Uganda seeks stronger development financing at AfDB Annual Meetings

Uganda is seeking to strengthen its development financing partnerships at the ongoing 2026 African Development Bank Annual Meetings, as African leaders push for greater continental investment and economic integration amid growing global uncertainty.

The meetings were officially opened on Tuesday by Denis Sassou-Nguesso under the theme: “Mobilizing Africa’s Development Financing at Scale in a Fragmented World.”

President Sassou-Nguesso said Africa continues to face major financing gaps despite its enormous resource potential, calling for urgent efforts to mobilise African savings and strengthen institutions driving the continent’s transformation.

He urged the African Development Bank Group to remain at the forefront of Africa’s economic transformation and announced that the Republic of Congo would waive visa requirements for all African nationals starting January 2027 in a move aimed at boosting continental integration.

Uganda’s delegation at the meetings is being led by Mustapha Achidri, the country’s Temporary Governor to the African Development Bank and Assistant Commissioner at the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.

Uganda remains one of the major beneficiaries of African Development Bank funding, with 19 active public sector projects worth more than 2.1 billion US dollars approved by the Bank as of April 2026.

Some of the key projects financed by the AfDB in Uganda include the Uganda Rural Electricity Access Project, the Kampala City Rehabilitation Road Project, the Road Sector Support Project V, and the Busega-Mpigi Express Highway and Kampala-Malaba Meter Gauge Railway Rehabilitation Project.

The meetings come at a time when Uganda and other East African economies are facing increasing pressure from global supply chain disruptions and rising energy costs linked to tensions in the Middle East.

According to the 2026 African Economic Outlook launched during the meetings, Africa’s economy is projected to grow by 4.2 percent in 2026, slightly lower than the 4.4 percent recorded in 2025, before recovering again in 2027.

The report identifies East Africa as the continent’s fastest-growing region, although growth is expected to slow from 6.6 percent in 2025 to 5.9 percent in 2026 due to rising fuel and import costs associated with the Middle East crisis.

The President of the African Development Bank Group, Dr Sidi Ould Tah, called for stronger African institutions, deeper continental integration, and renewed confidence in Africa’s ability to shape its own economic future despite global instability.

The report further recommends strengthening Africa’s financial systems through pan-African banks, integrated capital markets, and innovative financing instruments such as climate finance and Islamic finance.

It also highlights the newly launched African Credit Rating Agency as a critical step toward addressing concerns over unfair sovereign risk assessments that have historically made borrowing more expensive for African countries, including Uganda.