This paper aims to draw insights from New Structural Economics by applying its practical
policy tool – the Growth Identification and Facilitation Framework (GIFF) – to least developed
countries (LDCs) with a special focus on the case of Uganda. The GIFF offers practical development
paths for enabling developing countries to follow comparative advantage in its industrial
development and to tap into the potential of advantages of backwardness in industrial upgrading
in an effort to achieve sustained and dynamic growth. After a brief introduction of the
GIFF, we present an overview of Uganda’s recent economic and social performance and analyse
Uganda’s factor endowments, i.e., land (or natural resources), labour and capital that can be
used in the production process. After identifying tradable goods and services which would
fit Uganda’s latent comparative advantage, we diagnose sector-specific binding constraints in
starting and scaling up the selected subsectors and discuss how to remove or mitigate these key
constraints. Finally, we conclude with main findings and policy recommendations. The takehome
message is that developing countries should not focus on what they lack but what they
have when formulating their development strategies.