President Museveni hails World Bank for funding USMID

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President Yoweri Museveni has hailed the World Bank for funding the Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development (USMID) program.

He noted on Wednesday (April 23) that the program, which started in 2013, has helped to bridge the infrastructure gap in a number of municipalities and cities across the country.

He made the remarks in a speech read by works and transport minister Gen Katumba Wamala at Speke Resort Munyonyo in Kampala.

Katumba officiated at the opening ceremony of Uganda's first-ever National Urban Development Conference on behalf of the President.

"I thank the World Bank for its tremendous support towards USMID," Museveni said at a conference that was organised by the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development.

He also noted that USMID has supplemented efforts to build a solid economic base to support industrialisation and socio-economic transformation.

The President noted that the additional tarmacked roads which have been constructed under USMID are pull factors for investment since they have lowered the costs of doing business in the economy.

“Government is aiming at achieving low costs of transport, low costs of electricity, low interest rates, etc., so that the private sector can make profits. The more profits they make, the more attractive the country becomes as an investment destination,” he said.

Museveni also observed that the more companies that come in, the more products (goods) and services they produce, the more jobs they create and the more tax money they generate.

"The end goal for all infrastructure projects is to create a favourable investment climate," he said.

Local leaders urged

The President used his speech to urge local leaders to mobilise the population to take advantage of the good roads, electricity, peace and security, etc., to create jobs and wealth for their families.

“Development is a collective good for everyone. A road belongs to the community, but an individual can utilise the road to transport their crops from the farm to the market. Therefore, infrastructure benefits people who are engaged in the production of either a good or a service," he said.

He reminded the conference about the four major sectors for creating wealth and jobs, which are commercial agriculture, industrialisation, services and ICT.

Museveni said urban centres are stimuli for prosperity because they have big populations that consume and spend.

“The whole country is now interconnected by tarmacked roads. The big markets, in the urban centres, are accessible to the wealth creators in the countryside. In the past, our people were trapped in subsistence agriculture because they were unable to access the lucrative urban markets," he said.

He said these markets are now accessible and, therefore, Ugandans must be mobilised to produce and supply their products in urban areas.

He also thanked local leaders for embracing the USMID program in their respective municipalities and cities and facilitating its successful implementation by the lands ministry.

“Development does not occur by accident; it is achieved through proper planning, identifying and funding priorities, and ensuring effective supervision and implementation of the development program," Museveni said.

The two-day conference was attended by mayors of different municipalities, chairpersons of refugee-hosting districts, MPs and the development partners, among others.