The French Development Agency (AFD) has signed a €40 million (about Shs169 billion) financing agreement with Uganda Development Bank (UDB) to support key sectors of the economy.
The partnership includes a €40 million credit line and €800,000 (about Shs3.38 billion) in technical assistance.
The agreement was signed by Marc Trouyet, Country Director of the French Development Agency, and Dr Patricia Ojangole, Managing Director of Uganda Development Bank. H.E. Virginie Leroy, Ambassador of France to Uganda, witnessed the signing at UDB Tower in Kampala.
Dr Ojangole said the funding will strengthen the bank’s ability to drive sustainable and inclusive growth and expand access to long-term development finance.
“We are deeply grateful to our partner, AFD, for their trust, collaboration, and shared vision. This funding will contribute to addressing Uganda’s environmental and social challenges in a structured and measurable manner such as facilitating improved access to finance for traditionally underserved and excluded populations, particularly youth and women. This is important in strengthening social inclusion, expanding economic participation, and contributing to the reduction of structural inequalities within the economy,” Dr Ojangole said.
The partnership aligns with Uganda’s National Development Plan IV, which seeks to expand access to economic resources and strengthen enterprise growth and competitiveness.
The additional financing comes as UDB enters the second year of its new strategy. The strategy expands the bank’s role beyond lending to the private sector. UDB now structures transactions, provides advisory services, and mobilises funding from local and international partners to finance investments.
“For us as a development finance institution, access to concessional and strategic funding is not merely about liquidity. It is about leverage — leveraging the funds mobilized into measurable economic impact,” the UDB Managing Director noted.
The credit line will finance projects that create jobs, deepen industrialisation, support small and medium enterprises, improve infrastructure, and promote inclusive growth.
H.E. Virginie Leroy said the partnership reflects France’s support for Uganda’s economic ambitions.
“This partnership embodies the support the French Government is providing to Uganda in order to develop its economy and successfully implement the Tenth Fold Growth Strategy, particularly in the so called ATMS sectors. France supports the ambition for Uganda to become a Middle-Income Country by harnessing all the potential of its agriculture and its agribusinesses”.
She added: “A business forum will be organized during the Africa Forward Summit under the joint invitation of President Emmanuel Macron and William Ruto in Nairobi on May 11th and 12th. Agriculture, Green Industrialization, Energy, Logistics, Digital Economy, Health will illustrate the African continent’s innovation capacity. It will also address the reform of the international financial system and response to macroeconomic imbalances.”
Marc Trouyet said AFD is confident the partnership will deliver impact.
“AFD is partnering with UDB with the confidence that this will bring the impacts we are both looking at as public development banks. Social impacts while increasing financial inclusion by targeting women and youth led businesses. Economic impacts through strengthening agricultural actors such as SACCOs and agrobusinesses. Climate change impacts by promoting climate-smart agriculture and selecting climate resilient infrastructure” he said.
