This Program delivers a groundbreaking solution to address

modern-day challenges, diversify the economy, and establish high-

tech, high-value-added, high-income, and truly green businesses

and projects. The RISE platform enables financial institutions to create

demand for sustainable finance by turning key societal, economic

and environmental challenges into transformational business

opportunities.

This approach enables financial institutions deploy their loans,

advances and investment portfolio through exploiting science and

technology, revolutionizing business models, fueling innovation in

the economy and igniting corporate and start-up entrepreneurship

to fast-track socio-economic transformation that is environmentally

and climate friendly.

The RISE Platform equips the authorised financial institution with proprietary

tools to genuinely green its portfolio.

The platform is equipped with the following key elements:

Rise for Sustainability Challenge

The Proprietary Challenger Application, where anyone

can come forward and post a Challenge that needs to be addressed in the

local communities, in the country or even globally. The digital and technol-

ogy-savvy new generation of technopreneurs and all those who are ready to

push boundaries are invited to accept the challenges. Entrepreneurs with

the best solutions are connected for funding and support with the aim to

make them the global pioneers in their fields.

Rise for Sustainability Challenge

Through a proprietary Tech Profile Creator, tech solution providers publish

their breakthrough features based on established sustainability criteria. It

closes the knowledge gap around “sustainability technology,” enables effec-

tive screening, encourages socially, economically, and ecologically sustain-

able innovation, and qualifies providers offering ground breaking high-tech

solutions for industry and society. Through this component, RISE aims to

reduce the cost of emerging green technologies, one of the main barriers

to industrial modernisation and sustainable economic development.

3Rise for Sustainable Energy Ecosystem Development (SEED)

Proprietary SEED Application is dedicated to one

specific area needing urgent attention, i.e., sustainable energy solutions.

SEED also envisages localization of the energy supply

chains and thereby create new, green and good jobs in the country while

hedging against the global disruptions.

Rise for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Ecosystem (SAFE)

It brings together all key stakeholders,

including public bodies, established and emerging players in the agricul-

tural and food value chain, reputable technology companies, tech startups,

scientists, engineering community and others under one Platform, to turn

the agrifood sector into high- tech, high-yield, resource-efficient and hu-

man and environmentally friendly industry. The aim here goes beyond food

security to healthy food security through healthy earth.

PCC Profile Creator for Engineering, Procurement, Construction,

and Commissioning (EPCC)

Companies This component brings the national engineering community on

board with the aim to create domestic consortiums to cut the cost of pro-

jects requiring EPCCs. It also aims to pre-qualify engineering consortiums

and companies, among others, based on their sustainability credentials. The

pre-qualified EPCCs provide engineering services to the funded projects.

4RISE for Government Agencies and Public Institutions

This component has the purpose of onboarding the government bodies

and provide them with a unique opportunity to transform, modernize and

technologize economic development, provide highly targeted science,

technology and innovation interventions to create a new sustainable econ-

omy. This program component aims to make government organizations a

close partner of financial institutions in enabling large scale investments in

selected industry sectors/subsectors and economic activities.

The month of February is upon us. We are easing into the year by further developing some of the projects we began at the end of last year. Our piece on time travel and investment is concluded in this issue with the author Brad Slingerlend giving us a list of films that help us understand what we can learn from Hollywood’s take on time travel. In the light of a rather eventful start of the year (news wise). We are also putting together some thoughts on why politics and governance matter so much in the present age and how you can effectively navigate your space in business and life in general going forward. The purpose of this section is simply to excite you into thinking critically and engaging with your community. The supplement…really ad piece from our partner Founders Freedom is also highlighted. We are thrilled to learn from Founder’s Freedom especially because of their drive to help leaders, organizations, businesses and teams think and plan long term to see more successful transitions and business and organizational succession. Another part we began last month is concluded in this month except this time we are focusing on Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the young people that this group partnered with and worked with to help develop their businesses and strengthen their capacity. In the world of investment, one of the most risky responsibilities is that of first investor. You take on a new company, you work with fresh teams if there are any at all, brush up business plans, strategies look at financials and submit your first cheque. Later on, others that invest when success is more or less guaranteed can benefit but only after you have done the dirty work. I see this section as handling the first part. JICA has done all that is necessary to sift through the companies and individuals training them and equipping them and investing in them. Now the rest of us especially those interested in investing in any of these companies can have an easier time coming in other investment rounds.In light of what some see as a bleak future, the long walk might be a good watch to see what this film maker predicts in the future of an alternative America. We review the film in the “On the Reel” section. Finally in the Q and A, I have a conversation with a fictional governance AI bot…really AI system of leadership and management built for the world. While there are some countries that are already experimenting with this, the possibilities are endless and the potential great. Inoue Yoichi Shigefumi Okumura Pearl D. Gakazi Akihiro M. Katsuki Cirus Sumika Ai Yoshitani Emmanuel T. Brian Bigirwa Sachin H. Isaac Kiwanda Shigeru Handa Franc Kamugyisha Innocent Menyo Josephine Lunkuse @Toru Akahori Racheal Nantaba Namuyiga sekitoleko George@UJ-Connect Kolaborate Uganda Summic ICT Solutions Freud Gizmo Everlend Agritech Brentec Agrosahas International Easy Ride Ecoplastile M-Scan Nippon Signal

For the month of January those who think of this as the first month often have expectations of some kind of #forecast or #prophecy. Words of direction that they can depend on for the year to come. About 30 years ago at a #church in #Texas we used of usher in the New Year with a word from the Lord for the coming year. I tried this for a while except I was trying to see if I could spot #trends that would help direct readers of the Intersection Magazine towards #technology and #innovation. 

Fortunately there are plenty of voices now that are doing the same and to be frank I think many of you should also be making predictions of your own. My view is that you are a river…you flow downstream as rivers are in the habit of doing. Given this sense, you will have people in your orbit who depend on every word that you say and who use you as a measuring stick to help them gauge their successes, failures and aspirations. So in your own circle I encourage you to present your ideas in your area of mastery and we and many more will follow and lean in. 

For January I continue the piece that was written by the team lead at NZS Capital, LLC Capital talking about #TimeTravel, #Investment and #DecisionMaking. The author seeks to educate us as readers on some of the important insights there are to gain from hollywoods time travel 

#genres which can help us become better investors or at least make more informed decisions. This is followed by a partner of Intersection Magazine called Founders Freedom where we get a glimpse into what 2026 looks like eventwise. 

If you missed the #sozosummit we have you covered. This is an event that was sponsoredby @hindsightventures @jica and hosted at the National ICT hub in nakawa. We were interested in highlighting the role of copyright law and policy, the role of government cooperation in ecosystem development, the VC community in developing nations in niches like AgricTech. Additionally in the piece we share structural advantages in JiCa that are helping promote and create an effective play in Uganda 

1. Partnerships through acceleration

2. Business matching 

3. Business study tours 

4. Study and internship in Japan 

We also continue our #Investment #Thesis section in which we sought the help of #ArtificialIntelligence. Finally we review the year to see if we can find a cluster of key ideas that we can look back to and maybe use for the future as well. At a glance we covered #Investment, 

#Education and new #paradigms informing how we learn, decision making using time travel genre of films, case studies from MTN’s annual report to help shape #financial #literacy and most importantly Elite Overproduction (avoiding the trap if at all possible of #overextending ourselves and the #markets before us with a certain set of #skills and #courses while ignoring possible changes in #education, #economy and #socialstructure that can affect these expected outcomes.

Chris Champion is an entrepreneur and investor, who has delved deeply into tech startups over the past 30 years. He has identified patterns that lead to successful investments – having championed over 120+ companies and raised more than $300M.
With a community of 5,000 entrepreneurs who value his insights, Mr. Champion shares his journey and insights on including the value of concentrated gatherings of like-minded individuals as well as the importance of not giving up.

Here is something you might appreciate. This is recorded after an impressive talk by a Chinese product sourcing expert. First, we talk about the word ecosystem and what it means and why we chose to define it with Silicon Valley in mind. Then we pan out to regional and continental perspectives of the same. Here we are interested in how Ecosystems express themselves in the big four, Kenya, South Africa, Egypt and Nigeria. We also add in some thoughts about Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania. We explore what lessons we can learn from the Chinese model much older entrenched and successful.

Brad Slingerlend shows up again with this piece. This time he sheds light on a genre of film that explores time travel and helps us understand the complex world of investment and key features of the same especially prediction of trends and the identification of patterns. We also share a supplement from a new event called Tech Con held at the ICT Hub in Nakawa, Uganda. With a major focus on #Web3 and a useful place to mold as well as identify the next breed of leaders. We also share a movie and series review with something that will help us perhaps see into the future as new forms of government emerge and corporations become mainstreamed. MTN Uganda's report for 2024 is also looked at with some suggestions. Founders Freedom helps us understand why listening is so important.

We get help from Perplexity in coming up with an investment thesis for small community-based businesses.

In the month of November, we continued our discussion of the elite overproduction hypothesis from the work of Noah Smith. Perhaps the most crucial take away from me, was the need to manage expectations. All the planning and work that goes into the creation of courses and program for various directions of study often stems from what we perceive as needs in the years that will follow but it is still very difficult to predict what the future will be like.

The equation Happiness=Reality-Expectations

is an adequate representation of these challenges. Reality in our days has been affected by the rise of Artificial Intelligence, concerns about peace in the Middle East, The Russian-Ukrainian War, Upheaval in the Markets, Mushrooming Movements around the globe led by youth which seek radical change in governance and more.

We also share the MTN annual report from 2024 with some insights about what we view as key areas. Finally, I make some suggestions about what it would involve, to create a decent course for those interested in the world of Venture Capital.

For this month's read we recommend a Ganda classic called Zinunula Omunaku by Edward Kawere. We also share a blessing by one of the characters in the book translated into the English Language. Those who like movies and TV series might also like our summary of one of the episodes of the Sopranos where Chris and the leadership core of the crime family have to deal with a major transition.

In this issue we complete the piece that was written by Noah Smith on the Elite Overproduction Hypothesis. The key takeaway from this is the need to be sensitive about how we address the challenges that many in this generation are facing with lack of jobs and opportunity and to stay away from using humor that belittles their choices and circumstances.

We also begin a conversation about MTN Uganda's 2024 report and what we see as takeaways.

Finally, we share the contents of a course in VC Investment as created by AI in particular Chat GPT-4. You can read more of our perspectives here on this and other issues.

In this episode we share in brief the contents of the September Magazine. We start with the discussion that Noah Smith started on the Elite Overproduction Hypothesis. He talks about what happens when the hopes of one or more generations to not match the market conditions. The first a generation of those who are planning for the future and deciding what we learn and those who register in top schools to gain knowledge with aspitations for the future.

Next we share a supplement from our friends and partners-Founders Freedom who have become famous for providing a strong base in leadership and management of organizational structure.

We also have a piece originally written by Brad Slingerlend of NZS capital LLC. he tackles important areas in the Crypto and Web3 and helps explain why many are putting their hopes in Stable Coins.

Finally with Farouk Mark Mukiibi of Gatsby Marketing Agency and Author of the African Startups Playbook we have a Q and A to gain some insights into his scholarly work and research around what he called MVR Minimum Viable Relationships.

Here is a conversation that was supposed to preface a podcast episode devoted to a completely different subject. The show was summarized by Doris Acheng Odit of Odit Frontier Partners into about 6 major sections.

1. Polymaths, focus and identity

2. Purpose and profit

3. Adaptive Muscle vs. Static Dogma

4. Opaqueness and Access

5. AIs, LLMs and the Architecture of Thinking

6. Legacy and Continuity

We revisited these and other issues with the aim of helping shed more light on these subjects.