APRM COUNTRY REVIEW REPORT including insecurity and conflict. To solve this, there is need to adopt comprehensive private sector development programs that include improving access to finance, entrepreneurship development, improving the compliance of Uganda's corporate governance framework with global standards, as well as aligning policy, regulatory and dispute resolution mechanism with international best practice. xxx. The Country Review Mission has identified and prioritized key challenges within the Corporate Governance thematic area and categorized them into four broad issue areas as below: ? ? ? ? poor business regulation and red tape; inadequate support to nurture entrepreneurship and the challenge of extreme level of unemployment; inadequate access to finance for emerging businesses; and poor level of accountability and compliance record. xxxi. The first challenge relates to business regulation and red tape. For enterprises to take their rightful place as the engines for wealth generation and the creation of employment, the regulatory framework plays a critical role. The state of the public service that administeres and enforces this regulatory framework determines the business environment, the efficiency or otherwise of the bureaucracy, the amount of red tape that hobbles entrepreneurship, and the level of coordination among different regulatory institutions. In this respect, the Companies Act (2012) and the anti-corruption laws and institutions are to be welcomed, but their enforcement remains central. xxxii. The CRM found that while Uganda was ranked amongst the top ten reformers of the business environment in the 2016 World Bank Doing Business ranking, it has not been able to maintain the same pace of reform and consequently slid to 122nd place in the 2017-2018 ranking, from 115 in 2008. Among the factors responsible for this are lack of infrastructure, poor road networks and including inadequate access to electricity. The CRM further noted the challenge that is presented by the proliferation of Authorities and Agencies in government, causing potential dilution of focus, duplication of effort and waste of resources. The Panel thus recommends that Government conduct a review of the institutional architecture and implement reforms aimed at simplification of the institutional framework through possible consolidation of agencies responsible for corporate governance in Uganda. xxxiii. The second challenge relates to lack of support to nurture the already commendable entrepreneurial culture in the country and contribute to the need to tackle unemployment. As noted elsewhere, youth unemployment poses a grave threat to Uganda's sustainable development. While Uganda is known as a "land of entrepreneurs", ranked number one by the 2015 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) on entrepreneurship out of 73 nations, Uganda also suffers a high business discontinuation rate of 21%. The CRM found that, among the major factors that contribute to this state of affairs are lack of skills and poor product innovation. The Panel thus recommends that Government focus on nurturing the already prevalent culture of entrepreneurship through skills training and a regulatory framework that is supportive to entrepreneurs. xxxiv. The third challenge relates to access to finance for emerging businesses. The CRM observed that inadequate access to finance is one of the major weaknesses in the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Uganda. Interest rates are prohibitively high, impeding the creation of small businesses through bank loans. The high interest rate has also led, almost inevitably, to large volumes of non-performing loans that imact on the health of the banking sector in Uganda. The Panel thus recommends a speedy operationalization of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy 2017-2022 with five key focus areas: enhance the rate of financial inclusion through removal of access barriers to financial services; develop the credit infrastructure; build up the digital infrastructure for efficiency; deepen and broaden formal savings, investment, and insurance mechanisms; and empower and protect individuals with enhanced financial capability. The Panel further recommends that Government consider revising reform of its interest rate regulation and explore the possibility of introducing caps on the banks' lending margin above the indicative Central Bank Rate (CBR) . xxxv. The fourth challenge relates to the need to promote a culture of accountability and compliance with ethical standards, workers' rights, environmental regulations and corporate social responsibility requirements. The broader concern here relates to the culture of compliance with national laws and regulations by the business community, the enforceability of the liability regime for fraudulent transactions and corrupt 6