The National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) of Uganda has unveiled a mega strategic plan worth 6.79 trillion Ugandan shillings, covering the period from 2025 to 2030, aimed at making millions of citizens beneficiaries of clean water and modern sanitation systems.
This five-year master plan highlights the grand vision of the country’s authorities to expand water infrastructure on a massive scale and satisfy public demand. This large-scale investment step taken by Uganda clearly reflects the worsening water crisis currently being witnessed across Africa, where climate change, rapid urbanization, and deteriorating legacy water infrastructures are placing heavy pressure on water supply systems.
Consequently, several African governments have stopped viewing water security as a mere social issue and have instead begun treating it as a critical economic and public health priority.
Uganda’s water utility provider announced that this five-year program will be financed through the institution’s internal revenue, support from the Ugandan government, and financial resources obtained from international development partners. According to this new plan, the number of population beneficiaries served by the utility is expected to rise from its current 19.5 million to 26.2 million by 2030, while water connections are projected to grow to nearly 1.3 million.
Another major goal of this strategy is to reduce “non-revenue water” losses caused by pipe corrosion and leakages, illegal water line thefts, and aging infrastructure, with the institution planning to lower this wastage from its current 34% to 28%. Reducing this water loss is a highly critical issue for water utilities across Africa, as many institutions suffer severe financial deficits because large volumes of purified water, treated at high costs, leak away on the road without ever reaching consumers.
This type of loss weakens service reliability and has remained an obstacle to expanding infrastructure at a time when the demand for clean water is surging heavily. The corporation stated that beyond expanding infrastructure, this strategy is expected to support improved public health outcomes, create new job opportunities, and strengthen Uganda’s broader economic development goals.
The pressure of this water supply and sanitation crisis is particularly visible in the capital city, Kampala, which is one of Africa’s fastest-growing urban centers. A government water security assessment conducted for Greater Kampala reveals that despite the city hosting rapid population growth and urban expansion for years, only about 10% of residents are connected to the public sewerage system.
Although many households have access to basic toilet facilities, waste treatment and disposal systems remain highly inadequate in densely populated and low-income areas.
The consequences of this problem are increasingly costly in economic terms, with authorities estimating that households in the city spend around $5 million annually on healthcare to treat diarrheal diseases linked to poor sanitation and unsafe waste management.
To address this persistent challenge, the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area Water Security Action and Investment Plan, valued at approximately $4.3 billion, has been designed to guide long-term investments in water infrastructure, drainage systems, and urban resilience through 2040.Uganda’s challenges mirror the wider trends of African cities from Lagos to Nairobi, which are expanding faster than governments’ infrastructure investments, leaving authorities under pressure to improve clean water access, sewage treatment, and flood control systems while populations continue to rise.
Climate risks are also forcing African governments to reshape how they allocate infrastructure spending. Uganda has faced repeated droughts, flooding, and erratic rainfall patterns in recent years, disrupting water supply, agriculture, and hydropower generation.
The NWSC stated that its new strategy incorporates climate resilience and environmental protection measures aimed at protecting water sources and strengthening infrastructure against climate-related shocks. Global lenders and development institutions have also increased their focus on Africa’s water sector as climate-related disasters become more frequent and expensive. For Uganda, the success of this new strategy could exert a major influence on everything from reducing healthcare costs and boosting industrial productivity to drawing investor confidence and realizing long-term urban development.
