Museveni chides World Bank, urges audit of intentions behind loans

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni lambasted the World Bank on Monday during the IDA Africa summit in Nairobi, accusing it of fostering dependency on the continent.

At the 21st International Development Association (IDA) Africa Heads of State Summit at the KICC in Nairobi, African leaders advocated for a robust replenishment of its concessional lending arm. The April 28-29 event was transmitted live on YouTube.

In an address lasting 30 minutes instead of the allocated five, Museveni accused the bank of emphasising profit-driven agendas and prioritising loans for seminars instead of addressing structural challenges hindering Africa's development.

"I am tired of all these stories ... these neo-colonial civil servants who have been holding us back. I have put my foot down; I don't want to hear those stories. And Uganda is developing and it will develop because I don't entertain that nonsense anymore, [sic]" said the Ugandan leader, who in March 1998 said Western aid was equal to slavery.

According to the veteran leader, who has been Uganda's president since 1986, the bank's focus on funding seminars, where attendees merely "sit and eat chapati" neglects crucial areas like the irrigation and infrastructure development needed for Africa's progress.

"Borrowing for what? Capacity building? Imagine! Seminars ... they call you into a hotel, and you eat chapati and mandazi. They say that is capacity building. It should be on the ground, not just at seminars. So, if you're serious, I need to hear about low-cost funding for manufacturing, not stories [sic]."

The IDA advises governments on ways to broaden the base of economic growth and protect the poor from economic shocks. It helps countries manage their debt and has, over the years, coordinated debt relief for poor ones.

The main reason there is no growth in Africa is that the growth factors are neither funded nor understood; those who want to help Africa should fund our transport systems, electricity, raw material processing, and import substitution.
Why are we being funded to import and hold… pic.twitter.com/n0Erzy75pq

— Yoweri K Museveni (@KagutaMuseveni) April 29, 2024

Museveni went on to say that Africa does not need "sustainable underdevelopment" but socio-economic transformation.

"You cannot have quantitative growth and think you are doing anything," he said, arguing that there's no growth in Africa because crucial aspects such as the private sector are not funded.

"For the private sector to grow, it needs low production costs in transport, electricity and low-cost funding for manufacturing. If you are serious, talk about low-cost funding for manufacturing and funding for irrigation to stabilise agriculture. A loan for seminars is very quick to get but for agriculture, it is hard to get."

Museveni further pointed to long-standing philosophical, ideological, and strategic economic errors dating back to the 1960s as the root cause of the current crisis in Africa.

"When you see the crisis in many African countries—the collapse of the state—we predicted this in the 1960s. But I was very happy to hear the president of the World Bank talking about prosperity instead of profiteering. These were his own words. This has been the problem; aid has been for profiteering [sic]," he said.

He added that the focus should be on attaining sustainable development, with quantitative growth turning into qualitative change.

To explain this, Museveni used the analogy of a pregnant woman, who eventually gives birth after months of providing satisfactory conditions for her baby to grow.

"I am now going to be 80 years old. I have never seen a sustainable pregnancy—that a woman is pregnant this year and the pregnancy continues into next year, three years ... four years. It never happens [sic]," he said.

"In life, pregnancy develops sustainably in the womb of the woman, quantitively. The baby grows bigger and bigger but at some stage, quantitative growth must be transformed into qualitative change. The pregnancy must become a baby. If the pregnancy remains a pregnancy, the foetus will die. Therefore, I ask you to change those words in your documents [sic]."

Museveni further called for Africa to stop exporting its raw materials and instead add value at the source to steer development.

"This haemorrhage in Africa must stop. The crisis you see in Africa is because of the stagnation of the last 60 years, since independence. The population is increasing yet the economies are not."

Museveni also questioned what he termed an "obsession" with digitisation, humorously stating, "Now digital, digital, digital...are you eating computers? Have I seen anybody eating computers?"

Via X following the summit, the Ugandan president said his statement was a call for African leaders "to audit the intentions of the World Bank loans to ensure they are for prosperity rather than profiteering."

He sought clarity on how the continent is benefiting, asking, "Is the World Bank giving us loans for private sector-led growth or to be more dependent?"