got Shs2.26 trillion — a record. Government is now prioritising irrigation, mechanisation, storage, processing, certification, and market access.
The era of prospering from raw commodities is ending. Future competitiveness lies in processing, packaging, branding, and exporting value-added products.
Tourism, manufacturing, innovation, digital transformation, and industrial development also got major funding. These will drive the next jobs and enterprises.
What it means for Lango
Lango did not get oil infrastructure, airports, or special economic zones. But the Budget favours sectors where the region has advantages.
Lango is among Uganda’s top agricultural regions, with potential in grain, oilseeds, livestock, coffee, fisheries, and agro-processing.
Government support for coffee expansion in Northern Uganda, livestock restocking in Lango, Acholi, and Teso, and the Lira-Gulu-Agago power line sets a base for industrial growth.
Time for action is now
The Budget introduces “Kisanja No More Sleep.” This applies to regions too.
The Tororo-Gulu railway upgrade also positions Lira City as a logistics, aggregation, and distribution hub for Northern Uganda, South Sudan, West Nile, Karamoja, and Eastern DRC.
- Agro-industrialisation — Grain processing, edible oils, animal feeds, dairy, livestock, and export agribusiness.
- Logistics hub — Position Lira City as Northern Uganda’s commercial centre using transport and energy investments. Invest in aggregation centres, export warehouses, cold storage, logistics parks, and transport services.
- Coffee — Aggressively promote production and processing as a long-term export.
- Digital & innovation — Invest in skills, innovation hubs, incubation centres, and tech enterprises for youth jobs.
- Tourism — Develop cultural and heritage tourism around Lango’s history, Dokolo Museum, and Akii-Bua Stadium opportunities.
The question is: Is Lango ready to seize these opportunities?
The real risk: Failing to organise
Lango’s biggest risk is not lack of government investment. It is failing to organise around new opportunities. Regions attracting big investments spent years preparing — with strategies, industrial zones, strong value chains, and investor attraction.
Lango cannot remain a supplier of raw materials while others capture processing, manufacturing, logistics, and exports.
Every year, thousands of tonnes of maize, soybeans, sunflower, cassava, rice, and livestock leave Lango with little value addition. Jobs, profits, and taxes are created elsewhere. Without action, this will continue.
Private sector must lead
Government expects the private sector to drive transformation. Capitalisation of Uganda Development Bank, Agricultural Credit Facility, PDM, Emyooga, and GROW Project offers financing.
But money is not enough. Lango needs bankable projects, investment-ready enterprises, strong cooperatives, modern storage, processing plants, and export businesses.
The private sector must think beyond trading to manufacturing, agro-processing, logistics, tourism, tech, and industrial development.
Lango’s new development agenda
Areas of concern
Lango missed out on industrial city investment, special economic zones, airport upgrades, large irrigation schemes, and flagship manufacturing plants.
Call for regional economic unity:
It is time for cultural institutions, local governments, MPs, development partners, banks, cooperatives, youth, women entrepreneurs, and the private sector to unite.
This should worry regional leaders. Without advocacy and planning, Lango risks remaining a raw-material supplier while others get industries.
The region must strengthen its voice nationally and present bankable proposals to attract investment.
Lango needs a shared economic vision prioritising agro-industrialisation, an industrial park, an international airport, commercial agriculture, coffee expansion, livestock commercialisation, regional trade, youth entrepreneurship, and investment promotion.
Development is not by chance. It happens when leaders and citizens pursue a common agenda consistently.
Future winners will not be those with the biggest allocations today. They will be those organised around production, innovation, value addition, exports, and investment.
Lango has fertile land, strategic location, growing infrastructure, Lira City, rich heritage, and a youthful population. But advantages alone do not create wealth. Vision, leadership, investment, coordination, and execution do.
Conclusion
The FY2026/27 Budget is a roadmap for Uganda’s future economy. For Lango, the choice is clear: keep exporting raw products and stay on the margins, or embrace agro-industrialisation, value addition, innovation, and private sector-led growth.
The opportunities are real. Resources exist. Markets are expanding.
What is needed now is vision, investment, coordination, and leadership.
If Lango aligns with this Budget, it can become one of Uganda’s most dynamic centres of agricultural commercialisation, industrial growth, and private sector development in the next decade.
The question is not whether opportunities exist. It is whether we are prepared to seize them.
Will we continue exporting opportunities, or start creating wealth where it is produced?
That answer will define Lango’s economic future for decades.
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