Overview:
Uganda launched the $200 million World Bank PIM PLUS Operation, a Program-for-Results facility aimed at overhauling how the government plans and executes public investment projects.
KAMPALA, Uganda — The World Bank has approved a $200 million operation to overhaul how the Ugandan government plans, executes and manages its public investments, officials announced Thursday.
Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury Ramathan Ggoobi launched the Public Investment Management Plus Operation, or PIM PLUS, which is structured as a Program-for-Results, or PforR, facility.
Ggoobi emphasized that the arrangement ensures funds are released based on verifiable improvements in government processes and institutions, rather than just on expenditures.
“PIM PLUS utilizes our own systems and disburses funds only when we achieve and verify the agreed upon results,” Ggoobi said, calling the approach more accountable and empowering.
The program aims to solve deep-rooted problems in public investment management, including poor project preparation, flawed execution, weak monitoring and inadequate asset maintenance. Officials estimate these weaknesses, combined with climate-related losses, cost the country more than $140 million annually.
The $200 million funding is broken down into two main allocations:
- $40 million is designated for the Project Preparation Facility under the National Planning Authority, or NPA. This will ensure major projects, such as several planned expressways, receive proper feasibility and design studies before being launched.
- $160 million is allocated to finance priority investment projects aligned with the National Development Plan IV and the government’s Tenfold Growth targets, focusing on key sectors like agro-industrialization, tourism and mineral development.
The World Bank congratulated Uganda on reaching the milestone and affirmed its commitment to supporting the government’s efforts to improve the efficiency and design of its public investment projects.