Uganda Innovation Week:Day 1 Summary

 

The Uganda Innovation Week event is up and running. We are already on day two after successful launch. We at Intersection Magazine are interested in the event because of some of the work that we are pursuing towards the creation of a richer innovation technology Ecosystem. If you have read our work in the last few months, you will notice that we covered the big four. Here wecare referring to Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria and Egypt. We also included Rwanda and covered how they leveraged the use of major players like Norrsken and Impact Hub Kigali to increase the scope and capacity of the internal ecosystem. 

A study of Uganda underpinned the bulk of the work that we have been doing in the area and the role that the different members of the ecosystem have been playing in the growth of the sector. We attempted to create a map based on the major players like Outbox Hub, Innovation Village, Hive Colab, Design Hub Kampala and TechBuzz Hub to name but a few. We have since then seen the growth of these individual players and the involvement of external players in the growth of these setups. You could call these partnerships that have taken place on the international level. 

The rise of collaborations between major Ugandan Startup players and international Players. 

We have for example noted the creation of Youth Startup Academy Uganda which was started withHive Colab at the helm and some major players in the local and international scene. Korean SME and Startup Agency, International Trading Center, NITA Uganda as well as the ministry of ICT and National Guidance. YSAU is created to serve as an incubation center to provide space and services to 1000 startups in the country. They also aim to create a Unicorn out of the many startups that will find access to business incubation services. The project has at its helm one of the original founding members of Hive Colab Barbara B. Mutabazi who is also the founder of Women in Technology Uganda. She brings with ger extensive experience in the the creation of businesses and the support of founders especailly women in Technology. 

The Need for a brader vision and the power of consolidation

A lot of talk around this years’ event has also centered around the change of name that took place a few years ago after Kampala Innovation Week decided to change its name to Uganda Innovation Week. This has brought the vision of the event to many more people and gained the interest of others. One of the ideas that surfaced in the first day was that there was a need to create more events with Uganda in mind. So we see possible streaming of events to different target cities in the future as a means of getting much more attention in the future. In addition to this, there have been many benefits that have emerged with the creation of the association of startups in Uganda. There is a deeper sense of focus in the work of that is being generated in the community. The startup association of Uganda is ably led by Richard Zulu of Outbox Hub and has CK Japheth as its secretary. CK brings with him experience from Innovation Village and MOTIV. 

The Focus areas for this years’ Uganda Innovation Week 

As a means of directing the efforts for this years’ event. The focus areas have been defined around:

• One track will focus on links between academia and industry and highlight the ways in which a strong connection between the two has enabled startup ecosystems, the world over, to thrive and progress.

• Another track will highlight some of the current gaps around women’s entrepreneurship such as the fact that despite recent statistics highlighting women as the larger percentage of entrepreneurs in the country, the numbers around business scaled or invested in do not suggest the same.

• The final track will explore the missing links around investment and funding for entrepreneurs.

Additional focus areas reflected in the Panel discussions.

Is there a need for policy interventions to support startup?

What digital skills for last mile Entrepreneurship. What are the gaps and opportunities and what actions need ro be taken to address these?

Opportunities and links between health innovation and academia? How to take advantage?

Higher education as driven by innovation. 

A masterclass on Entrepreneural Research

Innovation and Entrepreneurship 

Youth Startup Academy 

International Trade Center

What was said

On the first day Richard Zulu in his welcoming remarks on behalf of the startup association emphasized the achievements of the association in the last few years as well as the developments in the sector with regards to policy. The ideas behind policy were also present in the discussion that was moderated by Keneth Twesigye Policy Lead of Startup Uganda. Keneth is also the CEO and founder of Techbuzz Hub. 

Additional panel discussion topics have been discussed. There was an address by Martin Labbe who was well represented by John Ndabarasa. The International Trade Center, has done quite a lot of work on the local scene in helping internationalizing businesses. 

In addition to this, there was an address by Veda Sunassee CEO of the African Leadership Academy who spoke about the importance of practical skills and the creation of workers who can create solutions and solve for real world problems. Mr. Sunassee spoke about his work with Design Hub Kampala and the project that they have set up there. 

The guest of honor delivered a great speech he spoke about Synergies and partnerships and urged those present to be very sure about what what we are solving for? He also talked about Capital, heuristics, technology, finance, algorithms. 

Mathias Katamba CEO of DFCU also shared an interesting story. In it, the wife of a leading technology CEO expressed frustration about not being able to make a roaming phone call. At this the CEO decided to engage his team with the task of creating a solution. In a few months, his team came up with a answer. Uncortunately, by the time his company had come up with a solution, roaming services became part of the mainstream. The solution that his team had come up with, in the meantime went on to become the world’s leading logistical solution for shipping companies!

He however left the participants with a question. 

How do we solve around climate change?