Bank of Uganda Governor Michael Atingi-Ego has given financial institutions until early October to submit board-approved plans showing how they will finance the country’s ambitious Ten-Fold Economic Growth Strategy.
Atingi-Ego and Finance Minister Henry Musasizi were speaking on Friday in Kampala at the Annual Bankers Conference (ABC 2026), which is being held at a time when the government is rolling out its Ten-Fold Economic Growth Strategy under the Fourth National Development Plan (NDP IV).
The strategy seeks to expand Uganda’s economy from 50 billion US dollars to 500 billion US dollars by 2040 through investments in four priority areas: agro-industrialisation, tourism development, mineral-based industrial development, including oil and gas, and science, technology and innovation, collectively referred to as ATMS.
The banking sector has developed a response strategy aimed at mobilising long-term funding and substantially expanding private-sector credit to support the plan.
The conference is also examining how capital markets can complement commercial banks by providing patient and structured financing for public and private investment.
Atingi-Ego said the Uganda Bankers Association had earlier committed to expanding private-sector credit to 490 trillion shillings by 2040, but said banks must now demonstrate how they intend to finance that expansion. He warned that the banking sector must now move from commitments to measurable results.
The Bank of Uganda directed supervised financial institutions to incorporate their commitments to the Ten-Fold Growth Strategy into their 2026/27 work plans and submit board-approved strategies with measurable performance targets by early October. “The deadline is now weeks away, not months,” Atingi-Ego told the bankers.
He said banks should not concentrate only on the amount of credit they intend to extend, but must explain how they will grow deposits, mobilise longer-term funding and strengthen their capital to support the projected expansion in lending. He urged the banks to think beyond the credit numbers.
“Every loan requires a liability behind it. Every expansion of lending ultimately requires capital to support it,” he said. “How will deposits grow? How will longer-term financing be mobilized? How will capital keep pace with expanding risk-weighted assets? And what specific initiatives will turn those projections into reality?” he asked.
Atingi-Ego said the central bank will monitor the submissions through its normal supervisory engagements and, at next year’s conference, assess delivery rather than declarations.
The call comes amid concerns in the private sector about the high cost of borrowing in Uganda.
Musasizi said only about 12 percent of Ugandans currently access formal credit, while average lending rates remain between 18 and 20 percent. More than 70 percent of lending is also short-term, he said.
He argued that the current structure of finance is inadequate for the scale of investment required under the Ten-Fold Growth Strategy, which will require money that can remain invested for 10, 15 or even 20 years.
The Minister made reducing the cost of credit his first major demand from the banking sector. “Bring down the cost of credit. This I am asking on behalf of Ugandans,” Musasizi said.
He said banks could reduce risk premiums through better credit assessment and greater use of data, including information from the Uganda Revenue Authority and the National Identification and Registration Authority, within the appropriate legal and regulatory frameworks.
Musasizi also called for greater use of risk-sharing and guarantee mechanisms involving the Uganda Development Bank, the Agricultural Credit Facility and multilateral guarantees.
“Every one percentage point reduction can unlock significant additional productive investment in our economy,” he said.
Musasizi also challenged banks to increase financing to the four sectors identified as the engines of the Ten-Fold Growth Strategy. He noted that Uganda has set itself what he described as a necessary target to grow the economy from a fifty-billion-dollar economy to $500 billion by 2040.
“This will require substantial investment in production, value addition, infrastructure, technology, tourism, minerals development and other productive activities,” he said.
“At that rate, our economy will rise by 323.8 trillion shillings, an equivalent of USD 85.2 billion next financial year. The sectors that will drive this transformation are clear. They are the ATM priorities” He said agriculture contributes 26.2 percent of Uganda’s GDP but receives only about 12 percent of financial-sector lending. Tourism receives less than two percent, while minerals receive less than three percent.
“The structure of our lending must begin to reflect the structure of the economy we want to build,” he said.
He said there were significant opportunities in the ATMS sectors, citing the Bank of Uganda’s local gold purchase programme, which he said is helping bring informal miners into the formal financial system.
Musasizi urged banks to move beyond conventional short-term lending and develop financing instruments suited to long-term investments.
He proposed infrastructure bonds, project bonds for industrial parks, green bonds for tourism facilities and equity financing for mineral value addition.
Atingi-Ego also addressed concerns over the recent depreciation of the Uganda shilling, saying global oil-price developments had contributed to the latest pressure on the currency.
He said the shilling is market-determined and was trading at about 3,930 to the US dollar in September, after coming under pressure from global developments.
The Governor recalled previous episodes of currency depreciation linked to changes in global interest rates and other external shocks, saying Uganda had weathered those periods.
“I’m bringing this up because the Bank of Uganda has what it takes to stabilise,” Atingi-Ego said.
He said macroeconomic stability remains the foundation for mobilising savings and providing the long-term financing needed for economic transformation.
Musasizi said the demand for cheaper and longer-term credit was not solely a responsibility of the banking sector, saying government would also take measures to improve the financing environment.
He said government would maintain macroeconomic stability, pursue legal and institutional reforms, strengthen the Credit Reference Bureau framework, address budget leakages and improve Uganda’s sovereign credit profile. Government would also diversify development financing through the World Bank’s 3.8-billion-dollar country partnership framework, climate finance and diaspora bonds, he said.
Musasizi further said the government would work towards expanding the capitalization of Uganda Development Bank to two trillion US dollars to enable it to provide more long-term financing through the financial sector.
He also invited the Uganda Bankers Association and its members to sign an ATMS financing compact containing measurable commitments on credit growth, pricing, productive-sector lending and financial inclusion. “This should not be another document that sits on the shelf,” he said.
The Minister said the government has set the economic ambition, while the private sector must drive production and the financial sector provide the capital needed to turn investment plans into economic activity. The Ten-Fold Growth Strategy seeks to expand Uganda’s GDP from 50 billion US dollars to 500 billion US dollars by 2040-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
