By Walimbwa Moses
Finance Minister of State Henry Musasizi and World Bank officials during a meeting at the Ministry of Finance in Kampala where they discussed strengthening project appraisal and approval through the Public Investment Management System (PIMS).
KAMPALA| Uganda and the World Bank have agreed that all proposed development projects must go through the Public Investment Management System (PIMS) before they are considered for approval and funding.
The agreement was reached on Wednesday during a meeting between Minister of State for Finance Henry Musasizi and Qimiao Fan, World Bank Division Director for Uganda, Kenya, Somalia and Rwanda, at the Ministry of Finance in Kampala.
The meeting was held ahead of the 2026 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group scheduled for October.
Musasizi said following the PIMS process would ensure that public investments are aligned with national priorities, including the Standard Gauge Railway, electricity generation and transmission, irrigation and value addition.
“We are looking at one agenda of efficiency and effectiveness and this will greatly improve with PIMS. This will also cure the challenge of poor absorption of funds,” Musasizi said.
“We have to do the right job at every stage so that we see impact on the ground,” he added.
Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury Ramathan Ggoobi called for a balance between prudence, efficiency and speed in project development.
He said implementing agencies and the Development Committee should ensure that approved projects deliver tangible and sustainable results.
Qimiao Fan called for Uganda to shorten the time taken between project preparation, government approval, negotiations, procurement and implementation, saying faster processes would help accelerate inclusive growth and create jobs for young people.
The meeting also reviewed a proposed US$500 million Development Policy Operation to support Uganda’s Tenfold Growth Strategy. Officials further discussed projects in the World Bank’s IDA 21 pipeline, including UgIFT 2.0, the revised INVITE programme and infrastructure development in Greater Kampala.
The discussions followed the Uganda-World Bank Country Portfolio Performance Review held earlier this month. The Ministry of Finance said Uganda’s World Bank portfolio stands at US$4.62 billion across 18 operations, with US$1.48 billion disbursed so far.
The review identified procurement delays, project design gaps, land acquisition, counterpart funding, approvals and contract management among the challenges affecting implementation.
The two sides are expected to continue discussions on the sidelines of the Annual Meetings in October.