AfDB to fund 24 projects worth USD 1.87 billion

The African Development Bank Group’s new country manager in Uganda, Mr. Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan, has expressed commitment to strengthening the Bank’s cooperation with Uganda.

He revealed this while presenting his credentials to Ugandan Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa in Kampala this week.

Ngafuan said the bank considered Uganda a significant partner and was currently funding a portfolio comprising twenty-four projects worth approximately USD 1.87 billion.

He explained that the majority of these were public sector projects, with nineteen operations amounting to USD 1.58 billion. He said the remaining five operations were private sector projects valued at USD 268.9 million. The transport sector, he added, comprised 62% of the Bank’s current total portfolio in Uganda.

Welcoming Mr. Ngafuan to Uganda at the foreign ministry in Kampala, Mr. Kutesa expressed optimism that the new country manager’s appointment would further strengthen the good relations between Uganda and the African Development Bank, which had been built over the years.

Minister said the Ugandan government was highly appreciative of the African Development Bank’s support for projects in Uganda, especially those in infrastructure.

He especially commended the support that the Bank had provided for road projects. He said his government placed a particularly high premium on the Kampala-Malaba Meter Gauge Railway Project and looked forward to the Bank’s support for it.

The African Development Bank and the Ugandan Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development are soon to agree on a three-year lending program for Uganda.

The program will target new projects during the 2021-2023 lending window. The Bank is also preparing a completion report on Uganda’s Country Strategy Paper (2017-2021). At the same time, it is developing the successor Country Strategy Paper (2022-2026), which will be aligned with the Uganda Vision 2040 economic transformation agenda.