The quality of Ugandan government policies and institutions remained unchanged in 2017, according to the World Bank’s annual sub-Saharan country policy and institutional assessment report.
Uganda’s CPIA score was 3.6, the same as 2016’s but above the sub-Saharan average of 3.1 – also unchanged from the previous year. The CPIA is measured on a scale of 1 to 6, with 6 being highest. Rwanda had the highest score in sub-Saharan Africa with 4.0 while South Sudan had the lowest score of 1.5.
The index focusses on policies and institutions over which African governments have control, Albert Zeufack, the Bank’s chief economist for Africa said. “More specifically, the CPIA measures the extent to which a country’s policy and institutional framework supports sustainable growth and poverty reduction, and consequently the effective use of development assistance,” according to a World Bank explainer.
Uganda’s best score was in economic management with 4.2, followed by structural policies at 3.8, and policies for social and inclusion and equity at 3.5. It’s weakest score was in public sector management and institutions at 3.0. The assessment consists of 16 criteria – also rated on a scale of 1 to 6 – grouped in four equally weighed clusters.
For the criteria, Uganda’s strongest score was debt policy and CPIA trade rating at 4.5 for both. The lowest score was 2.0 for transparency, accountability and corruption in the public sector.
“Reflecting an encouraging trend, nearly 30 percent more countries strengthened their policy and institutional quality in 2017 compared with 2016, and 40 percent fewer countries had a weakening trend,” the Bank said.
“The downside movement in aggregate scores was concentrated in fragile countries, attesting to the difficult enabling environment in fragile countries and the high risks of conflict, commodity price shocks, or climate threat that they face which can translate into rapid deterioration in policy performance.”
