Uganda

Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa, it has experienced steady growth for the past 10 years and its poverty rate has significantly decreased. However, the country must create jobs and build quality infrastructure to meet high population growth and the need to diversify its economy, while facing the challenges of climate change. AFD supports the country in these priority areas.
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Clean-up at Gaba station, Uganda
AFD and Uganda: supporting inclusive, job-creating and environmentally-friendly growth
Clean-up at Gaba station, Uganda

Increasing the supply of drinking water and improving sanitation

Beneficiaries of new drinking water connections, Uganda

Increasing the supply of drinking water and improving sanitation

Uganda's population growth challenges the country's public water and sanitation system.


AFD supports the required investments by:

  • financing drinking water distribution networks in isolated areas (in the  South-Central rural towns, and secondary cities of Mbarara and Masaka);
  • supporting small sanitation infrastructures along with supply of drinking water (collective sanitation and service facilities in 30 deprived districts of Kampala);
  • constructing pumping stations (2 new stations to supply the cities of Kampala and Jinja);
  • increasing the production of drinking water and its supply (5-year program in Kampala, to secure access to water for the inhabitants of the city and sustainably improve the service of the National Water and Sewerage Corporation).

Supporting the generation and distribution of renewable energy

Hydroelectric dam, Uganda

Supporting the production and distribution of renewable energy

Uganda is one of the African countries with the lowest access rate to electricity: only 20% of the Ugandan population is connected to the national grid.


AFD funds projects of the Ugandan government and private investors in order to:

Promoting the private sector

Fine spinners, a Cotton processing plant, in Ouganda

Promoting the private sector

The Ugandan Government identified job creation and the development of the private sector as one of key priorities in its Vision 2040.

AFD thus supports:

  • the housing sector by providing credit lines (Housing Finance Bank, as part of the long-term support of the bank's housing finance activity).
  • the renewable energy and energy efficiency, through the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources and Energy Finance (SUNREF) program consisting of credit lines to Ugandan banks wishing to develop their portfolio of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. Technical assistance is offered to the project developers and the banks.

Protecting and enhancing natural resources

Chameleon in the Rwenzori Park, Uganda

Protecting and enhancing the natural heritage

AFD mobilizes various financial instruments, including the facility of the French Global Environment Facility (FFEM), to support the environment and biodiversity through:

  • sustainable management of national parks (establishment of a pilot payment scheme for environmental services concerning the water resources of the Rwenzori Mountains National Park);
  • setting up regulatory frameworks (compensation for damage to ecosystems and biodiversity offsets);
  • sustainable management of continental aquatic ecosystems (Murchison Bay ecosystem management project);
  • the Africa4Climate project: integrating climate change into water resource management, developing a climate strategy for the city of Kampala and supporting the development of Uganda's national contribution to the Paris climate agreement.
760
million euros committed in 20 years
500,000
beneficiaries have access to water in Kampala
2800
km of medium and low voltage power lines

Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa and has 38 million inhabitants. Its economy is essentially based on agriculture although industrial fabric and services are dynamic.

The poverty rate has significantly dropped over the last 20 years, but still affects one-third of the population. The population growth rate is one of the highest in the world, with about six children per woman, and nearly 400,000 young people entering the work force each year.
Uganda shows a strong economic performance, with a steady growth of about 6% per year over the past decade and the government is showing a willingness to invest in infrastructure development, agriculture, tourism, as well as oil and gas, and the development of human capital.

However, Uganda faces two major challenges: population growth and its opportunities for urbanization, job creation and added value, as well as resilience to climate change requiring the development of sustainable development strategies.

To meet the structural needs of the Ugandan economy, AFD intervenes in the areas of infrastructure (drinking water / sanitation and energy), support to the private sector, as well as for the preservation and enhancement of natural resources.

AFD has been a partner of the country since 1993 through its subsidiary: Proparco. Acting from the Nairobi regional agency since 1997, we opened an office in Kampala in 2009. Funding from the French Global Environment Facility (FFEM) is also available for the preservation and sustainable management of natural resources.

AFD's Uganda office is directly attached to the East Africa regional office in Nairobi.

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News & Events

Uganda

Matters of Water in Uganda - Exhibition

This past summer, in celebrating 20 years of AFD Group's commitments in Uganda, the red brick walls surrounding the French Embassy in Kampala were decorated with 12 photographs. The giant portraits highlighted the work of three talented Ugandan photographers and their reflections on the question of access to water.

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