What the EIU report says about Uganda and the world’s fastest-growing economies

Following the passage of the Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill also known as the Anti-LGQTI bill by Ghana’s Parliament, there have been mixed reactions and conversations from the public about its potential impact on Ghana’s economy. 

Many people have raised concerns about how Ghana may lose foreign investments if President Akufo-Addo assents to the bill. This includes the Ministry of Finance. 

Uganda has featured prominently in such political discourse. This is because Uganda’s parliament in May 2023 passed the anti-LGBTQI bill which included long jail terms and death penalty for offenders. In line with that, Uganda risks losing foreign aid, a development that many believe could have dire consequences on the country’s economy.  The World Bank, for instance, in response to the passage of the bill has suspended new funding to Uganda.

But Uganda’s economy appears to be doing well, according to the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) report for 2024.

Some politicians in Ghana, in arguing about the impact of the gay bill on Ghana’s economy reference the case of Uganda, asserting that the East African country’s economy is progressing despite the cons of the bill. 

On February 29, 2024, Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram, Samuel Nartey George, in an interview on Joy FM’s Top Story said Uganda is poised to be Africa’s 6th fastest-growing economy this year according to the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) report for 2024.

The Ningo-Prampram Member of Parliament was reacting to comments by the US Ambassador to Ghana, Ambassador Virginia Evelyn Palmer, who said “It will be bad for public order and public health.  If enacted, it will also hurt Ghana’s international reputation and Ghana’s economy”. 

Sam George disagreed with the claim that the passage of the bill would affect the economic fortunes of the country and cited the case of Uganda. 

“They said same about Uganda. I don’t know if you’ve seen the EIU, Economic Intelligence Unit report for 2024 on African countries. Uganda’s economy is poised to be the 6th fastest growing economy in Africa this year. 6th fastest growing in Africa, this year” he said on Joy FM’s Top Story.”

In another discussion on TV3’s NewDay show, Malik Basintale of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) also claimed that the EIU report predicts Uganda’s economy to be the 8th fastest-growing economy in the world. 

“After Uganda passed the law, Uganda today is the 8th fastest growing economy in the world,” he said. 

What does the EIU report say?

The Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) report for 2024 forecast that Africa will be the world’s second-fastest-growing region in 2024, adding that 12 of the world’s fastest-growing economies this year will be in Africa. These economies include Uganda, Senegal and Mauritius, Togo and Rwanda. 

The report further predicts Uganda’s economy to be the 14th fastest-growing economy in the world and the 8th in Africa.

According to the EIU’s prediction, Uganda’s economy comes after Senegal, Mauritania, Libya, Rwanda, Cote d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Benin. The report did not predict Uganda’s economy to be the sixth fastest-growing in Africa or the eighth fastest-growing in the world.

Therefore, claims suggesting that Uganda’s economy is poised to be the 6th fastest-growing economy in Africa or the 8th fastest in the world are false.