Uganda Development Bank Ltd

COP31 is officially underway in Antalya, Türkiye!

UDB is on the ground, engaging partners to advance climate finance, mobilise resources and unlock green investment.

Starting tomorrow, join our three high-level side events at the Uganda Pavilion as we drive conversations towards actionable climate solutions.

#COP31Türkiye

Building on the need to rethink what development finance institutions finance, Ashad turned to how Africa can mobilise and deploy the resources required to accelerate its economic transformation.

He observed that Africa is not necessarily capital-poor but constrained by the inefficient allocation of its resources. With an estimated USD 4–4.5 trillion in domestic capital held across pension funds, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds and other institutional investors, significant financing potential exists within the continent. However, much of this capital remains concentrated in traditional financial assets instead of flowing into productive industries.

He challenged national DFIs to move beyond acting as intermediaries of foreign development finance and become active catalysts for domestic resource mobilisation by developing bankable investment opportunities, innovative financing instruments and frameworks that attract institutional and private capital.

Ashad also emphasised that no single country or DFI can independently finance Africa’s transformation. Stronger partnerships, cross-border investments and regional cooperation are essential to developing integrated value chains, strengthening industrial capacity and improving the continent’s competitiveness. He further highlighted the importance of circular economic models that generate greater value from fewer resources, improve productivity and turn waste into productive inputs.

On sustainability, he called for environmental and social considerations to be embedded in the institutional culture, investment decisions, risk management and operations of DFIs, rather than treated merely as reporting or public relations requirements. Investments must build economically viable, environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive economies that can withstand future shocks.

His call to action was anchored in three fundamental questions: What must DFIs finance? How must they finance it? And how must they work together? Answering these questions requires a shift towards financing future industries, unlocking domestic savings through innovative financing models, including blended finance and capital markets, and embracing strategic partnerships beyond national borders.

Ultimately, DFIs must evolve into strategic builders of productive economies, mobilisers of domestic capital and catalysts of Africa’s sustainable and inclusive transformation.

-Arshad Rab, Chairman of the International Council of Sustainability Standards for Value-Driven Financial Institutions and Chief Executive Officer of the European Organisation for Sustainable Development (EOSD)

At the CEO Forum of African Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), Ashad challenged development finance institutions to rethink their traditional financing approaches in response to Africa’s changing economic landscape, characterised by persistent unemployment, rising costs of capital and growing investment demands in infrastructure and productive sectors.

He called for a shift from financing isolated projects towards building integrated, competitive value chains that address structural constraints to productivity, industrialisation and Africa’s participation in global markets. He also highlighted the need to reconsider capital allocation, particularly where government debt and low-risk financial assets continue to attract resources at the expense of long-term productive investments.

Emphasising the importance of financing the industries of the future rather than the economies of the past, Ashad urged DFIs to prioritise emerging technologies, innovation and higher-value industries capable of reversing trade deficits, creating new sources of national wealth and generating meaningful employment, particularly for young people.

He further observed that automation and artificial intelligence are reshaping global competitiveness, with technology, intellectual property, design and productivity increasingly determining economic advantage rather than access to cheap labour alone. DFIs must therefore anticipate these changes and direct capital towards industries and economic capabilities that will remain relevant in the future.

The challenge is to move beyond financing projects to building productive economies capable of creating wealth and sustainably financing their own development.

Arshad Rab, Chairman of the International Council of Sustainability Standards for Value-Driven Financial Institutions and Chief Executive Officer of the European Organisation for Sustainable Development

Speaking at the CEO Forum of African DFIs in Lesotho, Mr. Mwesiga Joshua, Director, Strategy and Corporate Affairs at Uganda Development Bank (UDB), highlighted key challenges limiting private capital mobilisation across Africa, including a shortage of bankable projects, risk-return mismatches and limited instruments for channelling domestic savings into productive investments.

Drawing on Uganda’s experience, he noted that the country’s pension schemes hold approximately USD 9 billion in assets, with 78% invested in fixed-income assets, particularly government securities. This presents a significant opportunity to mobilise domestic institutional capital for long-term productive investment.

At UDB, this opportunity is informing a strategic shift under the Bank’s Strategic Plan 2025–2029, moving beyond responding to financing applications towards proactively originating, developing and structuring projects while mobilising capital and crowding in other investors.

Key interventions include strengthening project preparation through TESS, expanding blended finance partnerships, exploring green bonds, social bonds and Sukuk, and developing risk-sharing and co-financing arrangements with development partners and private investors.

As Joshua emphasised, achieving Uganda’s National Development Plan IV and Ten-Fold Growth Strategy requires innovative financing approaches that go beyond conventional funding sources to unlock the scale of capital needed to drive sustainable economic transformation.

At the panel discussion on “Capital to Impact: Mobilising Private Finance and Measuring Development Impact,” Mr. Mwesiga Joshua, Director, Strategy and Corporate Affairs at Uganda Development Bank (UDB), joins distinguished development finance leaders from across Africa and beyond to explore innovative approaches to mobilising private and institutional capital.

The discussion examined how DFIs can leverage blended finance, guarantees, strategic partnerships and innovative financing instruments to unlock private investment, bridge development financing gaps and accelerate sustainable economic transformation.

Representing Uganda Development Bank, Joshua shared UDB’s experience in mobilising development finance, navigating investment challenges and strengthening the role of national DFIs as catalysts for private sector investment and inclusive economic growth.