The deputy governor of Uganda’s Central Bank, Michael Atingi-Ego, stated on Thursday that Uganda has made significant progress in negotiations with the World Bank about its anti-gay legislation.
Due to Uganda’s allegedly most severe anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in the world, the World Bank stopped making any new loans to the nation in August. Certain same-sex actions are punishable by death.
The deputy governor of the country’s central bank admitted at the Reuters NEXT conference in New York, that the World Bank statement had caused the nation’s currency to drop sharply, albeit it eventually rebounded.
Since then, he continued, the administration has been in communication with the World Bank to gain some insights into its concerns. The World Bank did not provide any more information other than to state that it was still in communication with Ugandan officials.
The global lender declared in August that it would not be making any more loans to the Ugandan government on the grounds that the anti-gay law went against the bank’s principles.
It stated that more steps were required to guarantee that projects were carried out in accordance with the environmental and social requirements of the bank.
Atingi-Ego said that the negotiations with the World Bank were moving very well, however, he would not guarantee a resolution before the year’s end.
He noted that although the World Bank was still making loans in the past, the suspension of fresh funding would cause problems in the future if a solution was not found.
The Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA), which President Yoweri Museveni signed into law in May, is being challenged, and this month Uganda’s Constitutional Court took a preliminary step toward hearing the case.
