On February 19th 2025, the Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury, Ministry of Finance, Planning and Social Development, Mr. Ramathan Ggoobi, led a delegation to the French Ministry of Economics, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty where he paid a courtesy call on Mr. William Roos, Assistant Secretary Multilateral, Development and Trade Affairs at the French Treasury Directorate.
Mr. Ggoobi was accompanied by Uganda’s Ambassador to France, H.E. Doreen Ruth Amule, Commissioner Economic Development, Policy & Research, Mr. Joseph Enyimu, Commissioner Public Administration, Moses Kabanda, Commissioner Executive Operations, Uganda Revenue Authority, Mr. Abel Kagumire and Head of Public Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Margaret Kafeero.
Mr. Ggoobi reflected on a series of previous meetings and gave an update about Uganda’s economy continuing to register good progress. “The GDP growth for year ending June 2024 was 6% with a positive projection for the June 2025 year end at 7% – 8%” he said. He attributed this improvement to the roll-out of the Paris Development Model which has changed the approach from subsistence Agriculture to more commercial oriented agriculture. He added that inflation in Uganda was stable with one of the lowest rates in the region, something that could be attributed to managing the price of food.
“The Ugandan shilling has remained stable on account of limited controls, allowing for a natural flow and shock control. The economy is fully liberalized with free access to foreign exchange. “We do not spend what we do not have, in Uganda,” he added.
In response to Mr. Roos’ question on loan priority areas, Mr. Ggoobi informed him that the Uganda Government was taking very strict decisions on which loans could be undertaken, capitalizing on transport infrastructure like the SGR construction Electricity transmission and Irrigation, which he said is a priority given the risks associated with climate change to make agriculture more predictable. He added that Development Financing was being geared towards Agro-Processing, Tourism and Mineral Development (ATMs) Uganda Government was therefore pursuing low-cost Capital to shore up funds in UDB to feed these sector areas.
“we want to support more farmers, tourism, science and technology and tourism industry players to access cheaper lending through Uganda Development Bank capitalization,” he said.
Mr. Roos expressed delight at Uganda’s approach to managing currency and debt management. He encouraged Uganda to increase on communication about its successes because there are many examples to be seen. “France agrees with Uganda on debt sustainability, with caution, encouraging more IMF cooperation in getting the risk-assessment back from moderate to low,” he said.
On tax policy, there is no current Double Taxation Agreement between Uganda and France. “The number of French companies operating in Uganda is growing and so are their expenditures. Investors would like to study a mutually beneficial taxation agreement,” said Roos.
Both sides agreed on further cooperation on exchange programs in studying and understanding various tax collection and exemption processes.
