Uganda is not ranked in the latest 2026 IMD World Competitiveness Ranking, one of the world’s most respected benchmarks for measuring the ability of economies to create and sustain an environment that enables businesses to thrive.
The annual ranking, produced by the Switzerland-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD), evaluates just 70 economies using more than 340 indicators covering economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure.
The absence of Uganda from the ranking is not necessarily an indictment of the country’s economic prospects. Rather, it reflects the limited number of economies included in the IMD assessment and the extensive statistical and executive survey data required for participation.
In Africa, only a handful of countries—including South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Botswana, Namibia and Nigeria—currently feature in the global competitiveness league table.
This year’s report identifies Singapore as the world’s most competitive economy, followed by Hong Kong and Switzerland.
According to IMD researchers, the defining characteristic of successful economies is no longer simply strong GDP growth or low production costs.
Instead, competitiveness increasingly depends on credible institutions, policy predictability, business confidence and the ability to withstand geopolitical and economic shocks.
For Uganda, the findings carry important policy lessons.
The country has maintained one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies and is pursuing an ambitious strategy to expand its economy to US$500 billion by 2040.
However, attracting the scale of private investment needed to achieve that target will require continued reforms in governance, infrastructure, regulatory efficiency, digital transformation and the overall ease of doing business.
Participation in internationally recognised competitiveness rankings such as the IMD World Competitiveness Ranking would also provide Uganda with a valuable benchmark against regional and global peers, helping policymakers identify strengths, address structural weaknesses and signal progress to international investors.
As global capital increasingly seeks stable and predictable investment destinations, competitiveness is becoming as much about institutional quality as it is about economic growth.