Uganda plans to borrow $400 million from several lenders, including Africa Development Bank (AfDB) and a United Nations fund to finance transportation and agriculture projects, a finance ministry official said.
The government says the increased borrowing is needed to fund infrastructure projects that will boost economic growth.
The bulk of the new borrowing, $253 million, will be from AfDB, State Minister for Finance, Henry Musasizi said in parliament.
Other lenders include the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Islamic Development Bank and UniCredit Bank Austria, he said.
Musasizi did not give a timeline for when the borrowing will be done.
He said much of the credit will be used to fund stalled construction works on a new toll road that forms a section of a highway connecting Uganda and neighbouring Rwanda, Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo.
Some of the funds will also be used to construct new facilities in the health sector, he said.
Uganda’s total stock of public debt was $29.1 billion last year, up 18% from the previous period, according to the finance ministry.
REUTERS/Christopher Ojilere