The London School of Economics and Political Science is undertaking one of the most significant projects in its history with the creation of the Firoz Lalji Global Hub, supported by a $36 million donation from Ugandan-Canadian-American businessman and philanthropist Firoz Lalji.
The initiative, part of a $127 million redevelopment of LSE’s 35 Lincoln’s Inn Fields site, will bring together the Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa, the Departments of Mathematics and Statistics, the Executive Education program, and the Data Science Institute, along with new teaching spaces, a 270-seat theatre for debates and broadcasts, offices, dining areas, and a café.
Lalji’s gift is among the largest in LSE’s history and reflects his deep, international ties.
Expelled from Uganda in 1972, he settled in Canada, where he built Kits Cameras into a network of 225 stores across Canada and the United States before selling the business in 1997.
Since 1988, he has been the owner, president, and chief executive of Zones Inc., a Seattle-based global IT solutions provider.
He also leads the Fana Group, a real estate investment firm active in both the US and Canada, serves on the board of US Bank in Washington State, and is a benefactor of the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington.
Construction on the Firoz Lalji Global Hub is already underway, with a complete site handover expected in late 2025. Completion is planned for 2028, when the building will open as a new center for research, teaching, and global engagement, symbolizing both LSE’s commitment to academic excellence and Lalji’s cross-continental legacy of entrepreneurship and philanthropy.
