Museveni taps UK’s Globespan, Uganda’s SMS Construction for Entebbe hospital upgrade

President Yoweri Museveni has selected the UK infrastructure firm Globespan Infrastructure and Ugandan contractor SMS Construction to expand and modernise Entebbe Regional Referral Hospital, pairing a foreign financier with a local builder on one of the health sector’s next major projects.

In a directive seen by this reporter, Museveni instructed the ministries of Finance and Health to work with the two companies to fast-track a renovation of the hospital aimed at raising patient capacity, adding specialised care and merging older facilities into a single referral centre. The instruction places the project with the finance ministry, under Matia Kasaija, and the health ministry, under Dr Jane Ruth Aceng.

The directive assigns the firms complementary roles: Globespan on arranging finance and structuring delivery, SMS on the construction works. Globespan is the principal contract holder and lead developer of the Fumba stadium in Zanzibar, a 36,500-seat venue being built for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, which Tanzania is co-hosting with Kenya and Uganda. The stadium has been reported to cost about $150m, though the figure has been contested in Zanzibar’s own budget debates. Its design is by the Manchester firm AFL Architects, with construction handled by the Turkish company Orkun Group, and the complex is scheduled for completion by December 2026. AFL Architects also worked on the Lusail Stadium, which staged the final of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

SMS Construction brings a domestic record in health and public-sector building, and its selection extends a government drive to hand more state work to local firms. Its portfolio includes the multipurpose building at the Uganda Cancer Institute, which houses treatment wards, a research laboratory and training facilities, as well as the Marriott hotel and executive apartments in Nsambya and the Inspectorate of Government headquarters, a project it took over from a financially troubled Roko Construction. In 2022, Museveni directed the prime minister to channel government construction work to SMS Construction to build up local capacity, a stance the new directive applies to the health sector.

The upgrade would target a facility already under strain. Entebbe attained regional referral status in July 2019, but capacity has lagged demand. The 200-bed hospital recorded about 57,000 outpatient visits and 10,500 admissions in 2024, and in July 2025 Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee summoned the health and finance ministers over its deteriorating condition, following a December 2024 Auditor General’s report that flagged inadequate medical storage, understaffing and weak service delivery.