World Bank to Lend Uganda Shs 23 Trillion Over Next 10 Years

By Uganda Radio Network

The World Bank Group (WBG) has unveiled plans to lend Uganda about $6 billion (about Shs 23 trillion) over the next 10 years under its new Country Partnership Framework (CPF).

The money, WBG says, is aimed at accelerating private sector-led economic transformation and creating jobs. The framework, which will run from 2026 to 2035, provides for lending of $2 billion (about Shs 7.5 trillion) in each of three funding cycles.

The new commitment comes on top of the existing $4.05 billion (about Shs 15.26 trillion) portfolio. The CPF aligns with Uganda’s Fourth National Development Plan, Vision 2040 and the government’s Tenfold Growth Strategy.

It seeks to expand economic opportunities for the country’s rapidly growing population, with a strong focus on employment creation, particularly for young people.

“Uganda has extraordinary assets: a young population full of potential, abundant natural resources, and a government committed to long-term transformation,” said Francisca Ayodeji (Ayo) Akala, World Bank country manager for Uganda.

“The CPF is our commitment to walk alongside Uganda over the next decade by investing in its people, infrastructure, and institutions that will power prosperity and translate growth into jobs and better living standards. When Ugandans work, families thrive and communities grow.”

The World Bank Group also plans to intensify efforts to mobilise private capital to support Uganda’s development agenda. According to the CPF, businesses in Uganda continue to face high operating costs and limited access to affordable long-term financing due to elevated risk perceptions, stringent collateral requirements, shallow capital markets and broader economic and governance constraints.

Although Uganda has in recent years attracted some of the largest volumes of foreign direct investment in the region, rising to about 6 per cent of GDP in 2025, much of that investment has been concentrated in the oil and gas sector, leaving private investment in other sectors constrained.

Combined with limited private sector lending by commercial banks, this has restricted access to capital for businesses. Through what it describes as a sequenced “One WBG approach”, the CPF seeks to unlock private investment at scale.

The framework says reforms supported by the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) will help contain domestic public borrowing, strengthen macro-fiscal credibility and ease pressure on interest rates.

IDA-backed policy actions are also expected to deepen financial markets, expand access to credit and improve the business and governance environment, paving the way for increased investments and advisory services from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), as well as risk mitigation support from the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).

The World Bank Group says greater use of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) will help reduce investor risk, boost confidence and attract additional private capital.

Under the CPF, the institution expects to enable at least $1.3 billion in investments and mobilise a further $2.5 billion in private capital. The integrated approach will initially focus on foundational reforms before transitioning to more transformative interventions in later years.

Over the next decade, the World Bank Group targets doubling electricity access from 25 million to 50 million people by 2035 under the Mission 300 initiative. Investments will support expansion of household and productive-use electricity connections through upgrades to transmission and distribution infrastructure.

Other targets include providing 22 million people with quality health, nutrition and population services, and supporting 10 million students with improved education and skills development.

The CPF also aims to improve transport infrastructure benefiting 20 million people, expand access to financial services for 14 million people and businesses — including 9 million women — and double agricultural yields in targeted value chains.

Despite the ambitious targets, the World Bank cautions that the overall risk to achieving CPF outcomes remains substantial. Key challenges include limited institutional capacity for implementation, weaknesses in public institutions, procurement systems and broader governance structures.

The bank says these risks will be mitigated through capacity-building interventions and tailored support to address implementation gaps.

The World Bank notes that Uganda has made significant progress over the past 15 years, with the size of the economy nearly doubling, life expectancy increasing by almost five years and internet usage more than doubling.

However, it says the country’s persistent shortage of quality jobs continues to undermine poverty reduction efforts, with only about 500,000 people having moved out of poverty over the period based on the national poverty line.