Connecting 250 million people to electricity would open private sector investment opportunities in distributed renewable energy alone worth $9 billion. For the World Bank Group to connect 250 million people, $30 billion of public sector investment will be needed.
The bank says Uganda needs 3-4 billion dollars for climate finance in the next ten years but that money is not flowing as expected. It says the private sector has contributed only 26 million dollars or 3.4%.
Edward Sennoga, Second Lead Economist for the AfDB’s East African office said there is an opportunity for Uganda to earn from its newly found oil but time was running out.
The countries where the risk remained negative include Kenya, with B+, Namibia, BB, Uganda, B+ and Ghana, B. With that rating, the bank says it will continue lending.
The African Development Bank President recalled his work in Uganda as the Associate Director of the Rockefeller Foundation, when he engaged the University faculty members in undertaking research on food technologies.
The proposed assistance will be channelled to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which has been mandated to mobilize resources on behalf of the African Union. The nine beneficiary countries are Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania.
