Stalled World Bank funded projects to be fasttracked

What the report says

Speaker Jacob Marksons Oboth has pledged to accelerate World Bank-funded projects in Uganda that have slowed because of government approval and procurement delays, according to Watchdog Uganda. He made the remarks during a meeting in Parliament on Thursday, 5 November 2026, with World Bank Country Manager Dr. Francisca Ayodeji Akala.

Oboth said the bottlenecks were holding back the country’s development agenda and urged closer coordination between the World Bank, Parliament and the Prime Minister’s Office. He also praised the institution’s long-running support for Uganda and said Parliament wants the bank to remain accessible and continue offering affordable financing.

Dr. Akala said the World Bank works with government, Parliament, the private sector and citizens, and she outlined the group’s three main arms: IDA for concessional lending and grants, IFC for private-sector investment and advisory work, and MIGA for guarantees and political risk insurance. She said the bank is increasingly focused on jobs, especially for young people, but warned that slow approvals, procurement and contract management are limiting implementation.

Oboth pointed to the Electricity Access Scale-up Project as an example of a programme affected by delays and directed parliamentary committees to work with the bank and government to address the bottlenecks. The issue matters because it affects when funded projects reach intended beneficiaries and how quickly development investments translate into services and infrastructure.