Uganda Debt Network -UDN has asked African governments to employ local work force to minimise expenditure.
According to them , African countries have had a cycle of debt crisis , heading into defaulting wherever has been possible.
If the nations are to come out of debt, the experts advised that there was need to adopt local solutions for local problems. Solutions tailored for the unique settings of Africa.
Patrick Tumwebaze, the Executive Director of Uganda Debt Network noted one major concern for the network is the need to wean African nations off debt.
This he pointed out would be possible through enhancing Domestic Revenue Mobilization and closing financial leakages through addressing illicit flows and unnecessary tax expenditures among others.
The deliberations took place during the third Africa Conference on Debt and Development (AfCoDD III) this week.
The aim of the deliberations is contributing to the long term development of the African continent by seeking sustainable solutions to challenges related to public debt and resources management and development of African economies.
Since the financial 2015/2016, Uganda spends over 20 percent of its budget each year to date servicing debt . For the financial year 2023/2024, 30 percent will be spent on the same .
The amounts borrowed as well according to statistics keep growing higher every financial year.
Tumwebaze noted that local solutions speak to training our own work force and trusting them enough to absorb them into our system.
Take for example, the Labour Rights Organisation has time and again challenges government about a minimum wage.
However on account of external work force claiming they it would prevent the flow of investors into Africa, the government has refused to review an almost 40 years law since the last review that set 6,000 Shillings as the lowest that a worker in Uganda should be paid.
On the contrary , external labour force earns much more with is later taken to their countries for development.
The Network also recommended other alternatives to be the crisis like creating local content for external finance developing models .
In addition it was noted that there was need to uphold local supply chains inorder to collect local revenue from them.
