Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, and Tanzania have all been in the market in the past two months seeking either syndicated loans or special drawing rights from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as they seek to stabilise economies experiencing pandemic-induced shocks.

Last week, Uganda became the latest African sovereign to seek a syndicated loan, following in the footsteps of Tanzania. The EastAfrican understands that Kampala launched a $200 million seven-year syndicated facility into the market, led by French lender Société Générale and the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB).

It is not clear what the purpose of this new facility will be but sources indicate part of it will go into budgetary support. The two banks led Uganda’s last syndicated loan, a $351.8 million 2027 facility signed last March.

Uganda’s move comes barely a month after Tanzania launched a $200 million seven- and 10-year loan facility into syndication in February. Dodoma is reportedly looking to potentially upsize the deal to $1 billion by December, according to the latest Sovereign Debt Radar by REDD, a market data and intelligence firm.

Dodoma is keen to keep its investments in infrastructure projects on track and is currently building, among others, a high-speed Standard Gauge Railway from the port of Dar es Salaam to the hinterland border with Rwanda.