Entebbe Airport Records Increase in Passenger Traffic

Entebbe International Airport saw a rise in passenger traffic, with 81,968 international passengers registered in August, according to Vianney Luggya, the spokesman of the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA).

The spokesman said 33,941 were arriving, 37,419 were departing and 10,608 were in transit. In July, the figure was at 61,328 and 77,063 in May.

Cargo traffic, however, declined, with 5,154 metric tons (3,260 exports & 1,894 imports) recorded in August compared to 5,871 in July, 5,148 in June and 5,329 in May.

According to the Bank of Uganda, exports in July rose by 38% to $5.3 billion mainly due to higher export earnings obtained from selling coffee, beans, tea, cocoa beans, flowers, cement, sugar and gold.

During the same period, the import bill increased by $2.1 billion, driven by a 34% increase in private sector imports. It is important to note that Uganda was under lockdown during this period.

“A gradual easing of the first lockdown measures in June 2020 coupled with the accommodative fiscal, monetary, and macro-prudential policy environment contributed to a modest economic growth in FY2020/21, with a growth of about 3.3 percent. The growth trajectory has; however, been interrupted by the slow business activity on account of the second lockdown measures in June and July 2021 amidst rising cases of infections. The domestic economy activity is expected to continue on a recovery path. Real GDP is expected to grow in the range of 3.5-4.0 percent in FY2021/22,” the central bank says in its Monetary Policy Report released in August.

“A gradual easing of the first lockdown measures in June 2020 coupled with the accommodative fiscal, monetary, and macro-prudential policy environment contributed to a modest economic growth in FY2020/21, with a growth of about 3.3 percent. The growth trajectory has, however, been interrupted by the slow business activity on account of the second lockdown measures in June and July 2021 amidst rising cases of infections. The domestic economy activity is expected to continue on a recovery path. Real GDP is expected to grow in the range of 3.5-4.0 percent in FY2021/22.”

The Uganda shilling has remained relatively stable against the dollar due to a combination of domestic and global fundamentals, including large donor support inflows, high personal remittances and transfers from NGOs, relatively high portfolio inflows from offshore players targeting treasury securities, increased export earnings especially of coffee and fish, subdued private sector demand and global weakening of the US dollar.

“In the near term, the shilling is expected to remain relatively stable, in part, due to low domestic demand. However, in the medium-term, the exchange rate is expected to depreciate on account of a pick-up in both private sector and government demand for imports, possible slowdown in portfolio inflows and unwinding of coffee export receipts amidst strengthening US dollar,” reads the report.