World Bank Suspends Funding for Ugandan Road Projects

The World Bank announced this week that it has suspended all road projects that it has funded in Uganda. The announcement came after the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) failed to meet certain social and environmental standards that the bank imposed as conditions of receiving the funding. 

The World Bank announced this week that it has suspended all road projects that it has funded in Uganda. The announcement came after the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) failed to meet certain social and environmental standards that the bank imposed as conditions of receiving the funding. 

According to a statement posted on the World Bank’s website, “We have suspended all bank-funded projects pending a review and strengthening of the capacity of UNRA to adhere to the required environmental and social standards. We are continuing to work with the Ugandan government to ensure all Bank-supported projects help Ugandans improve their lives, while protecting the poor and vulnerable.” 

The governments of Uganda and Kenya, through their respective road and highway authorities, were working together to finance a multi-national road project. The Kenyan road authority, known as the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA), and the UNRA planned to build a highway linking key roads in both nations and extending existing highways. 

As part of their joint application to the World Bank, they had to submit to an environmental study to be carried out by Kenyan and Ugandan environmental bodies. Although it is not entirely clear, many suspect that Uganda may have tried to cut corners on its environmental protection efforts, drawing the World Bank’s ire. 

At this point, it is not entirely clear whether the World Bank’s decision will bleed over into projects in neighboring Kenya and other African nations. Other neighboring states also had pending road construction projects with Uganda, including one called the Northern Corridor. When completed, the Northern Corridor should cover about 5,400 miles across the nations of Burundi, DR Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda. Another imperiled project is the Mombasa-Malaba-Kampala road, which would be about 730 miles long. 

This week’s announcement of suspended funding is not the first time the World Bank has taken action against Uganda and its road-building efforts. Last year, the bank had to cancel funding to the Transport Sector Development Project (TSDP) when contractual disputes arose between Uganda and its workers. In that case, Uganda’s contractors were accused of substandard work and encouraging sexual misconduct among their workers. 

Following last year’s funding suspension, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said, “The multiple failures we’ve seen in these road projects are unacceptable … It is our obligation to properly supervise all investment projects to ensure that the poor and vulnerable are protected in our work. In this case, we did not see that, as poor workers are subjected to intimidation and rampant sexual abuse.” 

There is no word on what Uganda must do to regain the World Bank’s favor—or if that is even possible at this point.