Ground Up: Recent Episodes
Uganda Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Initiative (UEEI)
In this episode our Solution Panel host, Ham Namakajjo, moderates the topic "Evolving Business Development Services (BDS) in Uganda" with Solution Panel guests Susan Lubega (African Management Institute), Ronald Mukasa (Enterprise Uganda), and Richard Zulu (Outbox Uganda). The panel debates and discusses themes like the role and significance of BDS, current BDS gaps, driving quality of BDS, as well as the fears and commercial viability of BDS standardization.
Key themes:
- Role & Significance of BDS
- BDS Gaps
- Driving quality of BDS
- Fears/Negative effects on standardization & Commercial Viability of BDS
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In this season's finale of Ground Up, your host Fay Kakai from UEEI sits down with Teddy Ruge, Founder and CEO of Raintree Farms. Teddy talks about his entrepreneurial journey, environmental sustainability, the state of the ecosystem, collective action and more.
Visit www.raintreefarms.com
Key themes:
- The entrepreneurial journey
- Environmental sustainability
- The state of the ecosystem
- Collective action and the future
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In this episode of Ground Up, your hosts Ham Namakajjo and Fay Kakai from UEEI sit down with Peter Nyeko and Alex Theran of Mandulis Energy to talk about Peter's entrepreneurial journey, renewable energy, the state of the ecosystem, and collective action.
To find out more about Mandulis Energy, visit mandulisenergy.com
Key themes:
- The entrepreneurial journey
- Renewable energy
- The state of the ecosystem
- Collective action and the future
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In this episode of Ground Up, your host Fay Kakai from UEEI sits down with Richard Zulu from Outbox Uganda. Zulu shares insights on Business Development Services (BDS) sustainability, Investment Readiness, as well as lessons from working with other organisations for collective action.
Find out more: outbox.co.ug
Key themes:
- Intro/About Outbox
- Ecosystem Challenges
- Collective Action/Partnerships /Collaborations
- Success and the Future
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In this episode of Ground Up, your host Fay Kakai from UEEI sits down with Dr. Noeline Kirabo from Kyusa. Dr. Noeline shares insights on how Kyusa has used Argidius’ SCALE for effective enterprise development, as well as lessons from working with other organisations for collective action.
Find out more: www.kyusaug.org
Key themes:
- Intro/About Kyusa
- BDS Sustainability/Lessons/SCALE
- Collective Action/Partnerships /Collaborations
- Success and the Future
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In this episode of Ground Up, your host Fay Kakai from UEEI sits down with Ronald Mukasa from Enterprise Uganda. Ronald shares insights on how Enterprise Uganda has used Argidius’ SCALE for effective enterprise development, as well as lessons from working with other organisations for collective action.
Find out more: enterprise.co.ug
Key themes:
- Intro/About Enterprise Uganda
- BDS Sustainability/Lessons/SCALE
- Collective Action/Partnerships /Collaborations
- Success and the Future
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In this episode of Ground Up, your host Fay Kakai from UEEI sits down with Emmanuel Ediau from Oxfam Uganda. Emmanuel shares insights and lessons learned on investment readiness, Business Development Services (BDS) sustainability, and collaboration with networks.
Find out more: uganda.oxfam.org
Key themes:
- Intro/About Oxfam
- Ecosystem Challenges/Lessons
- Partnerships/Collaboration
- Success and the Future
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In this episode of Ground Up, your hosts Ham Namakajjo and Fay Kakai from UEEI sit down with Mary Mwangi from Argidius Foundation. Mary shares insights on Argidius' work in Uganda, lessons learned from ecosystem building work, Business Development Services (BDS) sustainability, and collective action.
Find out more: argidius.com
Key themes:
- Intro/About Argidius
- BDS Sustainability/Lessons/SCALE
- Collective Action/Partnerships /Collaborations
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In this episode of Ground Up, your host Fay Kakai from UEEI sits down with Sheila Agaba from Stanbic Business Incubator. Sheila shares insights on supporting mature Ugandan enterprises, the oil and gas sector service industry, access to finance, and more.
Find out more: stanbic.co.ug
Key themes:
- Intro/About Stanbic Business Incubator
- Ecosystem Challenges
- Collective Action
- Success and the Future
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In this episode of Ground Up, your host Fay Kakai from UEEI sits down with Barbara Mutabazi from Hive Colab. Barbara shares insights on Circular Agribusiness, Business Development Services (BDS) sustainability, Investment Readiness, and more.
Find out more: hivecolab.org
Key themes:
- Intro/About Hive Colab
- The O'Farm Program
- Ecosystem Challenges
- Collective Action
- Success and the Future
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In this episode of Ground Up, your hosts Ham Namakajjo and Fay Kakai from UEEI sit down with Rachel Crawford and Makena Odongo from Village Capital. Rachel and Makena share insights on Business Development Services (BDS) sustainability, investment readiness, and other lessons from over a decade's work with Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneur Support Organisations.
Find out more: vilcap.com
Key themes:
- Intro/About Village Capital
- Providing Business Development Services (BDS) to Entrepreneur Support Organisations (ESOs)
- Collective Action
- Future of Work Africa 2022
- Success & the future
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In this episode of Ground Up, your host Fay Kakai from UEEI sits down with Dr. Joyce Tamale from Capital Solutions. Dr. Tamale shares insights on social entrepreneurship, financing bottlenecks and how they can be navigated, and collective action for impact.
Find out more: capitalsolutionsug.com
Key themes:
- Intro/About Capital Solutions
- Focus on Social Enterprises
- Ecosystem Challenges
- Collective Action
- Success & the future
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In this episode of Ground Up, your host Fay Kakai from UEEI sits down with Najimah Katete, Founder/CEO of Go5 Packaging, to talk about environmental sustainability and social responsibility, as well as her entrepreneurial journey and the need for collective action in the eco-friendly packaging industry.
To find out more about Go5 Packaging, visit go5-packaging.business.site
Key themes:
- The entrepreneurial journey
- Environmental sustainability and social responsibility
- Collaborations and partnerships
- Success and the future
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In this episode of Ground Up, your host Fay Kakai from UEEI sits down with Diana Ninsiima Kibuuka from Business Networking International (BNI). Diana shares insights on why networking is important for small businesses, the entrepreneurial successes and challenges faced, as well as the need for more partnership and collective action.
Find out more: bni.com
Key themes:
- Intro/About BNI
- Why networking is important for small businesses
- Ecosystem challenges
- Collective Action
- Success & the future
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In this episode of Ground Up, your hosts Ham Namakajjo and Fay Kakai from UEEI sit down with Dr. Davis Musinguzi, CEO of Rocket Health, to talk about transformation of medical services through telemedicine, the startup financing journey, talent acquisition, and collective action.
To find out more about Rocket Health, visit rockethealth.africa
Key themes:
- The entrepreneurial journey
- Challenges, growth, and financing
- Talent acquisition in telemedicine
- Collective action/collaboration
- Success and the future
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In this episode of Ground Up, your host Fay Kakai from UEEI sits down with Aéko Ongodia from Xeno Investment. Aéko shares insights from his entrepreneurial journey and discusses investment, the common misconceptions that people have, how Xeno has used technology to make investment services more accessible to everyone, as well as how he has navigated skilling and financing challenges as a Ugandan startup.
To find out more about Xeno, visit www.myxeno.com
Key themes:
- The entrepreneurial journey/About Xeno
- Ecosystem challenges
- Collective action/Collaboration
- Success and the future
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In this episode of Ground Up, your host Ham Namakajjo from UEEI sits down with Paula Mugisa from Teesa Advisory Services. Paula shares insights on the role of technology in supporting entrepreneurs, challenges faced as a local ecosystem actor, collective action, and doing business differently.
To find out more, visit www.teesa.co.ug
Key themes:
- Intro/About Paula and Teesa
- The role of technology
- Challenges faced as a local Entrepreneur Support Organisation
- Collective Action
- Success and the future
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In this episode of Ground Up, your host Fay Kakai from UEEI sits down with Primera Muthoni from Project Girls 4 Girls Uganda. Primera shares insights on the organization's focus on young women, the impact of mentorship, challenges faced, and how the program supports womenpreneurs.
To find out more, visit www.projectg4g.org
Key themes:
- Intro/About Project Girls 4 Girls
- Focus on young women
- Impact
- Focus on womenpreneurs
- Challenges
- Collective Action
- Success and the future
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In this episode of Ground Up, your host Fay Kakai from UEEI sits down with Allen Asiimwe from TradeMark East Africa. Allen shares insights on the African Continental Free Trade Area and its implications for small businesses, collective action, as well as the leadership and mentorship work she does with young women at Project Girls4Girls.
Find out more:
www.trademarkea.com
www.projectg4g.org
Key themes:
- Intro/About TradeMark East Africa
- African Continental Free Trade Area and its implications for small businesses
- Collective Action
- Project Girls for Girls
- Conclusion
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In this episode of Ground Up, your host Fay Kakai from UEEI sits down with Carolyne Kirabo from M-Kyala Ventures. Carolyne shares insights on investment finance, gender equality, and financial inclusion for African women.
Carolyne Kirabo is the founder and CEO of M-Kyala Ventures a specialized consulting firm that designs gender strategies to enable organizations to better integrate gender across their decision making to increase support to women entrepreneurs. Carolyne set up her practice after gathering 15+ years of experience in investment finance , management consulting and social innovation where she had a front-row seat to the disproportionate nature of the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs. Carolyne’s vision is to see an entrepreneurship ecosystem that fairly represents and supports women and to see financing reaching women where they are already being successful.
To find out more, visit www.mkyalaventures.com
Key themes:
- Intro/About M-Kyala Ventures
- Focus on Women
- Financing
- Challenges
- Collective Action
- Success and the future
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Welcome to Season Two!
In this episode of Ground Up, your hosts Ham Namakajjo and Fay Kakai from UEEI sit down with Eddie Sembatya from Finding XY. Eddie shares insights on creating social impact, finance for green businesses, and the growing global awareness around impact investment.
To find out more, visit www.findingxy.com
Key themes:
- Intro/About Finding XY
- Impact
- Challenges and funding
- Partnerships and collaboration
- Success and the future
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In this season's finale of Ground Up, your hosts Ham Namakajjo and Fay Kakai from UEEI sit down with Dr. Geoffrey Bataringaya from Basil's Dental Clinic. Dr. Geoffrey shares insights from his entrepreneurial journey, financing a dental startup, skilling, running an essential services business amidst Covid-19, as well as collective action through the Uganda Dental Association.
To find out more, visit www.basilsdentalclinic.com
Key themes:
- Dr. Geoffrey's entrepreneurial journey
- Financing a dental startup
- Skilling & running an essential services business during Covid-19
- Collective action
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Happy Holidays!
In this episode of Ground Up, your hosts Ham Namakajjo and Fay Kakai from UEEI sit down with Daniel Rea, Group Projects Director, FirstWave Group and Yalelo Uganda. Daniel shares insights from his entrepreneurial journey, sustainable production in aquaculture, financing for startups, and collective action.
To find out more, visit www.yalelo.ug
Key themes:
- Daniel's entrepreneurial journey
- Sustainable production and the aquaculture industry
- Financing for startups
- Collective action
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In this episode of Ground Up, your hosts Ham Namakajjo and Fay Kakai from UEEI sit down with Norah Koigi Ngare, the Director of the Deal Flow Facility (DFF) at Financial Sector Deepening Uganda (FSD Uganda). Norah discusses the motivations for setting up the facility, how the facility will work, the target businesses, as well as the DFF's anticipated impact.
The DFF is a technical assistance and match making initiative set up to address the persistent gap in accessing growth capital for emerging businesses in Uganda. Established in 2021 in concert with the Capital Markets Authority and the European Union, the Deal Flow Facility is hosted and managed by FSD Uganda - www.fsduganda.or.ug/deal-flow-facility
Key themes:
- Intro/About Deal Flow Facility
- Motivations for setting up the facility
- How the facility will work
- The target businesses
- The anticipated impact
- Opportunity for collaboration and partnership
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In this episode of Ground Up, your host Fay Kakai from UEEI sits down with Jacob Hornbach from Bodawerk to talk about his entrepreneurial journey, as well as discuss the issues and lessons around sustainability and social responsibility in engineering and innovations.
Jacob Hornbach is the Co-Founder and CEO of Bodawerk - a Ugandan engineering and innovations company providing circular innovative energy solutions in the sectors on energy, transport, and agriculture. Bodawerk develops electronics, battery designs & battery powered applications with a focus on embedded systems / high power electronics and their IoT-integration (www.bodawerk.com).
Key themes:
- Jacob's entrepreneurial journey
- Sustainability and social responsibility
- Innovation for climate change financing
- Success and the future
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In this episode of Ground Up, your hosts Ham Namakajjo and Fay Kakai from UEEI sit down with Amos Wekesa, founder and CEO of Great Lakes Safaris East Africa and Uganda Lodges. Amos shares insights from his entrepreneurial journey, the challenges he has overcome along the way, and speaks to the opportunities that exist for small businesses in Uganda's tourism space today.
Key Themes:
- Amos's entrepreneurial journal
- The Uganda tourism space
- Collective action
- Success and the future
Visit Great Lakes Safaris, www.greatlakessafaris.com and catch Amos Wekesa on Twitter, @wekesa_amos
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In this episode of Ground Up, your host Fay Kakai from UEEI sits down with Gerald Otim from Ensibuuko to talk about his entrepreneurial journey, as well as discuss the issues and lessons around raising capital for a startup.
Gerald Otim is the founder and CEO of Ensibuuko - a Ugandan Fintech providing digital solutions for people that save and access loans collectively (www.ensibuuko.com).
Key themes:
- Gerald's entrepreneurial journey
- Growth and financing - funding journey, challenges, successes, impact
- Collaboration and collective action
- Success and the future
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In this episode of Ground Up, Nelson Kituuka tells the story of his multiple hustles that eventually led to the formation of Card Pesa, a digital micro-lender hat uses online and cellular platforms to provide small working capital and emergency loans to members. Nelson shares lessons from his entrepreneurial journey and discusses the financing challenges faced by Ugandan entrepreneurs today.
To find out more, visit www.cardpesa.com
Key themes:
- Nelson's entrepreneurial journey
- Financing challenges and the Fintech industry
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Key themes:
- Financing early-stage businesses
- "Grant-preneurship" (small businesses starting and surviving on small US $10 - 50K grants)
- Training and the knowledge gap
- Importance of credibility
- Partnership and collaboration challenges for an early-stage business
Key themes:
- Standardizing the SME definition
- The role and significance of SMEs in economic development
- Thematic challenges faced by the SME
- The opportunity
Key themes:
- Mastercard Foundation and the Young Africa Works Strategy
- Focus on women
- Collaboration and partnership
- Success and the future
Key themes:
- Charlyn's entrepreneurial journey
- The Natural Hair Care space in Uganda
- Kentaro Handmade Organics Growth and Financing story
- Collaboration and Partnerships within the hair care industry
- Success and the future
Key themes:
- Developing talent for the tech industry | Refactory & Laboremus
- Service differentiation
- Adaptation amidst Covid-19
- Collaborations and partnerships
- Success and the future
Key themes:
- Lucy's entrepreneurial journey
- Balancing multiple entrepreneurial ventures
- Challenges faced and lessons learned
- Refactory and the skills gap in Uganda's tech industry
Key themes:
- Supporting SGBs access financing
- Collective action and partnerships
- Innovations for financing SGBs
- Success and the future
Key themes:
- BiD Capital Partners and the firm's journey
- Impact Investment and who qualifies
- Uganda's entrepreneurial landscape
- Access to finance for SMEs
- Challenges faced and lessons learned
Key themes:
- NSSF and Hi-Innovator
- Funding and Covid-19 resilience for businesses
- Partnerships and collaborations
- Success and the future
Key themes:
- James' entrepreneurial journey
- House of DJs and the events space
- Impact and financing
- Collaborations and partnerships
- Success and the future
Key themes:
- Optimizing the value chains
- Value addition
- Supply chains for export markets
- Government implementation bottlenecks
- Africa Free Continental Trade Area
- The Opportunity
Key themes:
- Business Development Service (BDS) differentiation and segmentation of the market
- Business challenges and funding support
- Business growth community and partnerships
- Success and the way forward
In this episode, your host Ham Namakajjo sits down with Juliet Kasiita from Sinapis to talk about what it's like providing business development support services to entrepreneurs during uncertain times. Juliet shares insights on how Sinapis differentiates itself from other BDS providers, the challenges faced and how they have been navigated, sustainability of BDS providers and nurturing funder relationships, as well as collective action with other entrepreneur support actors.
Juliet Kasiita is the Country Manager of Sinapis Group Uganda - a community of faith-driven entrepreneurs. www.sinapis.org
Key themes:
- Allan Rwakatungu and his entrepreneurial journey
- How Xente is differentiated in the Fintech space
- How Xente is positioned for growth and financing
- Collaboration and collective action within the Ugandan Fintech industry
- Success and the future for Xente
Welcome to Ground Up, a podcast about propelling entrepreneurship in Uganda, brought to you by UEEI, the Uganda Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Initiative.
In this episode, your host Ham Namakajjo from UEEI sits down with Khatuchi Khasandi from ANDE East Africa to discuss ANDE's approach to Ecosystem Building.