Uganda has received a loan worth USD 31.6 million ( approximately 116.7 billion shillings) from the African Development Fund (ADF) to help in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement sent out yesterday, the ADF, which is a concessional funding arm of the African Development Bank Group, said the “funds are designed as budget support within the framework of the Bank Group’s COVID-19 Crisis Response Facility.”
This brings the total of 3 trillion shillings that Uganda has received from three lenders: African Development Bank, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to respond to COVID-19 since May 2020.
African Development Bank says the money will help Uganda enhance its capacity to test and treat COVID-19 patients to reduce risk of infection and morbidity.
It will ease the impact of the lockdown and other COVID-19 related measures on the poorest.
The Bank’s Country Manager for Uganda, Kennedy Mbekeani, said they expect the money to provide financing to the budget for targeted spending, aimed at containing and mitigating the health and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic .
Despite the fact that the loans are mostly concessional and therefore cheap and have friendly repayment terms, some Ugandans have raised red-flag on possible abuse and called on the lenders to be particularly strict on how this money is used.
Uganda will be required to produce a report accounting for this money was spent in relation to COVID-19. There will also be an independent audit that will be published for the public giving an account of how the money was spent.
