NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Friday, May 18, 2012

James Ogule, who lives in Namugongo, a Kampala surburb, thinks the vendors selling matooke (plantains) by the road to his house should not be considered middle class.

The vendors spend more than $2 (sh5,200) a day and Ogule who works with a government regulatory body thinks equating a middle class to sh5,200 a day is a pity.

“Look, we are setting very low standards, we should ask whether these people have access to all the services like health and are they secure?,” asked Ogule.

According to the African Development Bank benchmark adapted by the ministry of finance, people spending more than $2 per day in purchasing power parity (approximately equivalent to two times Uganda’s poverty line) are considered middle class.

Using this benchmark, about one million Ugandans (or 6.6%) have moved out of the absolute poverty bracket ( and are living on more than $1 a day) between 2006 and 2010, a new report indicates.