The National Planning Authority (NPA) is a semi-autonomous national development planning institution.
It was created by an Act of Parliament in 2002.
The mission of the NPA is to produce comprehensive economic development plans for the country. The NPA is also mandated to coordinate development planning in the entire country and to advise the executive branch on the best policies and strategies for the development of the country. The agency is charged with the economic evaluation of public projects and programs in collaboration with civil society and the private sector. It is also responsible for the development of local expertise in development planning nationally and at the district level.
One of the immediate planning goals is Uganda’s attainment of middle-income status.
GOVERNANCE
In June 2024, a new board was appointed, with the following members, who will serve a five-year term; renewable once.
- Prof. Pamela Kasabiti Mbabazi: Chairperson of the Board
- Dr Ivan Lule: Deputy Chairperson
- Hon Lydia Wanyoto: Member
- Prof Enos Kiremire: Member
- Hon Birahwa Mukitale Stephen Adyeeri: Member
NPA’S STRATEGIC PLAN 2021/21-2024/25NPA’
- Through the National Planning Authority’s mandate of producing comprehensive and integrated development plans for the country elaborated in terms of the National Vision Framework, the long-term perspective plans, and the medium-term plans as enshrined in the NPA Act of 2002, the Authority has continued guiding the country in its different development agendas aimed at achieving socio-economic transformation for all Ugandans. This process has seen the Authority produce the 30-year vision for the country as clearly elaborated through the Uganda Vision 2040 as well as the 1st, 2nd and the 3rd National Development Plans (NDPs) as short term 5-year plans implementing the vision.
- The current NDP III aims at increasing the household income and improving the quality of life for all Ugandans through sustainable industrialization for inclusive growth, employment and sustainable wealth creation. The NDPIII is anchored on the Programme Based Planning approach and eighteen (18) programmes were developed to deliver the Goal and theme of the plan. To ease implementation of the development programmes, NPA developed the Programme Planning Guidelines to guide MDAs and LGs to prepare their respective Programme Implementation Action Plans (PIAPs) and development plans.
- During the implementation of NDPII and the 2nd NPA strategic plan, notable achievements were registered including; Undertaking a Comprehensive Evaluation of Universal Primary Education, Production of Annual Certificates of Compliance, Support Pre-feasibility and Feasibility studies, preparation of Presidential Economic Papers (PEC), Produced Development Planning regulations (2018), Supporting African Peer Review (APRM) Activities, Preparation of National Development Report, Developed a predictive model on Covid-19 and constituting a new Executive Board to stir the delivery of NPA’s mandate.
- This strategic plan is the 3rd (2020/21-2024/25) and is fully aligned to the NDPIII. It builds on the achievements as well as lessons learnt from the 2nd strategic plan whose implementation ended in 2019/20. Under the theme of “Attaining Excellence in Execution of NPA’s Mandate, the goal of the Authority of the next five is “Attain the desired Level of Excellence in Development Planning and Plan Implementation Processes. To achieve this goal, four (4) priority focus areas shall be prioritized and these include;
- Integrated Development Planning,
- Development Performance & Research,
- Strategic Partnerships,
- Collaborations and, Institutional Strengthening
The plan intends to deliver the following key outputs namely; strengthen public investment management across government, strengthen expenditure tracking, inspection and accountability on green growth by reviewing green growth expenditure and operationalization of National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). The plan also aims to develop and operationalize the national development planning research agenda, strengthening alignment of the Annual Budget and the NDPIII through Production of Certificate of Compliance of the budget to NDPIII, strengthen implementation monitoring, evaluation of programs / policies and reporting of NDP results at all levels, effectively coordinate APRM processes, and following up on the national plan of action. It further focuses on strengthening domestic collaborations and networks for collective planning and implementation, developing and implementing function analysis through restructuring staffing levels, salaries, and competences, enhancing the visibility and public image of the Authority, and improving the working environment through the construction of NPA House and the acquisition of necessary logistics and equipment.
NDPIV
The NDPIV is the fourth out of the six National Development Plans that are meant to implement Uganda Vision 2040. It is also the last plan to deliver the global agenda 2030 of the sustainable development goals and the first within the implementation of the government’s strategy for achieving 10-fold growth.
- The goal of NDPIV is “to achieve higher household incomes and employment for sustainable socio-economic transformation.” It is premised on the theme: Sustainable industrialization for inclusive growth, employment, and wealth creation.”
- The NDPIV strategic direction was approved by Cabinet in March 2024 and is in line with the strategy of growing the economy tenfold from the current USD 50 billion as of FY 2023/24 to USD 500 billion in the next 15 years in a transformative, inclusive, and sustainable manner.
The NDPIV will be achieved through five strategic objectives, which are:
- Sustainably increasing production, productivity and value addition in agriculture, minerals, oil and gas.
- Tourism, CT & financial services.
- Enhancing human capital development.
- Supporting private sector to drive growth
- Building & maintaining strategic sustainable infrastructure
- Strengthening good governance, security and role of the state in development.