{"id":15273,"date":"2025-09-02T10:06:38","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T10:06:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ugandaupdatenews.com\/?p=15273"},"modified":"2025-09-02T10:06:38","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T10:06:38","slug":"president-museveni-opens-the-inaugural-uganda-development-finance-summit-calls-for-africa-integration-and-economic-self-reliance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/president-museveni-opens-the-inaugural-uganda-development-finance-summit-calls-for-africa-integration-and-economic-self-reliance\/","title":{"rendered":"President Museveni Opens The Inaugural Uganda Development Finance Summit ,Calls For Africa Integration And Economic Self Reliance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Our Reporters in Munyonyo<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Yoweri Museveni commended UDB for convening the inaugural Uganda development finance Summit and urged African leaders to intensify efforts to deepen economic and political integration, noting that the fragmentation of African markets undermined the continent\u2019s competitiveness and appeal to investors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Museveni has emphasized the central role of development finance institutions in Africa\u2019s transformation, urging planners and financiers to balance infrastructure spending with \u201cresults-generating projects\u201d that draw millions of Ugandans into the money economy. \u201cWe must struggle for the integration of the African market as a matter of life and death\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He further called for African market integration, value addition to local resources, and affordable credit to drive industrialization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The president was  accompanied by the First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Janet Kataaha Museveni and presided over the official opening of the well attended summit  at the Commonwealth Resort Hotel, Munyonyo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two-day conference, hosted by the Uganda Development Bank (UDB), has attracted industry captains , policymakers, government leaders, financiers, the private sector, and international partners to deliberate on how development finance can accelerate Africa\u2019s social and economic transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Held under the theme ,\u2019 transforming Africa through national development fianc\u00e9 architecture , Museveni referred to  Uganda\u2019s fiscal choices such as diverting resources to the Parish Development Model, and called on policymakers to prioritize investments that boost productivity over those that merely provide utility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He emphasised  that cheap capital, electricity, and reliable transport are the backbone of industrial growth, criticizing past technocrats for focusing on social infrastructure while neglecting economic enablers like railways and power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said  that government set up  UDB to provide patient capital for commercial agriculture, manufacturing, services such as tourism and ICT, and artisanship. He however , decried the high interest rate of 15% which is still being charged by the bank and suggested at bringing it down to about 10%  would go a long way to boost business given that the country \u2018s inflation rates is below five percent .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The president also warned against exploitative lending practices by commercial banks, arguing that UDB remains the solution for financing productive sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finance Minister Matia Kasaija said that  Africa remains one of the fastest-growing regions globally, projecting Uganda\u2019s GDP to grow from nearly $50 billion in 2023 to $500 billion by 2040, anchored on agro-industrialization, tourism, mineral development, and ICT innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

UDB Managing Director Dr. Patricia Ojangole , stressed  the importance of national development banks in financing agriculture, manufacturing, energy, education, and health, noting that over 80% of UDB\u2019s lending goes to productive sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She further shared insights into the institution’s growth and the importance of government support and professional management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Board Chairman Geoffrey T. Kihuguru , noted  that development banks are uniquely positioned to expand inclusion, support underdeveloped regions, and drive industrialization amidst global economic challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The summit was attended by Cabinet ministers, Members of Parliament, diplomats, civil society, and private sector representatives. A fireside chat with Dr. Arkebe Oqubay <\/strong>provided reflections on industrial policy and statecraft in economic development.<\/td><\/tr>
Editor:msserwanga@gmail.com<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Our Reporters in Munyonyo President Yoweri Museveni commended UDB for convening the inaugural Uganda development finance Summit and urged<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/unnamed.jpg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16645,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/president-museveni-new-eac-chairman-calls-for-african-transfomation\/","url_meta":{"origin":15273,"position":0},"title":"President Museveni New EAC Chairman, Calls For African Transfomation","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"March 9, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has today assumed the Chairmanship of the East African Community (EAC) Summit, taking over from the outgoing Chairperson, President William Ruto of the Republic of Kenya, at the conclusion of the EAC Heads of State Summit held at the Arusha International Conference Centre. During the Summit,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "National News"","block_context":{"text":"National News","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/national-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1001524754.jpg","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1001524754.jpg 1x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1001524754.jpg 1.5x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1001524754.jpg 2x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1001524754.jpg 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15005,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/uganda-to-host-major-development-finance-summit\/","url_meta":{"origin":15273,"position":1},"title":"Uganda To Host Major Development Finance Summit","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"July 28, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The Uganda Development Bank (UDB) is convening the inaugural Uganda Development Finance Summit. UDB is the country\u2019s national Development Finance Institution (DFI). The highly anticipated Summit, scheduled for 1-2 September 2025 at the Speke Resort Convention Centre, Kampala, Uganda, will proceed under the theme,\u00a0\"Transforming Africa through National Development Finance Architecture.\u201d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "National News"","block_context":{"text":"National News","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/national-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/UDB44.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7404,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/uganda-to-host-the-non-aligned-movement-conference-next-year\/","url_meta":{"origin":15273,"position":2},"title":"Uganda to host the Non-Aligned Movement conference next year","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"November 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"President Yoweri Museveni has said that Uganda will host the conference of the Non-Aligned Movement in November, 2023.\u00a0 He has invited the Vietnam President , HE Nguy\u1ec5n Xu\u00e2n Ph\u00fac to attend the meeting . \"Your Excellency to attend and after the Conference, Your Excellency could put aside a day or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "International Relations"","block_context":{"text":"International Relations","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/international-relations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/RJT_6023-copy-scaled-e1669363755170-900x570-1.jpg","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/RJT_6023-copy-scaled-e1669363755170-900x570-1.jpg 1x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/RJT_6023-copy-scaled-e1669363755170-900x570-1.jpg 1.5x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/RJT_6023-copy-scaled-e1669363755170-900x570-1.jpg 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4719,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/our-similarities-are-our-strength-asserts-museveni\/","url_meta":{"origin":15273,"position":3},"title":"Our similarities are our strength, asserts Museveni.","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"December 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Given the historical similarities and ancient linkages, East African countries are able to achieve maximum unity in the form of political federation and economic integration, Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has said. Museveni was speaking at the Tanzania-Uganda Oil and Gas Symposium 2021 in Dar es Salaam. \u201cTwo levels of integration\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "National News"","block_context":{"text":"National News","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/national-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/IMG-20211129-WA0097.jpg","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/IMG-20211129-WA0097.jpg 1x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/IMG-20211129-WA0097.jpg 1.5x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/IMG-20211129-WA0097.jpg 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0aOV-3Yl","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15273"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15279,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15273\/revisions\/15279"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}