CASE STUDIES FROM AFRICA

The EAC CMP commits EAC partner states to a progressive regional integration agenda whose
critical objectives include the elimination of all barriers to trade in services.
The Protocol initially requires all Partner States to “remove all measures that restrict the
movement of services and service suppliers, harmonize
standards “commits Partner States to open up seven broad
sectors.
Priority Services Sectors in the
EAC Common Market Protocol
The CMP designates education services, including higher
education, among the seven priority sectors in which all five EAC
partner states are required to make liberalisation commitments.
National Trade Policy
The National Trade Policy (NTP) specifically highlights the
importance of services as the main contributor to GDP and a
significant contributor to employment. The NTP, however, makes
note of the existence of a gap in the capture of services trade statistics that requires special
attention to realise the full potential that trade in services can make to Uganda’s economy.
The National Export Strategy
The National Export Strategy (NES) identifies services as a key area for Uganda’s efforts in
export diversification that is earmarked to improve the country’s unfavourable terms of trade
and chronic trade deficits.
Baseline Survey of the Services Sector in Uganda
1. Business & Professional
Services
2. Financial Services
3. Education Services
4. Transport Services
5. Communication Services
6. Tourism Services
7. Distribution Services
A baseline survey, supported by USAID, to establish a comprehensive database of Uganda’s
trade in services was conducted in 2002 by Nathan Associates in collaboration with the Uganda
Services Exporters Association (USEA). This survey identified 4 specific service subsectors
amongst the 12 main GATS sectors, which ‘could generate a competitive advantage if
systematically supported and promoted in the short- to medium-term’. 30 These were (a)
education services; (b) tourism—earmarking a uniquely Ugandan tourism package combining
Gorilla tourism, white water rafting, mountaineering, bird watching, and the unique cultural,
community, and religious-historical experiences of Uganda; (c) services related to HIV/AIDS
awareness and control; and (d) the ‘Kyeyo’ services subsector—targeting labor externalisation to
take advantage of Uganda’s highly educated, English-fluent, youthful unemployed population.
The survey noted a number of challenges to improving the international competitiveness of
Uganda’s services sector, particularly the lack of clear regulatory frameworks and government’s
failure to put in place initiatives to attract FDI as a catalyst for the export of services in most
subsectors. The report also noted the government’s inadequate support for Uganda labor
externalisation, despite its recognised potential as a foreign exchange source for the economy, as
has been demonstrated in other low-income countries like the Philippines.
30
USEA & Nathan Associates Inc, Baseline Survey of the Services Sector in Uganda (May–June 2002), July 2002.
307