ISIbalo Young African Statisticians Association-Uganda Chapter Measuring SDG economic indicators in Uganda; EXPLORATION OF data deficiences By Gilbert HABAASA ISIbalo Young African Statisticians Association-Uganda Chapter Kampala, Uganda Email:habaasa@hotmail.com

Introduction The government of Uganda is committed to implement the 2030 SDGs. Uganda has established a national framework for the implementation of the 17 goals of the SDGs. In September 2017, ACS conducted a survey on economic indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa with a goal of showing the availability of indicators and related data sources (UNECA, 2017). This paper therefore presents Ugandan case by building on the UNECA survey report to show data gaps, available data and sources particularly for 7 out of the 36 economic indicators in Tier 1.

7 Indicators focused on 7.1.1 Proportion of population with access to electricity, 8.10.1 number of commercial bank branches and ATMs per 100,000 adults, 8.10.2 Proportion of adults (15 years+) with an account at a bank or other financial institution or with a Mobile Money service provider, 9.1.2 passenger and freight volumes, by mode of transport, 9.c.1 Proportion of population covered by a mobile network by technology, 17.6.2 Fixed internet broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants by speed and 17.8.1 the proportion of individuals using the internet.

Methods Metadata for each of the 7 SDG economic indicators was invoked and each indicator was examined following a 4-assessment check(accuracy, availability, methodology, analysis, use and dissemination). Data producers in Uganda were engaged to provide indicative figures. Institutions considered were Bank of Uganda, Uganda Bureau of Statistics, Rural Electrification Agency, Ministry of Works and Transport, as well as Uganda Communications Commission. Data on economic indicators got from these institutions was compared against that of ACS survey report on SDG economic indicators. This was aimed at establishing similarities, discrepancies and data gaps so that they could be bridged. A table showing data updates, discrepancies and data gaps was generated. Blue colour was used to show data updates while red colour was used to show discrepancies and queries.

Results[1] SDG economic indicators: Uganda’s country page updating 7.1.1 Proportion of population with access to electricity The Uganda Rural Electrification Agency provides data on electricity in Uganda. It reports that 10% of the Ugandan population owned electricity in the year 2013. It targets 26% electricity coverage in 2022, 51% electricity coverage by 2030 and 100% coverage by the year 2040 (REA, 2013). The 2014 Uganda National Population and Housing Census reports that 20.0% of households in Uganda had access to electricity (UBOS, 2016). Census data is national representative hence projections based on the census figure could be used to provide indicators for 2010,2011,2012,2013 and 2015. Such data is also easier to standardize unlike administrative data from the REA. The ACS survey reports that access to electricity was 14.6% in 2010 and 18.16% in 2014 (UNECA, 2017) which is different from the census figure. There is need to correct the discrepancy and probably adopt 2014 Census indicator value of 20%.

Results[2] 8.10.1 number of commercial bank branches and ATMs per 100,000 adults In Uganda, commercial banks are licensed by the Bank of Uganda and it also maintains and produces data on commercial banks. This is administrative data which is missing in the ACS survey report. According to the 2014 Bank of Uganda statistical abstract, there were 27 commercial banks with 563 branches and 817 ATMS in 2014 (BoU, 2015). This data is not standardized to reflect per 100,000 adults and also not regularly published on website. 8.10.2 Proportion of adults (15 years+) with an account at a bank or other financial institution or with a Mobile Money service provider The 2014 Uganda National Population and Housing Census shows that 21.7% of adults had an account with a bank or other financial institution (UBOS, 2016). From the ACS survey, there is no data captured on this indicator hence the need to update the Uganda country page. Still, Bank of Uganda controls financial institutions and mobile money transactions. Bank of Uganda data shows that there were 2,829,000 mobile money registered customers in 2011, 5,662,000 in 2012, 14,243,000 in 2013, 18,529,000 in 2014 and 21,102,000 in 2015 (BoU, 2015).

Results[3] 9.1.2 passenger and freight volumes, by mode of transport In Uganda, Ministry of Works and Transport produces administrative data on passenger and freight volumes by mode of transport. This is captured by their Monitoring and Evaluation Indicator Monitoring System. From the system therefore, there were 8204 air traffic passenger and 46,777 tonnes freight cargo traffic volume in 2016. Rail freight volume was 165.7 million tonnes in 2015. Passenger traffic volume on Water transport was 41,938 and Freight volume on ferries was 27,665 tonnes in 2016 (UTSInfoDB, 2017). There is a discrepancy on the ACS survey populated data on passenger and freight volumes for the Ugandan country page. This is because it was not clear which mode of transport was considered or even it seemed to combine both passenger and freight volumes and yet their units of measurement are different for instance, passengers are counted in total numbers and not tonnes as for freight volume.

Results[4] 9.c.1 Proportion of population covered by a mobile network by technology Table 1: Cellular Mobile phone subscriptions in Uganda Data from the Uganda Communications Commission does not provide for the distribution of population covered by a mobile network by technology but rather it shows cellular mobile phone subscriptions. Although the Ugandan country page used household survey data which showed 100% for 2010,2011 and 2012, administrative data from UCC seems to offer a more accurate and current data. Besides, the 100% reported by the ACS survey seems to be incorrect because it is impossible to have the whole population with a mobile phone or even it should be noted that some parts of Uganda lack telephone networks hence such people do not use telephones. Telephone subscriptions(‘000) 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Cellular Mobile phone Subscriptions 16,696 16,356 18,068 20,366 20,219 Source: UBOS (2017); UCC (2017)

Results[5] 17.6.2 Fixed internet broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants by speed Table 2: Internet subscriptions in Uganda, 2011-2015 From the ACS survey report, the number of fixed internet broadband subscriptions is recorded as per 100 inhabitants by speed although it is not clear how the number was computed given that UCC does not report in the same way (UNECA, 2017). Users and subscribers 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Fixed Internet Subscribers 88,786 96,000 100,900 113,400 130,200 Mobile wireless internet subscriptions 977,500 2,692,705 3,625,559 5,694,930 7,349,540 Source: UBOS (2017); UCC (2017)

Results[5] 17.8.1 the proportion of individuals using the internet Table 3: Proportion of Individuals using internet in Uganda( 2011-2015) The values reported in the ACS Economic indicators report are different from the data obtained from UCC on internet penetration rate per 100 population. The source of data used needs to be clarified to iron out the discrepancy unless the indicators imply two different things. Users and subscribers 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Internet penetration per 100 population 3.2 8.2 20.7 29.5 39.7 Estimated internet users ('000) 4,800 6,200 7,314 10,813 13,842 Source: UBOS (2017); UCC (2017)

Discussions There is need to explore more of the administrative data collected at national level. In particular, for the seven indicators analysed for Uganda, there is need to utilize data from Rural Electrification Agency (for data on electricity access to update census projections), Ministry of Works and transport (passenger and freight volumes, Bank of Uganda (commercial banks branches, ATMS, account holding and Mobile money subscriptions) as well as the Uganda Communications Commission (mobile telephone and internet access).

Recommendations Although, standardized data from surveys and census is good for comparison purposes especially between countries. At national level, administrative data which seems to be regularly updated and more accurate should be explored and used where necessary. To this end therefore, a memorandum of understanding should be instituted between UNECA and the listed agencies in Uganda to avail UNECA with updated data annually particularly on the 7 economic indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals discussed in this paper. This could speed up the process of SDG monitoring and also build a formal relationship between UNECA and governmental institutions in Uganda.

References BoU. (2015). The 2014 statistical abstract. Bank of Uganda (BoU). Kampala, Uganda. NPA. (2016). Review report on Uganda’s readiness for implementation of the 2030 agenda: Ensuring that No one is left behind. National Planning Authority (NPA). Kampala, Uganda. REA. (2013). Strategy and Plan Rural Electrification Strategy and Plan 2013-2022. Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development. Kampala, Uganda. UBOS. (2016). The Uganda National Population and Housing Census 2014: Main report. Uganda Bureau of Statistics. Kampala, Uganda. UBOS. (2017). The 2016 Statistical abstract. Uganda Bureau of Statistics ( UBOS). Kampala, Uganda. UCC. (2017). Quarterly statistics on Key Communication indicators as of December 2016. Uganda Communications Commission (UCC). Kampala, Uganda. UNECA. (2017). Survey on Economic Indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa: Availability of Indicators and Related Data Sources. Conducted by African Centre for Statistics. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. UTSInfoDB. (2017). Works and Transport Sector Monitoring and Evaluation Indicator Monitoring/Tracking System. Accessed from http://www.works.go.ug/. Kampala, Uganda.

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