The Innovation Village, through its Edtech Lab in partnership with Mastercard Foundation Young Africa Works and the Arizona State University, have announced the final 3 teams whose solutions made it to the top three in the Future of Education accelerator program. The Future of Education is a business development program implemented by The Innovation Village through its Education Technology Lab supported by Mastercard Foundation and the Arizona State University to provide holistic support to innovative businesses rethinking and shaping the Future of Education. The call attracted 87 applications that were narrowed down to 10 startups who pitched to a panel…
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The Innovation Village, in partnership with Mastercard Foundation’s Young Africa Works program, has announced a nationwide program to strengthen success of youth start-ups in Uganda. The program dubbed, ‘Business Foundations – Start Your Startup’ will provide foundational knowledge, skills, and tools required for one to start their business, or increase the chances of survival for their very early start-up business. While commenting on the upcoming program at the Innovation Village offices in Ntinda- Kampala, The Venture Lead Anthony Kagimu noted that the youth today have no choice but to cultivate an entrepreneurial culture to be able to create the much-needed…
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The Innovation Village has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with CODEIT Institute of Technology (CIT) to provide software development training to technologists in Uganda. The training targets students seeking to improve their skills and a software development career growth in Python, Cloud and Blockchain technologies for a period of 6 months for every cohort. During the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, the CEO CIT Institute of Technology, Da’shone Hughey, noted the partnership with The Innovation Village marks the first step in many partnerships to come across the East African region. He said, “We are excited to roll out this…
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What are the biggest challenges in retail post-COVID-19? Most retail businesses were closed during lockdown and had to evolve online. Businesses were forced to restructure on the employment side. Employees had to shift and start working from home. What are the opportunities or support for retailers from a policy standpoint? There are issues with regulation regarding consumer protection and fair competition that were exacerbated by COVID. There is also a lack of antitrust laws. Consumer protection is needed with the shift to online to guarantee quality. A lot of data is going to be shared – how is this…
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What has been your biggest business challenge after COVID-19 Struck? COVID has presented great challenges and opportunities. RocketHealth’s service delivery model depends on a virtual experience. There was a human resource capacity challenge as demand for health services increased during the lockdown. RocketHealth had to boost their logistical capabilities to meet demand. We also had to deal with cashflow challenges and to renegotiate with suppliers. There were supply chain issues where importers could not bring in certain drugs. What disruptions did you see in healthcare supply chains during Covid-19? Most pharmaceutical supplies are imported and the scope of pharmaceutical inventory…
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From your perspective, how was the economy affected by Covid-19? The main challenges stem from the various lockdown measures. There was no movement of goods during the lockdown. Mandatory testing of drivers at the border crossings slowed down movements of trucks. Malls and arcades were closed, so goods were not moving or being sold. There was an overall shift downward in demand cycles within the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) space apart from food. Many businesses suffered from cash flow issues. The biggest employer in Uganda is the informal sector which was hurt by the lockdown. This limited disposable income and…
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Retail, which, by definition, is made up of businesses that sell to the final consumer, is an important part of Uganda’s economy. It contributes an average of 18% to the country’s GDP and employs about 16% of its labour force and could be the largest employment source. But even before Covid-19 struck, in March 2020, reaching its peak around June 2020, the largely brick-and-mortar sector was already facing its unique market imposed, regulatory and technology challenges. The state-imposed nationwide lockdowns and the resultant depressed economy, and paranoia for open and crowded marketplaces, only made sector challenges worse. As the country…
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Gentlemen, I hope this finds you well. I wanted to deliver this myself. But you know, COVID happened. That has become a very acceptable excuse for any meeting you don’t want to attend. When this year began, I know how excited you were—all the hopes and dreams you had. We thought, as entrepreneurs, we were going to take over the world. We thought this was finally the year when it all comes to life. That this is the year, we’ve been waiting for. And then as you know, the pandemic happened. We were all forced to go home, wash our…
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The Innovation Village, in partnership with Stanbic Bank and RocketHealth has launched a thought leadership report on the ‘Future of Retail in Uganda. The report documents the impact of the lockdown measures on businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on the trends redefining the sector and opportunity spaces for the retail ecosystem to ensure longer term sustainable economic development and business resilience. While launching the report at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Kampala on Thursday, CK Japheth, The Innovation Village Team Lead, noted that the retail sector in Uganda plays an important role in Uganda contributing an…
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By Olga Kiconco It is believed that as early as 800BC, during Ancient Greek time, retail trade was already well established in the Angora City Centre. Certain days and places were designated for open markets where the local peasants accessed consumers who wanted to exchange their surplus items to buy what they needed to run their productions. Over time, the means of transaction evolved from barter trade to the Shekel introduced and used in Modern Iraq as a measurement of weight followed by the small retail stores independently owned by families commonly known as “mom and pop” stores. Majority were…
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