By Moses Ndhaye
The Uganda development bank in partnership with the European Union has earmarked over Shs 60 billion to facilitate the recovery of the country’s tourism sector.
According to the Managing director for the Uganda development bank Patricia Ojangole, the facility will enable private tour operators, and hotel owners among other stakeholders in the tourism sector to access flexible aligned loans to have their facilities recover from the effects of COVID-19.
She says the facility is composed of shs62 billion, where the Uganda development bank has contributed shs40 billion, and the shs21.8 billion grant has been extended to the government by the European Union.
She says this is also intended to help the tour companies retain their workers who were laid off during the COVID-19 rock down.
The tourism sector contributes 7% to the country’s gross domestic product and also employs 6% of the population.