Briefing Paper

Potential Products and Sectors for Uganda’s Export Expansion

The study identifies the potential sectors and products for export expansion using the Hausmann Atlas of Economic Complexity and the International Trade Centre’s Export Potential Assessment approaches. Overall, the results suggest that Uganda has a comparative advantage for export expansion in the agricultural, minerals, light manufacturing and textile sectors yet exploiting only 62 percent of its potential export market. Thus to leverage the available opportunities, the government needs to; i) undertake efforts to enhance the competitiveness of Uganda’s export products, primarily agricultural, mineral, light manufacturing and textile products, ii) build the productive, marketing and exporting capacities of current and prospective exporters to tap into the regional markets iii) provide adequate and timely information regarding the available export expansion opportunities in Uganda’s key trading partners. iv) strengthen the existing institutional framework for export promotion.