East African Business Week

Despite reactions against the skyrocketing fuel and food inflation, Uganda's economy seems to be stable according to President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
Museveni was addressing the 9th parliament about the state of the nation before taking on their tasks in their new term of office.
"Uganda's economy rebounded strongly in the first half of Financial Year 2010/11, recording a growth rate of 9% in the July - December 2010 period," Museveni said mid last week.
The president said that between July -September 2010 an annual growth rate of 5.1% was registered, while a 15.1% annual growth rate was registered in October - December 2010.
He said that the Industry and Services sectors grew by 17.6% and 13.6% respectively, in the two quarters and the month-on-month growth rate of economic activity in bricks and cement, saw-milling, paper and printing, as well as food processing was 8% in December 2010.
The president added that the overall economic performance of 9.1 % in the first half of the current financial year was better than the entire Financial Year 2009/10 which was estimated at 5.2%, as Uganda emerged from the global economic crisis.
"The economic performance is still substantially higher than global and regional economic growth prospects estimated at 2.5% and 4.5% respectively," he noted.
Museveni also said the Ugandan economy was expected to grow by 6.6% for the Financial Year 2011/12, with forecast for future years exceeding 7% per annum.
He also stressed that however Uganda's balance of payments with the external world continued to be constrained as a result of slower growth of exports, tourism receipts and remittances in the face of increased imports.
According to the president, Imports on the other hand, are structurally dependent on domestic needs, such as oil and petroleum products.
"Though export receipts increased in January 2011 to US$ 211.6m from US$ 129m in February 2010, imports were twice as much at US$ 418.9m, compared to export receipts of US$ 328.8m in February, 2010," Museveni commented.
Uganda's National Foreign Exchange Reserves amounted to US $ 2.662 bn in January 2011 representing 4.6 months of imports cover, compared to US$ 2.812 bn and US$ 2.498 bn in December and June 2010, respectively representing 5.2 and 4.9 months of import cover.
In order to uplift needy household in Uganda, Museveni said his government intends to introduce zero grazing of cows per needy family.
He said that about 7m households could be given cows saying about 36m cows are needed to be distributed to these families in comparison of the available 14m heads of cattle.
The president said this could do a lot in up lifting the lives of those households if they got at least six cows of which at least on average they can generate at least 20 litres each hence increasing household income.