Musasizi Tasks EPRC With Driving Uganda’s $500 Billion Economy Through Evidence-Based Research

Finance Minister Henry Musasizi has challenged the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) to strengthen its role in producing high-quality, evidence-based economic research that will guide Uganda’s ambition of growing its economy to $500 billion by 2040.

Speaking during a meeting with the EPRC Board and Management at the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Musasizi emphasised that sound research must remain at the heart of government policy formulation if Uganda is to successfully implement its Tenfold Growth Strategy.

The minister said evidence-based research provides policymakers with the information needed to make informed decisions that can accelerate the country’s socio-economic transformation. He noted that as Uganda pursues its ambitious growth agenda, research institutions such as EPRC have a critical responsibility to generate practical policy recommendations that will strengthen the performance of the government’s Anchor Transformation and Modernisation Sectors (ATMS).

Musasizi urged the centre to focus on research that addresses emerging economic challenges while identifying opportunities that can unlock productivity, industrialisation, value addition, export growth and private sector development.

Established in 1993 through a partnership between the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development and Makerere University, the Economic Policy Research Centre has grown into Uganda’s leading economic policy think tank. Over the past three decades, the institution has provided research and policy analysis that has informed national planning, fiscal policy and broader economic reforms.

Speaking during the meeting, EPRC Executive Director Dr Sarah Ssewanyana reaffirmed the institution’s commitment to supporting evidence-informed policymaking and contributing to Uganda’s national development priorities.

She said the centre’s research agenda is fully aligned with the Fourth National Development Plan (NDP IV) and the government’s Tenfold Growth Strategy aimed at transforming Uganda into a $500 billion economy by 2040.

Dr Ssewanyana added that EPRC is also strengthening stakeholder engagement to improve policy uptake while investing in the digitisation of research dissemination and knowledge management to ensure policymakers and development partners have easier access to timely research findings.

The meeting underscored the government’s expectation that research institutions will play an increasingly strategic role in shaping policies capable of sustaining high economic growth, improving competitiveness and supporting Uganda’s long-term development aspirations.