Ground Up

In Part One of this two-part episode, your host Fay Kakai from UEEI sits down with Lucy Biteete from Laboremus (creating financial technology solutions for clients in East Africa and Europe) and Refactory (training the next generation of tech talents and experts in Uganda) to discuss her entrepreneurial journey, challenges she has faced, how she has overcome them, and the lessons learned.

Stay tuned for Part Two where we'll delve deeper into the issues around Human Resources and Capacity Development in Uganda.

Lucy Biteete is a Strategic Advisor at Refactory (www.refactory.ug) as well as Head of Consulting at Laboremous Uganda (www.laboremus.ug).

This episode picks up the conversation from where we stopped in Part One. Your hosts Ham Namakajjo and Fay Kakai from UEEI sit down with Mark Mutaahi from BiD Capital Partners (a locally embedded international Impact Investment Advisory and Asset Management firm) to delve deeper into issues around supporting SGBs access financing, collective action, innovations for financing SGBs, as well as advice for SGBs seeking finance.

Mark Mutaahi is a Managing Partner at BiD Capital Partners - www.bidcp.com

In Part One of this two-part episode, your hosts Ham Namakajjo and Fay Kakai from UEEI sit down with Mark Mutaahi from BiD Capital Partners (a locally embedded international Impact Investment Advisory and Asset Management firm) to discuss the firm's journey, lessons learned, as well as issues around access to finance for SMEs, and what the firm is doing to address them.

Stay tuned for Part Two.

Mark Mutaahi is a Managing Partner at BiD Capital Partners - www.bidcp.com

In this episode of Ground Up, your hosts Ham Namakajjo and Fay Kakai from UEEI sit down with Alex Kalimugogo from the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) to talk about a new innovation programme by NSSF, dubbed Hi-Innovator, that plans to support local Small and Growing businesses over the next five years.

In this episode, your hosts Ham Namakajjo and Fay Kakai from UEEI sit down with James Byaruhanga from House of DJs and Raxio Data Center. James has been referred to as a "multi-preneur" with several successful businesses and ventures in the sectors of information technology, financial technology, telecommunications, entertainment, tourism, farming, to mention but a few. James shares insights on his entrepreneurial journey, choices he has had to make along the way, challenges and lessons, collaborations and partnerships, as well as his next landmark project on the horizon.

James Byaruhanga is the founder of House of DJs - a marketing outfit which provides business solutions to clients using unique event concepts & executions, music concerts, out of the box product activations, and brand promotions. www.houseofdjs.co.ug

In this episode our Solution Panel host, Mr. Elton Mutize moderates the topic "The key levers to inspire an Agricultural Revolution in Uganda" with Solution Panel guests Dr. Fred Muhumuza, Mr. Apollo Muyanja, and Prof. Samuel Sejjaaka. The panel debates and discusses themes like optimizing the value chains, value addition, supply chains for export markets, government implementation bottlenecks, Africa free continental trade area, and the opportunity for an agricultural revolution in Uganda.

In this episode, your host Fay Kakai sits down with Joachim Ewechu from Shona to talk about how Shona is transforming East African economies and societies through "Good Business." Joachim talks about strategic segmenting of African businesses, funding challenges and new initiatives, the power of community and partnerships, as well as an alternative, thought-provoking, way to define success.

Joachim Ewechu is the Co-Founder and CEO of Shona - an organisation that provides business advisory and business training to help SME’s grow revenues and become profitable businesses. www.shona.co

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

In this episode, your hosts Ham Namakajjo and Fay Kakai from UEEI sit down with Allan Rwakatungu from Xente to discuss his entrepreneurial journey, financing a Fintech company, differentiation, as well as collaboration within the Ugandan Fintech industry. Allan shares insights on what it means to venture into entrepreneurship, transitioning from a B2C to a B2B business, investor herd mentality and why Uganda is overlooked, as well as the balance between growth and impact financing.

Allan Rwakatungu is the CEO and founder of Xente - a technology company in the digital commerce and digital financial services space. www.xente.co

Welcome to Ground Up, a podcast about propelling entrepreneurship in Uganda, brought to you by UEEI, the Uganda Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Initiative.