Minister Amongi rallies development partners to finance Ugandan cities, local govts

New York, (US):- Uganda’s Minister of Gender, Labour, and Social Development, Hon Betty Amongi Akena has urged development partners to invest in the growth of cities and urban local governments to accelerate economic transformation in the East African country.

Presenting a paper on February 12 at the United Nations meeting on the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) in New York, Minister Amongi made a case for increased investment in urban development.

Uganda’s urban landscape includes cities such as Fort Portal, Mbarara, Lira, Arua, Masaka, Gulu, Jinja, Kabale, Mbale, Soroti, Hoima, and Entebbe, among others.

Amongi highlighted that cities are home to over half of the world’s population globally and serve as essential hubs for accessing critical services such as water, sanitation, transportation, infrastructure, and livelihood opportunities.

She emphasized that Africa remains the continent with the fastest-growing urban population, with 600 million people currently living in urban areas and an estimated 1.5 billion expected to migrate to cities by 2050.

“In Uganda, urbanization is increasing at a rate of 5.7% annually, and cities—including my own, Lira—are driving economic growth, fostering innovation, creating opportunities, and attracting investments,” Amongi told participants.

She called on the global financial architecture to design sustainable financing mechanisms by leveraging urban actors to deploy innovative funding models. These models should support physical urban infrastructure, housing, garbage recycling, street lighting, and financing for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that provide employment for vulnerable groups such as women, youth, and persons with disabilities (PWDs).

Drawing from her extensive experience in negotiating concessional funding for urban infrastructure, Amongi highlighted her past efforts as Minister of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development, as well as Minister for Kampala Capital City and Metropolitan Affairs.

The minister’s negotiations led to World Bank financing for Uganda’s Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development (USMID) program and the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area Infrastructure Development Project (GKMA-WB), which have significantly improved infrastructure in eleven cities and several municipalities.

Amongi further urged global stakeholders to invest in strengthening cities’ regulatory and governance structures and provide technical support to help cities boost local revenue collection, enabling them to sustain urban development and address the complex challenges faced by urban areas.

The UN Conference is ongoing and will conclude on Friday, February 14, 2025.