The World Bank has committed USD 200 million (about UGX 710 billion) to Uganda through the Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development to support the implementation of the Public Investment Management System (PIMS), a major reform aimed at improving value for money and curbing corruption in public procurement.
The funding will be disbursed under a results-based framework upon Uganda’s achievement of agreed Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs) and Intermediate Results Indicators (IRIs), according to Ramathan Ggoobi, the Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury.
The announcement was made during the launch of PIM-PLUS, an enhanced reform programme targeting procurement and asset disposal processes—areas identified as accounting for the largest share of corruption-related financial losses in government.
Shift from Spending to Results PIMS is a government reform programme supported by the World Bank to transform how public investments are planned, appraised, executed, and monitored.
Unlike traditional expenditure-focused approaches, the system emphasizes results and impact, rather than merely whether funds were spent.
“This new programme is about ensuring that public investments deliver tangible outcomes,” Ggoobi said, noting that resources will now be earned through improved systems and institutional performance rather than expenditure alone.
PIM-PLUS is structured as a Program-for-Results (PforR), meaning funds will only be released after independently verified results are achieved. “PIM-PLUS utilises our own government systems and disburses funds only when we achieve and verify the agreed-upon results,” Ggoobi explained.
“This approach makes the programme more accountable, empowering, and better aligned with strengthening institutions to deliver real outcomes.”
The programme is expected to address long-standing bottlenecks in public investment management, including weaknesses in project preparation, execution, monitoring, maintenance, asset management, and climate-related losses—estimated at more than USD 140 million annually.
Under the PIM-PLUS framework, $40 million (UGX 142 billion) will support the Project Preparation Facility under the National Planning Authority, enhancing feasibility studies and project readiness.
Another $160 million will finance priority investment projects aligned with National Development Plan IV (NDP IV) and Uganda’s Tenfold Growth Strategy, including implementation of the Automated Treasury Management Systems (ATMS) and related enablers.
The programme will also support the training of public officers involved in procurement and project implementation, as well as interventions to revive stalled projects and correct deficiencies in mismanaged ones.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recently commended Uganda for sustained public finance management reforms over the past decade.
These include strengthening the Development Committee’s role as a gatekeeper for new investments, establishing the Projects Analysis and Public Investment Department (PAP), and adopting a public investment policy with improved appraisal guidelines.
According to both the World Bank and IMF, these reforms have enabled Uganda to outperform many peer countries, particularly in the institutional framework governing infrastructure investment. In a statement, the World Bank congratulated Uganda on achieving this milestone and reaffirmed its commitment to supporting reforms that improve the design and implementation of public investment projects. The 19th edition of the World Bank Uganda Economic Update, titled Fiscal Sustainability through Deeper Reform of Public Investment Management, notes that strengthening institutions, systems, and decision-making processes in public investment can yield significant economic dividends.
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