Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has said that Africa has got huge potential yet people tackling its issues are bent on using one-dimensional approach to tackle some of the bottlenecks not knowing that the challenges are integrated.
“Africa is so rich with a huge market but because of the bottlenecks, such as lack of infrastructure, fragmented markets, ideological disorientation and export of raw materials, the continent has not been able to attain substantial economic development,” he said.
Mr Museveni added that in order for Africa to have a meaningful and sustainable growth, the bottlenecks need to be tackled together.
The president made the remarks while meeting with World Bank Board of Directors who were in Uganda to get a first-hand view of the Bank’s support to the country’s development priorities.
The 11-member delegation represents 92 countries and nearly 51 per cent of the World Bank’s shareholding.
According to a press statement from State House, during the Thursday (April 25 2019) meeting, Mr Museveni and his guests discussed a wide range of issues concerning the economic development of Uganda.
President Museveni welcomed the delegation to Uganda saying that he had for so long wanted to meet and interact with members of the Board of Directors of the World Bank.
He assured the visiting delegation that Africa and Uganda in particular have now addressed some of the challenges, such as high electricity rates, transport and the issue of market, the economy will even triple.
Refugees
On the issue of refugees, President Museveni noted that refugees coming to Uganda are not an issue because ‘they are our people and our brothers and they integrate easily because of their backgrounds.’
He however, said the only impact on host countries is on social services and the environment for which he called on the World Bank and other development partners to direct their efforts.
The World Bank delegation led by Mr Fernando Jimenez Latorre who is the Bank’s Group Executive Director expressed satisfaction with how things are going on in Uganda under the wise leadership of President Museveni.
He cited the high and consistent growth rate of over 6 per cent per annum as an example.
The delegation also positively expressed happiness with how Uganda is handling both social and environmental issues.
According to a State House statement, the visitors commended the country on the way it has handled the influx of refugees.
They expressed commitment to further working with Uganda especially on in tackling issues of human capital development, market integration and value addition, among other areas.
The World Bank Group has had a long-standing and strong partnership with Uganda with a cumulative investment of more than $10 billion.
The current World Bank programme is well-positioned to assist the government of Uganda in achieving its ambitious development agenda through the Bank’s portfolio of almost $3 billion covering investments in all major sectors of the economy.
This is complemented by $175 million in commitment by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) targeting projects in infrastructure, agribusiness and financial sectors; and US$236 million in gross exposure by the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) supporting the Bujagali Hydroelectric Project.
By David Sseguya
