The persistent poverty, unemployment, teenage pregnancies and limited access to technology and quality services indicate that the Uganda’s development is struggling to keep pace with population growth, the government and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) have warned.
Speaking ahead of the 2026 World Population Day commemorations, the Minister of State for Finance in charge of Planning, Amos Lugoloobi, and the UNFPA Country Representative, Kristine Blokhus, said Uganda must accelerate investments in technology, research and human capital if it is to turn its population growth into an economic advantage rather than a development burden.
This year’s World Population Day is being commemorated under the theme: “Unlocking the Potential of Uganda’s Population through Technology and Research to Drive Sustainable Development.”
Although Uganda has registered economic growth, expanded internet connectivity, rolled out universal education, increased access to health services and implemented programmes such as the Parish Development Model (PDM) and Emyooga, officials acknowledged that these gains have not matched the demands of one of the world’s youngest and fastest-growing populations.
According to the 2024 National Population and Housing Census, Uganda’s population stood at 45.9 million, with about 73 percent below the age of 30. UNFPA’s Kristine Blokhus described the country’s demographic profile as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, saying Uganda possesses an enormous reservoir of talent capable of driving socio-economic transformation if properly supported.
“Technology and research can strengthen education, improve health service delivery, create jobs and unlock the enormous potential contained in Uganda’s nearly 50 million people,” she said. However, she stressed that technology alone cannot deliver development.
One of the clearest indicators that development is lagging behind population growth, she said, is the high rate of teenage pregnancy. Uganda loses a significant part of the effective economic participation potential of an estimated 24 percent of its teenage girls every year to teenage pregnancy and school dropout, limiting educational attainment, labour force participation and future earnings.
“When a girl becomes a mother before she’s ready, her path to a future income is often abruptly interrupted. It is not only about the individual girl; it is about the future productivity of the entire nation,” Kristine said. Lugoloobi similarly argued that Uganda’s challenge is not the size of its population but its ability to make that population productive.
“The issue before Uganda is not whether we have enough people. The issue is whether our people are sufficiently productive, skilled, innovative, healthy and employed to drive economic transformation,” he said. He noted that despite significant reductions in income poverty over the years, 31.5 percent of Ugandans- about 14 million people- remain multidimensionally poor, lacking adequate education, healthcare, sanitation, nutrition, housing and other essential services.
The minister said this demonstrates that while development has progressed, it has not advanced fast enough or broadly enough to meet the needs of the expanding population. He attributed the situation to low agricultural productivity, inadequate access to technology, limited value addition, climate shocks, weak market access and insufficient innovation.
The labour market also illustrates the growing pressure created by population growth. Each year, between 600,000 and 700,000 young people enter the job market, but employment creation has failed to keep pace.
Government estimates show that 51 percent of Uganda’s youth- about five million people-are neither in employment, education nor training (NEET).
The minister nevertheless highlighted areas where development has made important gains. Internet penetration for example increased from 1.8 percent in 2010 to 53 percent in 2022, while the National ICT Backbone Infrastructure expanded from 1,380 kilometres to over 4,300 kilometres. Government has also supported more than 100 science, technology and innovation projects and continues to invest in digital infrastructure.
However, he failed to explain whether such investments are translating into jobs, enterprise growth and higher household incomes. “Research that remains on library shelves cannot transform a nation,” he said. “Innovation that remains in laboratories cannot create jobs. Technology that remains inaccessible to communities cannot reduce poverty.”
He called for stronger collaboration between universities, research institutions, local governments and the private sector to ensure research solves practical production challenges and reaches farmers, entrepreneurs and young people.
Lugoloobi also urged greater integration of technology, innovation and skills development into the Parish Development Model, saying access to capital alone will not transform livelihoods without productivity-enhancing technologies.
World Population Day is observed annually on July 11 to highlight population and development issues. Uganda will celebrate the day at Rubanda district. The government’s Fourth National Development Plan identifies human capital development as a key pillar for achieving Uganda’s ambition of expanding its economy to USD 500 billion by 2040-Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
