Government Raises UDB Capital to Shs2.2 Trillion to Drive Industrial, Export Growth

What the report says

Government of Uganda has lifted the Uganda Development Bank’s capital base to Shs2.2 trillion after a fresh Shs442.2 billion injection in the 2026/27 financial year, according to Nile Post. The additional funding is meant to strengthen the bank’s ability to provide affordable, long-term financing for industrialisation, agro-processing and export-oriented businesses.

The announcement was made by Minister of State for Finance (General Duties) Henry Musasizi during the commissioning of UDB Tower, the bank’s renovated 14-storey headquarters on Hannington Road in Kampala. Musasizi said UDB is expected to help bridge the gap between national development goals and the long-term capital needed to build a more self-sustaining economy. He also linked the bank’s mandate to government’s Tenfold Growth Strategy, which aims to support Uganda’s longer-term economic transformation.

Musasizi encouraged UDB to use a wider mix of financing tools, including private equity, structured project finance, blended finance, corporate bonds and public-private partnerships, to lower risk in strategic sectors and attract private investment. UDB said its existing financing has supported hundreds of enterprises and created jobs, though those figures were presented by the bank in its development impact report. As a broader matter of context, development banks often play a role in filling financing gaps where commercial lending may be too short-term or costly for large productive investments.