The International Growth Centre (IGC) works with policymakers in developing countries to promote inclusive and sustainable growth through pathbreaking research. The IGC is a global research centre with a network of world-leading researchers and a set of country teams across Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East. Based at LSE and in partnership with the University of Oxford, the IGC is majority funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

Our model
Fundamentally, the IGC model is based on the recognition that building effective growth policies in developing countries requires more than imported solutions. Countries face a range of challenges that require new thinking, new evidence and a flow of new ideas.

The IGC uses an innovative ‘co-generation’ approach – enabling policymakers and researchers to jointly set research agendas and to work collaboratively as research progresses. Embedded country teams work with policymakers to determine key growth challenges and identify country priorities. These demands form the backbone of the IGC’s global research agenda, which focuses on four key drivers of growth: state effectiveness, productive firms, liveable cities, and reliable energy access.

Engaging policy stakeholders from the beginning ensures that demand-led research feeds directly into policymaking. Co-generation acknowledges the importance of policymakers not only as decision-makers and implementers, but as knowledge creators. This approach is guided by the principle that research can best inform policy decisions when it is conceived, developed, and embedded within local policy contexts.

Building on this foundation of in-country engagement, the IGC hosts a series of high-profile global and regional events throughout the year to facilitate engagement between policymakers and researchers to help shape research and policy agendas in our partner countries and globally.

About
The IGC Uganda Country Programme has been generously hosted at the Bank of Uganda since it opened in 2012. Priority areas include managing resources and monetary policy, the regional integration process, raising incomes and inclusive growth.

Amongst others, highlights of past work include: research into the real integration of economic activity within the EAC; the evolution of public expenditure priorities in light of natural resource revenues; the options and strategies for financing fiscal deficits within the country; and a conference to explore how best to harness public-private partnerships.

One of the Programme’s most prominent contributions in Uganda was the Africa Growth Forum in 2013. Co-hosted by the Bank of Uganda and the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, the forum brought together top policymakers from across Africa and the world’s leading experts to discuss growth throughout the region.

As the priorities of the Ugandan government evolve, the IGC will expend to cover new research areas. The team looks forward to a vigorously growing programme, and the emergence of even stronger partnerships.
Our Uganda Country Strategy Note is available here (updated January 2021).