KAMPALA – Uganda’s economy today is worth about $53.6 billion. The government now says it wants to grow that figure nearly tenfold, to $500 billion.
It is an ambitious target, one that sounds distant at first hearing. But behind the headline lies a clearer strategy: build factories, create jobs, move exports beyond raw materials, and turn Uganda from a consumer economy into a producing one.
That vision was laid out again this week by the State Minister of Finance for Privatisation and Investment, Evelyn Anite, during a meeting with Chinese investors led by industrialist Paul Zhang.
“Our vision is not just to dream the $500 billion economy but to turn this dream into reality. We are looking at practical investments that will transform our economy and create opportunities for Ugandans,” Anite said.
Her remarks reveal something important about how the government believes such growth can happen. It is not expecting the leap to come from taxation or public spending alone. Instead, it is betting heavily on private capital, particularly foreign investment, to do much of the lifting.
That helps explain why more than 1,200 acres of land in Lusenke, Kayunga District, have been allocated for a new industrial zone under Zhang’s leadership. If completed as planned, it would become his third major industrial park in Uganda after earlier projects in Mbarara and Mbale.
For Kampala policymakers, industrial parks are no longer just about land. They are becoming the backbone of the tenfold growth strategy.
Factories clustered in one location can share roads, electricity, water, logistics networks, and labour pools. That lowers costs, attracts more investors, and creates the type of concentrated economic activity that can rapidly expand output.
“We are having Mr Paul starting his third industrial park in the country. He started his journey in Uganda with Tian Tang Industrial Park in Mbarara and then expanded to Mbale Industrial Park,” Anite said.
The hidden driver behind this policy is jobs.
Uganda has one of the youngest populations in the world, with thousands entering the labour market each year. Economic growth that does not create employment risks becoming politically and socially fragile. That is why officials repeatedly return to job numbers whenever they discuss investment.
Anite said Zhang’s existing ventures have already employed more than 25,000 Ugandans. The proposed Kayunga project, she added, could create as many as 50,000 more.
“We are not talking about a new person. We are talking about a household name — someone who has walked the talk and demonstrated his capability of creating jobs in our market,” she said.
Another driver is geography.
Kampala and Wakiso have absorbed much of Uganda’s industrial growth, bringing congestion, land pressure, and rising costs. Expanding to places like Kayunga is an attempt to decentralise development and push jobs closer to where people live.
“Near Kampala, there is only one industrial park in Namanve, and it is not enough. If we build more, like in Kayunga, people will work closer to where they live,” Zhang said.
This matters because a $500 billion economy cannot be built from one city alone. It requires multiple production hubs connected to roads, power, and markets.
The government is also targeting sectors that can multiply value quickly. According to Anite, investors linked to the Kayunga project are considering solar power generation, chemical manufacturing, and real estate. Zhang’s wider footprint already spans electronics, mobile phones, vehicles, construction materials, and household goods.
These are strategic choices. Uganda exports too many raw materials and imports too many finished goods. Industrialisation is meant to reverse that equation.
There is also an energy logic to the strategy. A representative of Shenzhen Mingyang Technology Company, deputy general manager Lu Wei, said the firm is considering setting up in Uganda to provide battery storage solutions for factories and industrial systems.
Reliable power is often the difference between a factory that expands and one that closes. Attracting energy technology investors suggests the government knows industrial growth depends not only on factories, but on keeping those factories running.
Still, reaching $500 billion would require years of sustained growth, deeper exports, stronger infrastructure, skills development, and policy consistency. Land allocations and investor meetings alone will not be enough.
Yet the message from the government is clear: the path to that target runs through industrial parks, foreign capital, manufacturing, and mass employment.
“My plea to fellow citizens is that we support these investors for the growth of our economy, to grow our GDP to $500 billion, and to create jobs for our people,” Anite said.
For ordinary Ugandans, the real test will be simpler than the headline figure. Not whether GDP reaches $500 billion, but whether more people find decent jobs, higher incomes, and real opportunity along the way.