As agent banking accelerates across Africa, moving trillions of shillings annually and expanding deep into trading centres, border towns, and island communities, the real challenge is no longer access. It is efficiency, visibility, and scale.
John Paul Semyalo, founder of Pebuu Africa, has spent the past decade quietly building the human and technology infrastructure that makes agent banking work, not just as a distribution channel, but as a disciplined, data-driven growth engine for banks.
From deploying more than 300 field supervisors to leveraging geo-mapping, compliance monitoring, and structured last-mile supervision, Semyalo believes Africa’s digital banking future will be defined by how well institutions manage what happens beyond the branch.
In this exclusive interview with CEO East Africa Magazine’s Muhereza Kyamutetera, Semyalo reflects on Pebuu’s evolution from a payments startup to a continental infrastructure partner and shares how local talent, smart technology, and relentless field execution are making agent banking more efficient, scalable, and valuable for banks across Africa.
Let’s begin at the very beginning. Pebuu is a distinctive name. What’s the story behind it, and what meaning or philosophy does it carry for the company today?
Pebuu is actually a very simple but meaningful original story. When we coined the name about 11 years ago, Uganda was just beginning to experiment with online payments.
At the time, I was still in advertising, and I happened to attend an international payments expo that completely opened my eyes to the future of cashless transactions.
During the expo, I picked up a sample POS machine. Every time a transaction went through, it made this catchy, almost rhythmic sound — something like ‘pay-boo’. It stuck with me.
It felt modern, tech-forward, and memorable. So, when we began building a payments business, we felt there was no better name to represent that future-facing vision.
The word itself is mystical; it doesn’t have a literal meaning, but it captured the energy and simplicity we wanted. We refined it, found that the domain was available, and adopted it.
Today, Pebuu has grown far beyond that sound; it has become synonymous with reliability, field visibility, and innovative last-mile financial access across Uganda and the continent.
Before settling on the name, you must have had a clear problem you wanted to solve. What gap in the financial services ecosystem did Pebuu originally set out to address, and how has that problem, and your solution, evolved?
Pebuu really began around 2014, when I was still working in advertising and PR. At the time, we were running campaigns for telecoms and a few banks, which gave us a front-row seat into how financial services were being extended to the last-mile customer.
Telecoms were aggressively building mobile money agent networks, but our research showed something important: the institution best placed to sustainably take financial services to the last customer wasn’t a telecom, it was a bank.
The challenge was that banks had not yet built agent banking networks. They hadn’t even imagined the scale or operational model required. So, we stepped into that gap and created the first Pebuu agent network, built around a POS machine.
Using a single Pebuu wallet, agents could resell multiple services, water, electricity, school fees, taxes, and more. At that point, we were competing with players like PayWay and EzeeyMoney, but our strength was that we were a purely local brand.
We had goodwill in the market, strong stakeholder relationships, and easier access to the APIs we needed.
But then Covid-19 hit. Our agents couldn’t go to their shops during lockdowns, and telecoms doubled down on mobile money. Customers shifted directly to mobile money since all the services we offered were available there as well.
Agents lost their working capital, and when we tried to support them with microloans to boost their float, repayment became difficult. Like many businesses, we suffered, and it became clear that our original model would not survive the post-Covid landscape.
However, one thing we had built, and built well, was infrastructure.
We had nationwide reach, 2,400 agents, deep field visibility, and a model that already relied on structured oversight, data capture, and disciplined supervision. That became our turning point.
Instead of running our own agent network, we asked: What if we used this infrastructure to help financial institutions manage their own agent networks more effectively?
This was a new idea in the market. Banks were big, complex institutions; they couldn’t hire thousands of staff to supervise thousands of agents spread across the country.
For a bank like Stanbic, managing over 10,000 agents internally would be impossible, costly, inefficient, and slow.
So, we pitched a model in which Pebuu supports banks through a comprehensive range of field and operational services. These include daily supervision of agents and compliance monitoring, continuous training and refresher sessions to strengthen product knowledge, and support with agent onboarding and KYC processes, even in remote and hard-to-reach areas.
The model also ensures that agents are equipped with essential utilities such as transaction registers, paper rolls, and product information materials.
In addition, Pebuu enhances fraud prevention through real-time oversight while deploying digitised field tools that enable accurate reporting, geo-mapping, and greater visibility across the agent network.
At first, banks perceived it as risky to outsource a function they had never fully mastered themselves. But we pushed for a pilot with Stanbic, delivered exceptional results, and from there the model took off.
Today, we support Stanbic, Centenary, Absa, Housing Finance Bank, and others. In short, the company’s evolution has been remarkably organic. It began by building and operating its own agent network, establishing a foundation in last-mile financial service delivery.
When Covid-19 disrupted the market and fundamentally altered how customers and agents interacted with financial services, the business adapted and survived the shift.
Out of that disruption emerged a stronger model: the company transformed its approach into a superior and scalable solution that enables banks to minimise operational costs, extend their reach deeper into communities, strengthen compliance, and significantly reduce the risk of fraud.
What began as a payments business has evolved into one of Africa’s most robust agent management and last-mile financial distribution infrastructure — something even the Central Bank appreciates for its role in compliance and risk reduction.
Walk us through a typical day in the life of a Pebuu field supervisor. What does their routine look like from the moment they start work to the time they finish, and how do they support agents throughout the day?
We currently have more than 300 Pebuu field supervisors across the country, and each one operates with a Pebuu device that is fully integrated into our technology platform.
They are equipped with motorcycles, branded both in Pebuu colours and those of the partner bank they support, because they essentially serve as the bank’s eyes and ears in the field.
A typical day starts with a morning briefing. Each supervisor meets, physically or virtually, with their regional manager to review the previous day’s deliverables, outline the targets for the day, and flag any issues that require escalation. Once aligned, they head out into the field.
On average, a supervisor attends to about 10 agents per day, but this varies depending on geography. In densely populated areas, they can cover more agents.
In sparsely populated regions like North Eastern Uganda or the Kidepo belt, a supervisor may only reach one or two agents because of the long distances.
On islands or hard-to-reach points such as Kalangala or Buvuma, a supervisor may spend the entire day on a single agent visit because they rely on boats for transport, dropped off in the morning and picked up in the evening.
Throughout the day, the supervisor conducts a series of structured checks to ensure that agent operations remain compliant, efficient, and aligned with the bank’s standards.
These checks include verifying that agents adhere to branding and compliance requirements, confirming that transaction registers are properly maintained and used, and ensuring that all devices and banking applications are functioning correctly.
Supervisors also assess the agents’ understanding of newly introduced bank products and services, while identifying and documenting any operational or customer-related issues that may require attention or escalation.
All these observations are captured digitally in real time. The data is immediately transmitted to Pebuu and to the partner financial institution. By the end of the day, the information has already been analysed through our system, and reports are shared with the banks for action.
In essence, a Pebuu supervisor’s day is a blend of field mobility, issue resolution, compliance monitoring, refresher training, and continuous data reporting.
The supervisor must understand agent banking, merchant behaviour, risk flags, and product knowledge deeply, because they are the first line of support and the closest link between the bank and the actual last-mile customer.
From a value-addition perspective, what numbers can you point to? For example, when Pebuu steps in to support a bank’s agent network, what measurable improvements do you typically see, whether in dormancy reduction, transaction volumes, compliance, or uptime?.
When we talk about value addition, the first place we look is the numbers coming from the field. Every time a Pebuu supervisor visits an agent on behalf of a financial institution, there are specific indicators we assess.
The first is transaction performance, how actively the agent is transacting and whether they’re properly recording every transaction in the register. This alone helps us quickly identify agents whose behaviour may turn fraudulent, allowing the bank to intervene early.
The second is network growth and optimisation. As supervisors move through the field, they also identify locations with unmet demand.
When we find a trading centre or village that clearly needs an agent, we immediately engage the local merchants and help convert them into agents.
Because our systems capture geo-coordinates and activity patterns, banks get a real-time heatmap of their footprint, where they have a strong presence and where gaps exist.
Many banks are shocked to discover they are overrepresented in Kampala but absent in high-potential areas like Arua or Gulu until they see these insights.
In terms of measurable impact, one of the quickest wins we deliver is reducing agent dormancy. Within the first three months of supporting a bank, we typically bring down dormancy by 10% to 20%.
And it’s mostly due to small but critical issues, unresolved reversals, forgotten logins, and unprocessed complaints, which discourage agents from continuing to transact. When Pebuu steps in and resolves these pain points, confidence returns, and dormant agents reactivate.
Beyond the numbers, perhaps the biggest value we provide is presence. When agents see a Pebuu supervisor regularly checking on them, resolving issues, delivering utilities, and updating them on new bank products, they feel seen and supported.
That alone reduces fraud, increases loyalty, and gives agents the confidence to invest more in their float and in the channel. They know someone will be back tomorrow, and that assurance changes everything.
When you speak with your client banks, what feedback do they give you about how Pebuu has improved their operations or made their lives easier?
One of the strongest pieces of feedback we get from our client banks is that Pebuu has solved a problem they didn’t even realise was this big: visibility and traceability of agents.
I remember asking a senior executive during a pitch, ‘If fraud happened at Agent X today, how long would it take you to reach that point?’
He didn’t have an answer because agents move.
They shift locations due to KCCA operations, flooding downtown, rent issues, or simply business convenience. So, a bank may think an agent sits in Location A, yet the person has shifted to Location B, and with no real-time data, the bank is blind.
This is where Pebuu’s clients say their lives have genuinely improved.
We provide continuous agent mapping and tracing, updating the bank every time an agent relocates. This protects them from fraud, non-compliance, and ghost agents, all of which are major risks in agent banking.
The Central Bank requires every agent to have a clearly known and documented point of operation, and Pebuu makes that possible in a way that internal bank teams simply cannot.
We also solve another common challenge banks mention: the disconnect between the registered agent and the actual machine handler.
For example, you may register as an agent for Stanbic, but the business is operated by your cousin. All training invites, compliance reminders, and product updates go to you, not the handler who actually serves customers. Banks have no visibility into these constant handler changes.
Pebuu bridges that gap. We are the ones who meet the actual machine handlers daily, update them on new products, reinforce compliance, and alert the bank when handlers keep changing, which is often a red flag.
Without us, banks would need a massive team, specialised technology, and a nationwide fleet to do the same work. It would be far too costly, and the channel would never become profitable.
And the numbers back this up. Since Pebuu began supporting these banks, their agent banking collections have grown by over 10% across Stanbic, Centenary, Housing Finance, and others.
Agents invest more in the channel because they feel supported, supervised, and confident that issues will be resolved quickly. That’s the feedback we consistently hear. Pebuu brings visibility, discipline, safety, and confidence into a channel that is otherwise very fluid — and previously very risky.
Given that agent banking is a primary source of income for many agents, have you seen these agent locations grow as enterprises as a result of the support Pebuu provides?
Yes, we’ve absolutely seen growth at the agent enterprise level. In fact, about 95–98% of the agents we work with operate agent banking as a side business, usually alongside a supermarket, hardware shop, mobile money kiosk, or some other retail operation.
The commissions they earn from banks are meaningful. Many agents make between UGX 500,000 and 1 million a month, and we’ve seen high-performing agents earn as much as UGX 5–10 million. That income directly strengthens their broader enterprises.
However, the biggest determinant of growth is the handler, the person physically managing the agent point.
The most successful and consistently growing agent locations are those where the business owner is also the handler. They understand the business, they are disciplined, and they reinvest.
Challenges arise when the owner delegates the work to a third party, a cousin, a neighbour, or a casual hire. These handlers often come with their own personal issues, may lack accountability, and frequently change.
We’ve seen some agent points change handlers every few days, almost the way housekeepers cycle in and out of homes. One day, it’s a new staff member; two days later, they’re gone, sometimes because someone elsewhere has promised them a better opportunity.
This instability affects performance, customer service, and revenue. Through our technology and supervision model, we track these shifts in real time and flag them for the bank.
When an agent point keeps changing handlers, we update the bank and advise on possible risks. In some cases, banks summon the agent to the branch for a compliance discussion; in others, they’re educated about the repercussions of constant handler turnover.
So yes, agent businesses do grow, often significantly. But where they stagnate, it’s almost always tied to the instability of the handler. Our visibility helps both the agents and the banks make decisions that protect the channel and improve sustainability.
The banks you support clearly gain visibility, compliance, field discipline, and growth. What do banks that haven’t come on board still struggle with and what would change for them if they engaged Pebuu?
Today, most banks that take agent banking seriously have already approached us in one way or another. There are still a few institutions that haven’t prioritised agent banking, and you see it immediately in their numbers.
You’ll find a bank that considers itself ‘serious’ but only has 17 agents nationwide. Compare that with the markets where leading banks have 2,000 or more agents, and the gap becomes obvious.
For banks that are serious about scaling, almost all of them have engaged us, either formally through full supervision contracts or informally by seeking guidance on how to strengthen their networks.
Even when they don’t sign a contract, they still come to us for access to our technology, insights, heatmaps, field research, or operational guidance.
Standard Chartered Kenya Targets Nakumatt Properties in $14.3 Million Debt Recovery BattleIn short, the institutions that truly want to grow their agent banking footprint, especially tier-one and tier-two banks, have realised that they need Pebuu’s visibility, data, and field discipline to compete effectively.
Those that haven’t come on board are generally the ones that have not yet prioritised agent banking as a strategic channel.
You’ve gained deep visibility into last-mile operations through your work with banks. What insights from this experience can be applied beyond financial services, particularly in FMCG, where companies heavily depend on distributors to reach the last mile?
Yes, absolutely, and that’s one of Pebuu’s biggest advantages. Very few companies in Uganda have the kind of nationwide reach and field presence we’ve built.
I’ll give you an example. We have supervisors on islands like Misanvu and in Kalangala. Kalangala has only two bank branches, Stanbic and Finance Trust, yet you’ll find agents for Centenary, Absa, DFCU and others operating there.
The question becomes: Who is physically supporting these people every day? Most companies simply don’t have the infrastructure to reach them. This reach has allowed us to apply our experience far beyond banking.
Take the security sector. Firms like G4S have guards spread across the entire country, in some cases, more guards than some banks have agents.
But they rely mainly on radio calls for supervision. They don’t have a robust digital tool to verify whether a guard actually reported on time, whether they’re on site, or whether they’ve completed their tasks.
Our technology solves exactly that: real-time tracking, GPS verification, digital reporting, and field accountability. We’re also piloting solutions in FMCG, including a deployment with a large brewery in Nigeria.
Here, our tools help manufacturers track stockists, from their GPS location to stock movement, reporting patterns, and alerts when they’re running out. It gives FMCG companies visibility down to the last shop, something they’ve historically struggled with.
Even in health, we’ve explored piloting with National Medical Stores. Delivering medicine to Health Centre IIIs and IVs is manageable, but the last leg, getting medicines to rural Health Centre IIs or community points, is often broken.
That’s where our nationwide footprint and real-time field tools can make a huge difference. So yes, the insights we’ve gained from agent banking, visibility, supervision, compliance, and last-mile certainty are directly transferable to FMCG, security, health, logistics, and any sector that depends on distributed networks. Essentially, we’re building last-mile infrastructure that works across industries.
With digitalisation driving almost every aspect of financial services today, the risks, especially fraud, have also increased. From your experience on the ground, what red flags do you typically see, and how does Pebuu help banks identify and address these risks early?
The concept behind managing fraud and operational risk in a digital financial ecosystem really comes down to two things: presence and knowledge.
There is a significant knowledge gap between the banks, most of which are headquartered in Kampala, and the agents operating in remote or underserved areas.
Take an example: a bank with branches only in major towns may have customers and agents all the way in Mutukula. There is no branch nearby, and the agents there might speak Swahili, while the bank’s support teams operate in English or Luganda.
That creates a communication and knowledge barrier. The agent has no visibility into new products, promotions, or fraud alerts. A fraudulent customer will exploit that gap immediately.
Pebuu’s role is to close that gap completely. We become the bank’s face in the field. We check on the agents regularly, address their issues, reinforce compliance, and ensure they are updated and empowered. Because if an agent is not knowledgeable, they are exposed and so is the bank.
To strengthen this knowledge, we introduced an innovation called Naki — The Chronicles of a Bank Agent. It’s a simple but powerful tool: a relatable story based on a young village girl who comes to Kampala to work as a bank agent.
Through her experiences, agents learn the importance of proper branding, how to accurately record every transaction, how to identify fake national identification documents, how to avoid common fraud traps, and how to maintain professionalism in their day-to-day interactions with customers.
You’d be surprised how many agents cannot identify a fake ID or do not know how easily they can be defrauded because they lack training or the right tools. Pebuu steps in to fill that void.
We print 30,000 copies of the Naki booklet every month, and we distribute them free of charge to agents across the country. Our clients support this because they’ve seen the impact, better knowledge, fewer mistakes, fewer fraud incidents, and a more confident agent network.
So for us, risk management is not just about oversight. It’s about empowering agents with practical, accessible knowledge and ensuring they are continuously guided, trained, and supported. When presence meets knowledge, fraud drops, service improves, and the entire ecosystem becomes safer.
You’ve already expanded into markets like Nigeria and others you mentioned. With digital banking growing rapidly across Africa, where do you see Pebuu’s model evolving, both in Uganda and across the wider region?
One thing I didn’t mention earlier is that Pebuu has already expanded into nine other markets across Africa. We’re operational or piloting in Nigeria, where we are working with Zenith Bank in Victoria Island, Lagos; Ghana, DRC, where we’re piloting with Royal Bank; Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, and South Africa.
We’ve also established a global office in the United States to oversee and coordinate all these operations. What’s interesting is that many of the banks we support in Uganda also operate in these markets.
For example, Standard Bank (Stanbic) is present in Zambia and the DRC, and Absa is in Zambia as well. So, part of our expansion strategy is to leverage the relationships and credibility we’ve already built here. These institutions face the same last-mile visibility and compliance challenges in other countries as they do in Uganda.
And that’s the key insight: Agent banking works the same way almost everywhere in Africa. The dynamics are similar, banks speak a certain language, and the agents and merchants on the ground speak a completely different one.
There’s a cultural, operational, and informational gap that needs to be bridged. Our research shows that the model we’ve perfected in Uganda can be replicated across the continent because the challenges are universal: lack of real-time visibility, limited supervision, knowledge gaps, and rising fraud risks.
Pebuu essentially becomes the translator, the bridge between how banks operate and how last-mile agents actually function. And as digital banking grows across Africa, that bridge is becoming not just useful, but essential.
Innovating in a space like this, where the demand for your solutions is high, and the need to scale quickly is constant, inevitably comes with challenges. From your experience building Pebuu, what major obstacles have you faced along the way? How have you managed them, especially in the current economic environment? And looking ahead, what kinds of partnerships or ecosystem support would help you overcome these challenges and scale even more effectively?
One of the things that keeps us going, and sets Pebuu apart, is how we work. Our model is built on hiring local talent. There’s no way you can send someone from Kampala to work effectively in Kotido or Kaabong.
So, we recruit directly from the communities we serve. This empowers local people, creates employment, and builds trust. But it also comes with challenges.
Most of the young people we hire in remote areas have limited exposure to digital tools, yet almost our entire ecosystem is digital. We invest heavily in training them, and in some cases, we spend more on supervision and capacity building than we earn from those particular locations.
Another challenge is the economics of the last mile. The further you go from Kampala, the fewer the customers, and the lower the profitability for agents. As a result, only the big banks, Centenary, Stanbic, and Absa, are willing to invest deeply in rural expansion. Many other institutions prefer to concentrate around urban centres because the business case is easier there.
Yet the work that needs the most support is in those very rural, low-margin areas. What would really change the game for us is better internet penetration and lower connectivity costs. Almost 95% of our work relies on the internet.
But in many parts of Uganda, you still find EDGE speeds. A supervisor may capture data, take photos, or log GPS coordinates, but it can’t transmit until he rides to a spot with stronger network coverage.
It’s a real challenge, and it affects productivity and real-time reporting. If the government could accelerate rural broadband rollout and make fast, reliable internet affordable, it would transform last-mile financial infrastructure.
Another major challenge is our fleet. We operate over 300 motorcycles, and we want to transition to electric mobility to reduce both costs and environmental impact.
But the upfront investment is huge. We would benefit greatly from green financing or partnerships that offer low-interest funding for electric motorcycles, especially from organisations focused on climate and sustainability.
Infrastructure also plays a big role. Some of the islands and remote areas we serve handle enormous transaction volumes; in some cases, a single agent on a small island may move over UGX 100 million a day. Yet there’s no electricity, and only one boat serving the route.
The risks are high, and the logistical burden on our supervisors is even higher. Continued government investment in rural roads, ferries, and electricity would significantly improve both safety and efficiency.
So, while we’ve built a strong model, scaling it across Uganda and the region requires partnerships with government, development partners, climate financiers, and telecoms. Our goal is to keep bridging the last-mile gap, but we need the ecosystem to move with us.
From a leadership perspective, I’m curious about how companies are adjusting to the behaviour and expectations of younger employees. What insights have you gained from working with young people at Pebuu?
That’s a very interesting topic, and one we’ve had to think about very deliberately. We’ve chosen to place most of our younger staff, especially Gen Z, at the head office and in our regional hubs rather than in the deep field.
From my experience, Gen Z works very differently from previous generations. They’re not always driven purely by money or traditional career progression. Sometimes they’ll work for you simply because they like your energy or your vibe, and when they believe in you, they will give you incredible value.
They can focus intensely for a short period if they have a personal goal, like saving up for a particular gadget. But once the money comes in, their priorities can shift quickly.
Because of that, we try to meet them where they are and appreciate the way they work. They thrive in environments that give them space to think, experiment, and challenge the status quo, which is why our innovation hubs in Mbale and the satellite hubs in Gulu and Mbarara work very well for them.
These hubs give them the creative freedom to guide us on quick fixes, product improvements, and new ideas. I’ll be honest: I sometimes find them ‘lazy’, but positively and innovatively.
They’re always looking for shortcuts, the smart kind, to get things done faster and more efficiently. And if you design the right reward or incentive system, they can become your most productive team members.
So overall, we enjoy working with them. They bring energy, creativity, and speed. But they’re best suited to roles that allow flexibility and innovation, which is why we concentrate them in our hubs rather than sending them deep into the field.
So, the key seems to be understanding how young people operate. If you take the time to understand them and create the right environment, they can actually deliver excellent results, right?
Absolutely, the work environment for Gen Z is completely different from what we, the older generation, were used to. When you visit our office, you’ll see exactly what I mean.
They thrive in open, flexible spaces. You’ll find them working with headphones on, dressed casually, sometimes in shorts, but they’re fully engaged and delivering results.
Their style of work is different: they are constantly connected, active on the WhatsApp groups, sharing ideas or updates even on weekends.
They don’t draw the same strict boundaries between work and personal time that many of us grew up with.
The moment you try to force them into an old-school corporate environment, you lose them.
But when you allow them the freedom to work in a way that feels natural to them, they perform exceptionally well. So, part of our leadership approach has been to embrace that difference, rather than fight it.
Given everything you’ve navigated, the wins, the struggles, the changes, what is it that still inspires you to wake up and lead Pebuu every day?
What I’ve learned is that every startup begins with a vision — a big one. But along the journey, the day-to-day challenges can easily overshadow that original purpose. The key is to keep remembering why you started.
I often compare it to a marriage. In the beginning, everything feels perfect, but over time, you start noticing the small imperfections and forget the person you fell in love with. That’s when people lose interest.
The same applies to building a company. If you forget the original spark, the challenges will consume you. When we started Pebuu ten years ago, our vision was bold.
At the time, we even dreamed of becoming the first neo-bank in Africa. The market has evolved, our thinking has matured, and our ambition has actually grown bigger, but the core vision still drives us. It’s what keeps us pushing through every obstacle.
So, for me, the motivation comes from staying anchored to that vision. No matter what we’re going through, I remind myself and my team to keep our eyes on the purpose we started with. That’s what keeps us moving.
Like any growing company, Pebuu has undoubtedly made its share of mistakes, or lessons, depending on how you look at them. What key lessons have you learned from those experiences along the journey?
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that a company is only as strong as the people you hire. Talent is everything. I’ve also learned never to fear hiring people who are better than you; in fact, that’s exactly what you should aim for.
I’ll give you an example. Because we work closely with banks, I needed a partner who deeply understood banking, not just locally, but internationally.
So, I brought on someone who had worked with institutions like Goldman Sachs and Citibank. When he looks at numbers, he’s calm, analytical, and not easily excited.
Meanwhile, I might look at the same numbers and think they’re fantastic. But when you walk into a room with someone like that, banks listen. That kind of expertise elevates the whole organisation.
On the other hand, when it comes to local operations, you must work with people who truly understand the communities you serve. A Pebuu supervisor in a remote village is often a hero there; everyone knows him, relates to him, and trusts him.
Bring that same person to Kampala, and someone might wonder why you hired him. But take him back to the field, and he’s a king, delivering results that no one else could.
So, the lesson is simple: hire for relevance, hire for strength, and hire for context. In the agency world where I came from, recruitment was very different; it was fast-paced, flashy, and image-driven.
Here, it’s purely about performance. If someone can reach the agent, solve the problem, build trust, and deliver value, then they’re the right person.
They must love what they do, and they must understand the people they’re serving. That combination, top-tier specialised talent and deeply grounded local talent, has been one of the most important lessons in building Pebuu.
When you look at Uganda today and think about the future, the rapid rise of AI, the disruption of traditional careers, the growing gap between what our education system produces and what the economy actually needs, and the reality that many young people spend years at university only to return to jobs they could have started much earlier, what worries you most as a business leader? With all this uncertainty around the future of work and the direction the country is heading, how do you personally make sense of it, and what gives you the confidence to keep building and investing despite not knowing what tomorrow will look like?
For me, the biggest driver, despite all the uncertainty in the world, is the people who look to me for leadership. We employ more than 300 people, each with families, spouses, children, and dependents.
If I wake up one day and decide to drop the ball, the impact on all those lives would be enormous. That responsibility alone keeps me grounded, disciplined, and motivated.
What also keeps me going is the real impact we see on the ground. When agents tell us, ‘Since Pebuu came in, we now love the Centenary channel,’ or ‘We’re more knowledgeable and more confident,’ that kind of feedback re-energises us. It reminds us that what we’re doing is meaningful.
Of course, the challenges are real, and they’re constant. We operate in some of the hardest-to-reach areas in Uganda. I can tell you what’s happening in almost every corner of the country because our team works in places many people never go, border points, islands, remote regions, sometimes lawless areas where cattle rustlers can appear at any time.
We have supervisors riding motorcycles through dangerous terrain, and accidents do happen. Managing such a large and widely distributed team comes with a new set of challenges every single day.
But with strong systems, clear processes, and a mission-driven mindset, we’ve learned how to navigate it. Ultimately, it’s the combination of responsibility, impact, and resilience that keeps me moving forward, even when the future feels uncertain.
