Kampala residents in Uganda will gain access to better healthcare with the implementation of the Mulago Hospital service delivery improvement project co-financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group to the tune of U.S.$ 98.8 million.

Two concessional windows of the AfDB - the African Development Fund (ADF) and the Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF) are providing USD 72.9 million (UA 46 million) and U.S.$ 15.9 million (UA 10 million) respectively, to the project. The loans were signed on 12 January 2011.

Mulago Hospital is the main national referral and teaching hospital in Uganda. The project therefore cuts across two sectors of high economic returns; namely higher education and health. It also aims at transforming Mulago Hospital into a centre of excellence in health care service delivery and education and training for health sciences students.

In responding to the request from the Government of Uganda, the African Development Bank is focusing its interventions on areas that receive considerably less support from other development partners.

Investing in public hospital services catering to the needs of vulnerable groups with quality health services will significantly reduce household budget expenditures on healthcare among the largely poor residents in Kampala and beyond. Immediate project beneficiaries are estimated at 3 million people (9.4% of the national population), the majority being women and children under 15 years.

Beyond the comprehensive renovation, procurement of modern medical technologies, capacity building and systems strengthening, the objectives will also create 600 new jobs by constructing two new general referral hospitals. The project is therefore in line with the AfDB's higher education and science and technology strategy, Uganda's National Development Plan as well as the Bank's 2011-2015 priorities for inclusive growth in Uganda.