By Our Reporter
NATIONAL/ECONOMY
Uganda has secured $2 billion (UGX6.95 trillion) from World Bank after two-year funding freeze.
The World Bank suspended new concessional funding to Uganda in August 2023 due to the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act. The suspension was based on the World Bank’s view that the law contradicts its core values of inclusion and non-discrimination, and undermines its goal of eradicating poverty for all Ugandans, including sexual and gender minorities.
However, Ramathan Ggoobi, Uganda’s Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury, said the World Bank lifted the suspension at the conclusion of the 2025 International Monetary Fund/World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington D.C.
“For Uganda, I’m glad to announce that concessional financing is back. In the next three financial years the World Bank will disburse over $2 billion (UGX6.95 trillion) of new money to finance our development. The current total investment is $4.9 billion,” Ggoobi said in a statement dated October 20, 2025.
He said the money will be invested in roads and bridges, electricity transmission and last-mile distribution, building infrastructure in regional cities, schools, IT, agriculture, water and irrigation, export guarantee scheme, skilling, and social protection.
In addition, he said, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) will provide patient capital to private sector investors in the minerals, renewable energy, agro-industrialization; science and innovation, and co-invest with government in State owned Enterprises (SoEs).
“We continued negotiations with the IMF for a new Extended Credit Facility (ECF) program after the elections. Key reforms we are targeting include: increasing domestic revenue collection; improving budgeting to stamp out budget games and supplementary budgets; and further strengthening the financial sector,” he said.
Ggoobi said the World Bank has committed to support Uganda’s tenfold growth strategy (investment in ATMS and their enablers). Uganda’s ATMS strategy aims to increase the national economy from roughly $50 billion to $500 billion by 2040 by focusing on Agro-industrialization, Tourism development, Mineral development (including oil and gas), and Science, Technology, and Innovation.
“The Fund is focused on helping us to continue maintaining stable macro-economy as we build a richer and more prosperous Uganda,” he said, adding that the Fund has continued to rank Uganda among the fastest growing economies in Africa, and by extension in the world.
“Our macro-economy is stable,” he said.
-businessfocus.co.ug
