Finance Minister says Uganda would receive a $295 million loan from the Islamic Development Bank

Uganda’s finance minister announced on Tuesday that the east African nation had inked a $295 million loan arrangement with Saudi Arabia’s Islamic Development Bank (IDB) to finance road building and other projects.

The action highlights Uganda’s attempts to broaden its outside funding sources, given the prolonged and fruitless discussions Uganda has been having with the World Bank to resume loans.

In the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh, Uganda’s Finance Minister Matia Kasaija signed the loan deal with IDB President Muhammad Al Jassar, the minister stated in a post on social media platform X.

The government states that the funds would be used to build 105 kilometers of roads and a bridge that will span the Nile in northwest Uganda.

The World Bank, which has historically been Uganda’s largest foreign lender, stopped making fresh loans to the nation following the passage of a strict anti-homosexuality law.