ANGELA NABALEMA: In a Distracted World, Uganda’s Youth Must Learn to Protect Their Attention

What the report says

Watchdog Uganda published an opinion piece by Angela Nabalema arguing that Uganda’s young people need to become more deliberate about how they use their time and attention in an increasingly crowded digital environment. The article frames focus as both a personal habit and a broader national asset, especially for a country with a very young population and major expectations placed on youth-led social and economic change.

The piece points to recent labor and internet-use figures cited from Uganda Bureau of Statistics and DataReportal to show the contrast facing young people: high levels of youth unemployment and not-in-employment-or-training status on one hand, and growing access to digital tools on the other. It says those tools can support learning, job searching, entrepreneurship and skill-building, but can also pull attention away through social media, videos and online comparison.

Rather than rejecting technology, the article urges young Ugandans to use it more intentionally. It encourages them to prioritize learning, creating and problem-solving over passive consumption, and to think in terms of purpose, progress and long-term value. The argument is that attention is becoming a scarce resource, and protecting it matters for both individual opportunity and Uganda’s future development.

The piece is an opinion commentary, not a news report, and it situates its message within wider discussions about skills development, innovation and productive employment in Uganda.