Infrastructure investment supports sustainable economic growth by creating a platform for economic activity, job creation and increasing the quality of life for citizens through the provision of basic public services. PPPs have long been identified by the Government of Uganda as a potential mechanism for attracting private investment to close the country’s infrastructure gap in the face of fiscal constraints estimated at USD 400 Million per annum. There is a well-articulated policy in Uganda on the usefulness of PPPs that lays out the government’s key objectives for a PPP program. The Government of Uganda believes that PPPs will lead to the following:

• Mobilization of private investment.
• Better utilization and allocation of public funds.
• More efficient delivery and development of public infrastructure.
• Achievement of value for money from public resources.
• Improvement of basic infrastructure and services.

Though not directly governed by the current PPP Legal regime, Uganda has generally enjoyed considerable success in piloting the PPP arrangement to facilitate public infrastructure development. A number of projects under the PPP arrangement were undertaken, and some completed under various legal regimes and framework policies such as the Public Enterprises Reform and Divestiture Act. These included; Umeme Power Distribution Concession, Rift Valley Railways Concession, Kampala Serena Hotel Concession, Bujagali Power Generation, Eskom Power Generation Concession, etc..

Now that a fully-fledged law to govern PPP transactions is in place, the anticipation is that this will create a more enabling environment and open doors for a more firm PPP market in Uganda.

At the moment, the Kampala Jinja Expressway Toll project is the prime project in advanced stages that falls under the PPP Act. Several other projects have been registered with the Unit by contracting authorities. A description of these projects is available on this website. (See PPP projects)