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| Making Service Markets Work for the Poor in Uganda, by Jim Tanburn and Regina Kamuhanda, 2005 |
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| Country(ies) | Uganda |
| Funding agency(ies) | Department for International Development (DFID), ILO |
| Date completed | January 2005 |
| Issues/challenges | The Business Services Market Development (BSMD) project is a DFID/ILO initiative to demonstrate new approaches to business development; it focuses on services that can be provided profitably and therefore sustainably, by the private sector in Uganda. In the last three years, it has published extensively on the subject of value chains for agricultural produce; these publications point to various ways in which value chains can be used to analyse commercial systems and practices to improve the operations of the small-scale business sector in Uganda. In particular, the publications cover access to local and international markets, to supplies and to critical business-to-business support.
This study profiles 8 different service sectors, applying a common framework in each case. It does not look specifically at business services, since this has already been studied and documented by BSMD and other projects in Uganda. Instead, it applies a service market development ¿lens¿ to different disciplines, and draws some comparative conclusions across sectors. |
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Description
The idea of developing service markets has attracted much attention in recent years, as a way to leverage the public funds available, and to ensure that they achieve maximum impact in the long term. While subsidies may be needed to reach the poorest of the poor, current approaches tend to lack precision; they may even be displacing local initiatives in the private sector. This Paper therefore considers what service markets are currently achieving in Uganda, the extent to which they are meeting the needs of the poor, and how these achievements could be enhanced, both in terms of improved service quality and in terms of greater outreach.
Some service markets, such as commercial radio, financial services, and telecommunications, have developed in very interesting ways, thanks partially to careful policy-making and regulation. Other service markets, such as agricultural extension and training, are still largely characterised by publicly funded provision running in parallel with sustainable provision by the private sector. Secondary education, primary health and public transport are somewhere between these two ends of the spectrum. This Paper considers all of these service markets.
Key recommendations include:
¿ the need for more research on the extent to which the service needs of the poor are being met through markets
¿ the need for cross-sector approaches to service market development
¿ the need for more knowledge sharing between policy-makers in service market development
¿ the opportunity for donors and others to promote consumer education, and dissemination of information, to consumers of services, and to support industry-wide bodies of service providers in developing and implementing codes of conduct
¿ the opportunity for various stakeholders to develop synergies with larger companies willing to adopt new business models, in order to serve the poor on a larger scale
To download a 2008 Paper for Finmark on the Role of Regulation in the Development of the Microinsurance market in Uganda, click here.
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