Parliament is looking into a proposal by the government to borrow $190 million (approx Shs 700bn) from Stanbic Bank to facilitate the buyout of Umeme Limited. The proposal was tabled by Henry Musasizi, the minister of state for Finance.
The matter was pushed to the Committee on National Economy for review. Umeme started the process of exiting the power sector after government handed the distribution of power to Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL) last year.
However, the government must buy them out as per the terms of the concession and that is why it needs this money.
It will be the second time in three years Uganda is borrowing money from a commercial bank to fund its priorities.
In 2022, Parliament approved government’s request Uganda’s to borrow $464 million from Standard Chartered Bank and other international lenders to help finance infrastructure development.
