Introduction
Uganda, a landlocked nation in East-Central Africa, is one of the poorest countries in the world. A huge population of the nation is farmers and depends on small plots of land used for subsistence agriculture - the cultivation of cash crops like coffee, cotton, tea, and tobacco. Insufficiency of structured organization, employment opportunities, and underdeveloped service sector are the main reasons behind poor economic conditions. On the other hand, Uganda is enriched with significant natural wealth, including gold, crude oil, and rich agricultural lands—more than two-thirds of the workforce derives employment from these resources.
Overview of Uganda
Population: 49.9 Million
GDP: 182.53 Billion USD (2024 est.)
Economic Overview
According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), the nation’s real gross domestic product (GDP) grew at 2.9% in 2020, which is less than half the 6.8% recorded in 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent conditions. As per the forecast, the GDP growth is expected at a similar level in FY21. Uganda’s GDP contracted by 1.1% in 2020 and is estimated to have recovered to 3.3% during the 2021 fiscal year. Even if GDP growth recovers by 2022, the level of per capita GDP is likely to remain well below its pre-COVID trajectory.
Market Size
Being enriched with natural resources and fertile lands with regular rainfall, Uganda is hugely dependent on Agriculture and mining. More than 70% of the labor force is engaged in agriculture, whereas only 30% is employed through government and public sectors. The government has introduced multiple skill training programs and policies to improve the job market along with the economic condition of the country.
A brief glimpse of industries
- Uganda’s labor force is growing above 4% per annum. The unavailability of job opportunities makes a huge population get involved in agriculture or informal sectors with low productivity activities.
- Main industries in Uganda that occupy the largest investment include steel production, cement, cotton, tobacco, sugar, and breweries.
- The manufacturing and construction industry has recovered during the first quarter of 2021, while the cash crop sector has sustained agricultural sector growth.
- Uganda's economy generates a huge share of national income from exporting coffee, crude oil, base metals and products, fish, maize, cement, tobacco, tea, sugar, hides and skins, cocoa beans, beans, flowers, and other products from different parts of the world.
- With the help of foreign help, the government aims to create a greater number of productive employment opportunities to ensure inclusive growth that will enable Uganda to become a stable, integrated middle-income country.
- The government is working towards promoting the urbanization process and transport system to support firm growth and job creation in urban areas.
- The average broadband internet connection speed in Uganda is 16.27 Mbps (Download), whereas the average upload speed is 17.20 Mbps depending on the network connectivity. Mobile services provide similar network connectivity—download speed 17.85 Mbps and 6.24Mbps upload speed.
Cost of living in Uganda
Uganda is quite an affordable place to survive. Though the living cost depends on various factors, including your location, the type of industry dominant in that area, lifestyle, and much more, Uganda offers reasonable food and beverage costs. Cities like Kampala are moderately expensive compared to towns and rural areas. The following table represents a snapshot of living expenses in Uganda.
A Breakdown of the Average Living Cost in Uganda
| Category |
Area of expense |
Estimated Monthly Cost (USD) |
| Rental |
Monthly rent for a 3 bedroom apartment |
$873.70 |
| Rental |
Monthly rent for a 1 bedroom apartment |
$267.14 – 140.02 |
| Food and beverage |
Meal (Inexpensive Restaurant)
Domestic Beer (0.5 Liter)
Milk (1 Liter) |
$3.61
$1.09
$0.77 |
| Transport costs |
Monthly ticket public transport |
$29.70 |
| Utilities |
Including water, cooling, heating, and garbage services
Internet (Unlimited Data, Cable/ADSL) |
$40.83
$84.01 |
| Personal care |
Membership at a fitness club |
$56.16 |
Salary structure for various roles in Uganda
The following table represents the average annual salary of various sectors in Uganda.
| Working Area |
Average Monthly Salary depending on the role (UGX) |
| Accounting and Finance (Chartered Accountant) |
UGX 2,280,000 |
| Administration / Reception / Secretarial (Office Manager) |
UGX 2,320,000 |
| Advertising / Graphic Design / Events (Graphic Designer) |
UGX 1,680,000 |
| Airlines / Aviation / Aerospace / Defense (Aerospace Engineer) |
UGX 3,400,000 |
| Architecture (Architect) |
UGX 3,200,000 |
| Automotive (Mechanic) |
UGX 975,000 |
| Banking (Bank Branch Manager) |
UGX 4,680,000 |
| Bilingual (Teacher) |
UGX 2,080,000 |
| Business Planning (Business Analyst) |
UGX 3,400,000 |
| Construction / Building / Installation (Civil Engineer) |
UGX 2,320,000 |
| Customer Service (Customer Service Manager) |
UGX 3,510,000 |
| Engineering (Electrical Engineer) |
UGX 2,670,000 |
| Food / Hospitality / Tourism / Catering (Hotel Manager) |
UGX 4,680,000 |
| Health and Medical (Nurse) |
UGX 2,030,000 |
| Human Resources (Human Resources Manager) |
UGX 4,100,000 |
| Information Technology (Computer Technician) |
UGX 1,980,000 |
Cost of renting
Cost of living as well as house rent depends on your location in Uganda. Though overall house rent in Uganda is quite affordable, cities are comparatively expensive. Capital Kampala is the most expensive city in the nation. The following table shows some instances of living costs plus house rent in the country.
Your cost of living in Uganda depends on your location
| Name of the Cities |
Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax) |
Cost of Living without rent /person |
Rent |
| Kampala |
$ 655.48 - 818.65 |
$ 520.78 |
$ 161.46 - 258.64 |
| Mbarara |
$ 565.67 – 689.09 |
$ 489.23 |
$ 95.00 - 112.53 |
| Jinja |
$ 465 – 749.04 |
$ 490.99 |
$ 50.64 - 84.40 |
| Fort Portal or Kabarole |
$ 587.99 – 762.00 |
$ 503.99 |
$ 84.40 - 140.66 |
The top sectors that are expected to hire in Uganda in 2024
| S.No |
Industrial Sector |
Growth Percentage in terms of hiring and revenue |
| 1 |
Healthcare |
12% |
| 2 |
Pharmaceuticals |
8% |
| 3 |
Horticultural |
19% |
| 4 |
Education |
28% |
| 5 |
Fish farming and integrated aquaculture |
12% |
| 6 |
Tourism |
5.6% |
Top Skills in Uganda
The job market in Uganda is developing. The government is working to develop industries with foreign investments. To improve Uganda's economic condition and job opportunities, the government is encouraging entrepreneurship and private initiatives to develop industries. The major protruding industries in Uganda are:
- Horticultural
- Fish farming and integrated aquaculture
- Food processing
- Tourism
- Healthcare
Top Skills City-wise Occupation-wise
Capital Kampala has maximum job opportunities. The city has a maximum educated and skilled workforce. Multiple companies have their head office in Kampala. This city offers most job options in the field of:
- Banks
- Telecommunications
- Consumer services
- Hotels
- Airlines
- Health care equipment & services
- Food products
- Investment services
- Utilities
- Delivery services
- Pharmaceuticals
- Broadcasting & entertainment
- Biotechnology
- Conventional electricity
Entebbe is a central city of Uganda. It offers different job opportunities related to healthcare and Biotechnology.
Arua is a commercial center of Uganda, and the headquarters of multiple business and educational activities are situated here. Being an educational hub and commercial city, numerous job opportunities are available here.
Kakira, Lugazi, Masindi, and Kakuuto cities have a medium population and have less job saturation. These cities offer multiple job opportunities in food product industries, such as the sugar industry.
Fort Portal or Kabarole is one of Uganda's tourism cities and a city with improved healthcare facilities. This city offers job opportunities in the healthcare and tourism industries; positions as healthcare offer, medical professional, sales manager, financial controllers are quite common.
Hiring Cost
Cost-per-hire is an important metric for any organization, especially when planning to recruit in a foreign country. Hiring cost is a cumulative sum of all the costs associated with filling a position, such as advertising expenses, recruiting events costs, recruitment software fees, onboarding cost, training cost, travel costs, administrative costs and benefits.
When you hire someone in a particular city, a proper assessment of living cost is essential to compensate the employee.
Employment Laws in Uganda
- To protect the employee’s rights at the workplace, Uganda has implemented multiple laws. Organizations have the obligation of developing a human resource policy that complies with the country's labor requirements.
- Having a well-documented contract provides legal grounds and some safety nets for proper and responsible management association between the staff and the employer and defines the employer's responsibility.
- The regulations that apply are very simple and assure the basic rights of the employees. Here are the key labor laws in Uganda are as follows:
- the 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda
- the Workers Compensation Act 2000 (outlines the compensation to workers for diseases and injuries sustained in the course of employment)
- the Minimum Wages Act 2000
- The Employment Act 2006 (Covers the conditions of employment including, contract of service, termination of the contract, termination notices, and protection of wages, hours of work, rest and holidays, employment of women, employment of children and care of employees.
- the Labor Union Arbitration and Settlement Act 2006
- the Occupational Safety Act 2006
- the Pensions Act (provides for Pension of civil servants)
- Apart from the above-mentioned laws, the National Social Security Fund Act is also there that obliges employers to deduct 5% of an employee’s salary and make a 10% contribution towards the Employee’s savings with NSSF.
How Can Skuad Help You In Hiring in Uganda?
Hiring in Uganda needs a thorough talent and skill hunt plus in-depth knowledge of the employment laws, trends, city-wise living cost, hiring cost, and so on. To make the hiring easy, cost-effective, and beneficial for your organization, you can consider Skuad as your employer of record partner. Skuad can act as a legal employer to hire employees on your behalf and take responsibility for all formal employment tasks in Uganda. This will give you freedom from hiring stress, and you can concentrate on your core business. Contact Skuad Experts to know more.
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