Awkward Dance

Uganda hangs in with World Bank despite funding suspension over anti-LGBT law

By Musinguzi Blanshe

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Posted on September 1, 2023 14:15

© Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni in Entebbe, Uganda, on July 26, 2022. (Photo by BADRU KATUMBA / AFP) — Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni in Entebbe, Uganda, on July 26, 2022. (Photo by BADRU KATUMBA / AFP)

Despite Uganda’s president threatening to abandon the World Bank after it froze aid over the anti-gay law, pragmatism is prevailing for now. The country relies heavily on World Bank financing for roads, poverty reduction and more – over $22bn since 1986.

Following the World Bank’s suspension of financing over Uganda’s anti-LGBT law in August, President Yoweri Museveni threatened to turn away from the West.

Yet there’s no sign the country wants to show its development partners the door.

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