Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni delivers a speech at the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) summit for African Heads of State, held earlier this week in Nairobi, Kenya. PHOTO | COURTESY
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni did not mince any words when he issued a very candid speech at the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) summit for African Heads of State held in Nairobi, Kenya earlier this week.
In his address, he talked about the fact that Africa’s current crises were predicted over 60 years ago.
“The crisis that exists in Africa today is because of philosophical, ideological, strategic, and economic mistakes, which we have been talking about since the 1960s. It is not by accident,” he said.
He added that the collapse of some African states was avoidable; however, due to circumstances, some countries went into ruins.
“I was very happy to hear the president of the World Bank talking about prosperity instead of profiteering. These were his own words,” Museveni said, adding that the problem is that aid given to Africa has been for profiteering and not to directly help Africans.
Museveni, who has been president of Uganda for close to 40 years, took aim at the World Bank's guiding principle of pushing sustainable development in Africa.
"The World Bank has been talking about sustainable development for many years. I'm turning 80 years old, but I have never seen sustainable pregnancy—that a woman is pregnant this year, and the pregnancy continues for three years, four years—it never happens. In life, pregnancy develops sustainably within the womb of the woman. Quantitatively, the baby grows bigger and bigger. But at some stage, quantitative growth must be transformed into qualitative change. The pregnancy must become a baby; otherwise, the fetus will die. So, therefore, I would ask you to change those words in your documents. Africa doesn't need sustainable underdevelopment. Africa needs socioeconomic transformation. The main reason there is no growth is because the growth factors are not funded or understood.”
He said that if the World Bank and other development partners truly wanted to help Africa, then they should invest more in electricity, railway infrastructure, and irrigation.
Museveni also focused on the role of the private sector in boosting economic growth. "The private sector needs low production costs. These include low transport costs, which come from the railway. If you don't fund the railway, how will you get low transport costs?" Museveni questioned.
He also highlighted the cost implications that come with unreliable supply of electricity. "If you don't fund electricity, you cannot talk about sustainable development," Museveni said, directing his remarks to World Bank representatives headed by the institution's president, Ajay Banga.
"I do not entertain that nonesense anymore from neocolonial civil servants. Uganda is developing, and it will keep developing," the Head of State added.
Museveni also criticised what he defines as senseless borrowing. "Why are we borrowing for capacity building? They call you to a hotel, you eat and leave, and they call that capacity building?" he questioned, advising that capacity building should be practiced on the ground and not through seminars.
Private sector-led growth, which many African countries have gravitated towards, was also a point of reflection during Museveni's speech. "I have been trying to borrow money for the Uganda Development Bank (UDB), a bank that funds manufacturers, but I have not received any support," Museveni said, adding that if development partners are serious, then they would talk more about providing low-cost funding for manufacturing.
He also addressed the issue of the subsistence economy, proposing that more effort should be extended to encouraging the money economy. "Many Ugandans live hand-to-mouth. They produce just to eat. We now need to graduate to a money economy; where one can afford to eat, but also save or invest some money," Museveni advised.
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