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Uganda has signed a memorandum of understanding with Egypt's Orascom Construction to carry out an 18-month feasibility study on a proposed light rail transit system for the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area, a project the government says could transform how millions of residents move around the capital.
The agreement was signed on March 14 by Permanent Secretary Bageya Waiswa of the Ministry of Works and Transport, with Works and Transport Minister Edward Katumba Wamala witnessing the signing. Orascom will study whether a rail-based mass transit system is technically and financially viable, examining major commuter corridors including Kampala-Entebbe, Kampala-Kira and Kampala-Wakiso.
Nothing has been built yet. The study will first assess possible rail routes, projected passenger numbers, infrastructure requirements and potential funding sources before any investment decision can be made. Officials say a fully operational light rail system could move up to 15,000 passengers per hour in each direction. The project forms part of Uganda's long-term plan to establish a Mass Rapid Transit system for the capital by 2040.
The urgency behind that plan is real. Kampala's fast-growing population and rising car ownership have created chronic traffic congestion that studies estimate costs the local economy roughly $1.5 million per day.
The company now tasked with assessing whether the city can build its way out of that problem is one of Egypt's most powerful corporate names, controlled by one of the country's richest families.
Orascom Construction was founded in 1950 by Onsi Sawiris, who started with a construction business in Upper Egypt. Over the following decades the company grew from a local contractor into an international engineering and infrastructure group operating across the Middle East, Africa and the United States. It is listed on NASDAQ Dubai with a secondary listing on the Egyptian Exchange. The Sawiris family collectively controls more than 54 percent of the company.
The most prominent figure in that family, as far as Orascom Construction is concerned, is Nassef Sawiris, the youngest of Onsi's three sons, who took over the construction arm when the patriarch divided the Orascom empire among his sons in the late 1990s. Nassef, 64, now runs Orascom Construction and controls roughly 42 percent of the company. His net worth was estimated at $9.6 billion by Forbes in its 2026 Africa ranking, making him Egypt's richest person and Africa's fifth-wealthiest individual. Beyond construction, he holds a near-6 percent stake in Adidas, co-owns English Premier League club Aston Villa, and holds a stake in Madison Square Garden Sports, the holding company behind the NBA's New York Knicks and NHL's New York Rangers.
Orascom's construction portfolio includes some of the region's most prominent projects. The company built the Grand Egyptian Museum near the pyramids in Giza, one of the largest museum complexes in the world. It has worked on Egypt's monorail network, sections of the Greater Cairo Metro, and segments of Egypt's high-speed railway. In the energy sector, Orascom has participated in projects generating more than 30 gigawatts of electricity. It also constructed the Bahr El Baqr wastewater treatment facility, described as one of the largest of its kind in the world. In Africa more broadly, the company was involved in the Jiji hydropower project in Burundi, inaugurated in June 2025.
"This is a crucial step towards addressing the city's growing transportation challenges," Katumba Wamala said at the signing ceremony.
If the feasibility study returns a positive verdict, it would pave the way for Uganda's first urban rail transit system, potentially reshaping daily life for residents across Kampala, Wakiso, Mukono and Mpigi districts. Whether that outcome materializes will depend entirely on what Orascom finds when it starts digging into the numbers.
