Key Factors
- IUIU opens new Engineering College funded by Islamic Growth Financial institution mortgage, providing packages in civil, mechanical, electrical, and pc engineering.
- Challenge contains 500-bed hostel to ease pupil housing shortages and help increasing enrollment on the college.
- Sudhir Ruparelia hails venture’s impression on regional schooling; IUIU calls it a key step towards turning into a science and tech hub.
Sudhir Ruparelia, Uganda’s richest man and East Africa’s first billionaire, has formally handed over a newly accomplished multi-million-dollar school advanced and a 500-bed pupil hostel to the Islamic College in Uganda (IUIU).
The venture, delivered by Vcon Building, the development arm of the Ruparelia Group, was reportedly accomplished in slightly below two years. Whereas the ultimate value is but to be confirmed by Billionaires.Africa, estimates put it at round Ush48 billion ($13.5 million).
New IUIU advanced boosts STEM entry
Funded by way of a mortgage from the Islamic Growth Financial institution and backed by the Ugandan authorities, the brand new facility homes IUIU’s College of Engineering, providing packages in civil, mechanical, electrical, and pc engineering.
The venture additionally features a trendy pupil hostel with capability for 500 residents, serving to to ease lodging challenges and help a rising pupil inhabitants.
Talking on the handover, Ruparelia stated he was proud to help schooling within the area, noting the venture’s significance in increasing entry to high quality studying. “I’m in schooling, and I’ve all the time had a delicate spot for tasks like this,” he stated. “They make an enduring distinction.”
IUIU Rector Ismail Simbwa Gyagenda stated the brand new school brings the college nearer to its aim of turning into a hub for science and expertise within the area. He thanked Vcon Building for its effectivity and dedication, calling the well timed supply of the venture “a serious milestone.”
Legacy and loss in Ruparelia dynasty
For greater than 4 many years, Sudhir Ruparelia has performed a central function in shaping Uganda’s personal sector. With pursuits spanning banking, actual property, schooling, and agriculture, his affect is seen throughout the nation.
Ruparelia had a web value of over $1.1 billion in 2014. In 2015, his fortune was estimated at $800 million, and even in 2025, he continued to make daring enterprise choices, together with buying the distinguished Lotis Towers in Kampala, additional increasing his actual property footprint.
However this yr has additionally introduced private loss. In Could, the Ruparelia household misplaced Rajiv Ruparelia, Sudhir’s solely son and inheritor obvious to the household enterprise. Rajiv had been extensively seen as the way forward for the group, a new-generation chief dedicated to innovation and nationwide improvement.
