Uganda implemented a more sustained programme of economic reform in the 1990s – especially in liberalising trade – than almost any other African country. The intention was to increase export earnings. The value of exports has grown but mostly in gold – transit shipments that have no long-term potential – rather than in principal export commodities. Why is this so? One explanation lies in the deteriorating terms of trade faced by Uganda. Another, addressed in research by CREDIT at the University of Nottingham, is that being land-locked imposes high transport costs – an implicit tax on exports that can be very high. Policies to improve infrastructure and reduce transport costs are thus essential to promoting export growth for countries like Uganda.