Grace Ashiru
The African Development Bank has stepped in to close a critical financial gap in Uganda’s flagship rural electrification programme, approving additional funding to ensure that all communities affected by the project receive the compensation they are owed.
The African Development Bank Group has approved €7.33 million in additional financing to support the completion of compensation payments to people impacted by the Uganda Rural Electricity Access Project Phase I. The funding addresses updated cost estimates undertaken during implementation as well as outstanding environmental and social commitments, ensuring that all affected households receive due compensation and that connections are completed.Â
On the same day — April 7 — the Bank also approved the second phase of the project, UREAP II, at a total cost of €104.39 million. This includes an African Development Bank loan of €86.58 million, a loan of €12.93 million and a grant of €1.72 million from the Climate Investment Funds, alongside €3.16 million in Government of Uganda counterpart contributions.Â
UREAP II will construct approximately 624 kilometres of medium-voltage and 2,154 kilometres of low-voltage distribution networks, delivering an estimated 259,723 new grid and mini-grid connections over six years — including more than 250,000 households, 3,000 businesses, and public institutions such as schools and health centres. These new connections build on the 141,700 already achieved under Phase I and are expected to provide first-time electricity access to nearly 1.18 million people, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and unprocessed biomass
The Uganda Rural Electricity Access Project is a flagship intervention under the African Development Bank Group’s Country Strategy Paper for Uganda 2022–2026 and contributes to Mission 300, a joint initiative with the World Bank Group to connect 300 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa to electricity by 2030.
