Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni on Thursday denounced the World Bank’s decision to suspend new funding in response to a harsh anti-LGBTQ law and vowed to find alternative sources of credit.
The World Bank said on Tuesday it would halt new lending to the Ugandan government after concluding that its anti-LGBTQ law contradicts the bank’s values.
The World Bank has an existing portfolio of $5.2 billion in Uganda, although these projects will not be affected.
Reacting to the World Bank threat, Museveni said in a statement that Uganda was trying to reduce its borrowing in any case and would not give in to pressure from foreign institutions.
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“It is, therefore, unfortunate that the World Bank and other actors dare to coerce us into abandoning our faith, culture, principles and sovereignty, using money. They really underestimate all Africans,” he said.
Museveni said that if Uganda needed to borrow, it could do so from other sources, and that oil production expected to start by 2025 would provide additional revenues.
In June, the United States imposed visa restrictions on some Ugandan officials in response to the law. President Joe Biden also ordered a review of U.S. aid to Uganda.
Uganda’s state minister for foreign affairs, Okello Oryem accused the bank of hypocrisy, saying they were lending to countries in the Middle East and Asia that have the same or harsher laws on homosexuality.
“The World Bank has been put under pressure by the usual imperialists.”
The World Bank had provided $5.4 billion in International Development Association financing to Uganda by the end of 2022, including many health and education projects that could be affected by the new law.