Viewpoints with Brenda

Benjamin Rukwengye is a thought leader in the education and professional development space in Uganda and the founder and CEO of Boundless Minds, a mentorship social enterprise focusing on soft-skilling as a pathway to accelerate school-to-work transition for students.  He is the founding chairman of 40 Days Over 40 Smiles Foundation, a leading local philanthropy movement, a Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur, a KAS Youth4Policy Fellow, a Young and Emerging Leaders Project Fellow and has been named by Uganda’s New Vision as one of Uganda’s Top 40 under 40. 

Benjamin speaks about the inspiration behind Boundless Minds and the important work that Boundless Minds is doing with young adults to prepare them for the workplace. He also speaks about the importance of starting mentorship early and why mentoring should be encouraged in the workplace. 

Benjamin also speaks about his experience as a Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur and the impact this has had on his organization and his career. 

Juliana Kagwa is the Director of Corporate Relations at Uganda Breweries Limited, a subsidiary of Diageo in Uganda. Juliana has had quite the career, having risen through the ranks at  Diageo, from a graduate trainee to her current role in management.  She has over 15 years' experience in marketing, strategy and innovation in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG)  sector. More recently, Juliana has taken on the Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs function at Uganda Breweries Limited.

Juliana speaks about how a customer-centric approach has informed marketing strategies at Uganda Breweries Limited over the years,  the evolution of marketing throughout her career, the role that the digital age has played in enhancing marketing strategies and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Juliana also speaks about her favourite campaigns and innovations; from the Smirnoff Nightlife Experience to Uganda Waragi Pineapple; and gives excellent career tips for people who would want to follow a similar career path. 

Listen to a sneak peek of Season 2 of Viewpoints with Brenda. New episodes with our incredible guests will be dropping from 8 April 2022 onwards.  Do not forget to follow the podcast on Instagram and Twitter @viewpointsbybn for updates. 

Happy listening! 

Our final episode for our first season features Emuron Alemu, one of the most recognizable faces in advertising in Sub-Saharan Africa. Emuron is a multiple award-winning advertising creative who has created campaigns across a range of categories and disciplines. Presently, Emuron is the Chief Creative Officer at Betika.com and has won several Loeries, African Cristals Awards, MSK awards and Cannes Lions.

Emuron speaks about his journey in advertising from his agency days at Ignition in Uganda to working in-house at Betika.com, his favourite campaigns from his agency days, his favorite campaign at Betika.com and his most exciting awards. Emuron also shares the story behind what many consider to be the most impactful African campaign of the past decade, " The Most Eligible Bachelor", a multiple award-winning awareness campaign that was created for the Ole Pejeta Conservancy to save the white rhino from extinction. Emuron also shares advice for young creatives who are looking to advertising as a career. 

Isaac Kwaku Fokuo Jr. is the Founder and Principal of Botho Emerging Markets Group, an investment and strategy advisory firm with offices in Nairobi, Dubai, and Chicago and the co-founder of the Amahoro Coalition, an initiative convening private sector firms in Africa to accelerate the economic inclusion of refugees. With two decades of experience working in 20 markets across North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, Isaac has an extensive and successful track record in investment facilitation, strategy consulting, and policy advisory across sectors including Finance, Technology, Healthcare, Education and more. Isaac is also an angel investor to start-ups based in Africa and the Middle East. Isaac is  a 2014 Archbishop Desmond Tutu Fellow, a Trustee of Hanover College, advisor to the China Africa Tech Initiative, and serves on several boards. 

Isaac speaks about the investment landscape on the continent including the top opportunities for investment, post-pandemic prospects and the biggest perceived risks facing investors looking to Africa as an emerging market. 

Isaac also speaks about the Amahoro Coalition, an African-led initiative convening the African private sector to expand access to education and livelihood opportunities for refugees and other displaced persons.

Check out the Afro-Catalyst Podcast presented by Isaac and the Botho Emerging Markets Group to hear from more African trailblazers. 

Flora Katusiime is a New York based global communications and diversity and inclusion strategist.  She has a global and diverse background working with several organizations in the private sector and with non-profits to create equitable and inclusive spaces. Flora has had considerable success in shaping policies and initiatives that drive engagement and advance organizational transformation to ensure that those with varied cultural backgrounds are more easily noticed, recognized, appreciated, and promoted.

Flora speaks about barriers to diversity and inclusion in the workplace, strategies for increasing diversity in leadership roles, particularly for women and how her experience generally with being black in the USA has impacted her outlook, her career and her advocacy work.

David F.K. Mpanga is the Deputy Chairman at Bowmans, a top tier Africa-wide law firm, and  co-founder of top tier law firm, A.F. Mpanga Advocates (now Bowmans Uganda). He is a barrister of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple and an advocate of the courts of Uganda with almost three decades of experience. David is also the Minister for Special Duties in the Buganda Government, an institution headed by the Kabaka of the Kingdom of Buganda. David is also the author of The Politics of Common Sense.

In this episode, David speaks about his book The Politics of Common Sense, including how he decided on the title, beliefs and perspectives which he had that were challenged as he wrote his book, the origins of negative tribalism on the continent, the importance of strong institutions in governance and why young Africans cannot afford to be apathetic when it comes to politics.

David also speaks about his love for music, how he started deejaying as a hobby and his Mixcloud channel.

The Politics of Common Sense is available at Aristoc and Bookpoint (in Kampala, Uganda), and is available for purchase online at Apple and Barnes & Noble. 

Paul Lwiindi is a Zambian industry expert in the extractives sector with a career spanning over 20 years. He has held senior roles in Glencore’s Africa operations, national roles in the UK’s Network Rail Infrastructure Limited and a pan-European role at Coca Cola Great Britain & Northern Ireland, among others. Paul’s particular focus in the roles he has had is on operations and transformation and change.

Paul speaks about why a multi-sectoral approach by the government and private sector natural resource companies is critical to enhancing the extractives industry on the continent. Paul also gives insights on what African governments and other stakeholders can do to enhance transparency in governance of the sector, improve environmental performance of the extractives industry on the continent generally and what measures African countries can take to  increase participation in the extractives value chain. 

 Angelo Izama is a Ugandan journalist, writer, analyst and frequent contributor on current affairs for local and international publications and broadcasters. Angelo’s interests have spanned national and regional security, political economy and international organisations as well as rights associated with free expression. He is presently researching a book on the political economy of decision-making in Uganda’s oil sector and is a co-founder of a Ugandan think-tank, Fanaka Kwa Wote. As a recipient of several fellowships including the Knight Fellowship at Stanford University and the Open Society Fellowship, Angelo focuses on how effective public knowledge can affect economic and political outcomes in Uganda and within the East African region.

In this episode Angelo discusses the history of oil exploration in Uganda spanning the 1900s to present, the social impact the East African Crude Oil Pipeline is likely to have on the communities on its route, the under-discussed environmental issues, and why he thinks that the Ugandan oil story will not be the stereotypical "oil curse" story. 

Nomsa Nteleko is an award-winning entrepreneur from South Africa with 15 years’ experience in the ICT space. She is the Founder & CEO OS Holdings Ltd, and the Chief Commercial Officer at Amathuba AI. Nomsa’s experience is specifically in business and financial management systems, primarily assisting organizations in automating their business processes from HR, Payroll, Supply Chain and Municipal Standard Chart of Accounts. 

In this episode Nomsa speaks about the limitless possibilities that artificial intelligence presents towards the automation of business processes on the continent. She also chats about what she views as the biggest misconceptions about AI, the moral and ethical dilemmas presented by the deployment of AI in Africa and  why she thinks the continent is more than ready for AI. Nomsa also speaks about her journey as a young, black, female founder.