General
Nurturing Entrepreneurs: VC Launches Mastercard US$200k Seed Fund
On Friday, 15th February 2019, the Vice Chancellor of Makerere University, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe represented by the Principal, College of Business and Management Sciences (CoBAMS) Dr. Eria Hisali launched the Entrepreneurship Seed Fund for the MasterCard Foundation Scholars and Alumni of Makerere University. The Entrepreneurship Seed Fund will support Scholars and alumni to create economic opportunities within their communities through social ventures.
The Mastercard Foundation announced a seed funding of US$2,000,000 on 11th August 2018 at the Baobab Summit in Kigali, Rwanda, to implement the Foundation’s Strategy in Africa titled: Young Africa Works in the next two years (2018 to 2020). The strategy focuses on finding solutions to the youth employment challenge and reducing poverty in Africa. The Foundation believes that young people, especially Scholars, will drive and lead change in Africa and are already working hard to fulfill this vision.
Makerere a partner university with Mastercard Foundation received US$200,000 as an Entrepreneurship Seed Fund. According to the Coordinator of the MCF Scholars Program at Makerere University Dr. Florence Nakayiwa, the funding will be geared towards nurturing scholars to come up with social and business ventures. The funds will also help to deepen the development of skills and mindsets required of Scholars as transformative leaders, committed to improving the lives of others.
“The Program Implementation Team designed a seed funding framework to ensure that, the fund will have the greatest impact possible in developing the Scholars as transformative leaders, creating jobs and change through the business ventures. In some cases, Scholars’ ventures will also serve as a ‘transition’ vehicle for them to gain employment after graduating university through their ventures” she said.
The Internship and Entrepreneurship Coordinator of the MCFSP at Makerere University Mr. John Osuna said that the Entrepreneurship Seed Fund is open to all business concepts or social projects that have a high-growth potential, are profitable in nature, have the ability to create jobs and are scalable. The eligible business concepts or ideas include; innovations in Sustainable Agriculture, applications of the service or technological innovation, food processing, tourism, trading, renewable energy, fashion, education, health, artificial intelligence and scaling up existing concepts or ideas.
Mr. Osuna also mentioned that the Fund is ring fenced for the Mastercard Foundation Scholars and Alumni as Principal Investigators or Team Leaders, but the Scholars are encouraged to work with other non-Scholars (other students in at Makerere University) on profitable and social impact projects.
“The first cycle commences this month on 23rd February 2019 with a Social design course for 6 weeks among other development support inclusive of finance up to US$6,000 per project, and mentorship; the second cycle, will be in February 2020,” he explained.
Eligibility and selection criteria
- Scholars in their final year of study supported by the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at Makerere University.
- Scholars must be the team leaders in a team of two to four people.
- Where the Scholars choose non-Scholars on their teams, the non-Scholars must be final year students at Makerere University and should not be more two per team.
- The business concepts or Social Venture Projects should be profitable, scalable and be able to create jobs for youth.
At the launch of the Entrepreneurship Seed Fund, Prof. Eria Hisali, thanked Mastercard Foundation for the bright idea that is going to change the mindsets of scholars towards business development. Prof. Hisali said that Makerere University has embarked on looking for work placements and opportunities that can support students’ social and business ideas.
“We have realized that unemployment is a big challenge to our students, therefore, we have embarked on seeking opportunities that can provide with students either jobs, or ideas to support their ventures. We are getting touch with the government to tap into the wealth creation programs that are geared towards helping youth. The University is revitalizing its Endowment Fund, and we believe that; as the funds grow, some should be channeled to these entrepreneurial activities,” he said.
He urged scholars to fully utilize the opportunity from Mastercard Foundation and build their entrepreneurial world.
He called upon students and other youth to tap into the government programs when he said, “as long as you are organized, this support will be availed to you. To the Scholars and Alumni, access to the seed fund is going to be a competitive process. Therefore, to the business projects that succeed I wish you the best in your new enterprises and to the ones that do not succeed, I believe the skillset acquired during the development support will place you in a better position to pitch your projects to other organizations in Uganda and beyond for funding.”
Mr. Ronald Edward Mukasa, the Business Development Manager at Enterprise Uganda, encouraged young entrepreneurs to always be innovative and flexible. In a presentation he made, Mr. Mukasa called upon scholars to pay attention to the 3Cs (Care, Competence and Character) when preparing to join the business or social venture sector. According to him, the business world is looking for people who can find problems and look out for the solutions. He therefore said that someone’s passion matters when engaging in business.
“The reason one goes to school is to discover him or herself. Have passion while working on your ventures and be exceptional. The new environment has space for someone that has an excellent idea. People are willing to pay attention to someone who is good at what he or she is doing. Therefore, you need to go beyond wearing a jersey and be able to score a goal,” he advised.
At the same function, the Vice chancellor launched the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program (MCFSP) Alumni Association; a network that brings together graduates of MCFSP at Makerere University to share opportunities in academics, employment and entrepreneurship among activities.
The Principal Public Relations Officer of Makerere University Ms. Ritah Namisango encouraged students to fully utilize all the available volunteering opportunities, since this will help them to accumulate the much needed experience as they transition from the academic to the professional work environment.
The Scholars Council Representative on MCF Mr. Petere Ngobi and the Alumni Association Representative Mr. Charles Katuramu encouraged scholars to always take up leadership positions and develop their societies.
Guests were entertained by a remarkable poem from Mr. Andrew Muwhezi; a scholar from CoBAMS, as well as a team of scholars from Lane256.
Article Written by Public Relations Office
General
Advancing Makerere university’s Research Visibility and Impact: DRIP Spearheads Institutional ORCID Adoption
The Directorate of Research, Innovations and Partnerships (DRIP) has conducted a series of training sessions aimed at equipping graduate students, researchers, and research administrators with the knowledge and practical skills needed to effectively use the Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID). These trainings are designed to strengthen researchers’ professional identities, enhance publication tracking, and improve the visibility and recognition of their research outputs.
On 11th November 2026, DRIP held an online engagement with Makerere Research Innovations Fund (Mak-RIF). The engagement was attended by Grants Management Committee(GMC) and (Mak-RIF) Secretariat staff. The GMC members in attendance included Chairperson Prof. Fred Masagazi Masaazi, Vice Chairperson Dr. Sabrina Kitaka, Dr. Zahara Nampewo, Dr. Dorothy Okello, Dr. Stephen Wandera and Prof. Robert Wamala. The members were sensitized on individual and institutional registration, and benefits of ORCID adoption in research administration.
The successful drive towards strengthening ORCID adoption at Makerere University has greatly benefited from the strategic leadership and unwavering commitment of Prof. Sarah Sali, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic Affairs). Her leadership and institutional support have been instrumental in positioning ORCID adoption as a strategic University priority, recognising its importance in strengthening researcher identification, enhancing the global visibility of Makerere’s research outputs, improving publication tracking and reinforcing institutional research management. Her commitment to embedding ORCID within the University’s academic and research systems provides an important foundation for building a more visible, accountable and globally connected research community. DRIP sincerely appreciates her visionary leadership and continued support towards advancing Makerere University’s research excellence and impact.
Prof. Sarah Sali, Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic Affairs
The Deputy Coordinator (Mak-RIF) Mrs. Phoebe Lutaaya Kamya speaking on behalf of Mak-RIF secretariat commended DRIP – the organisers of the online workshop and pledged support to the integration of ORCID in Mak-RIF’s processes. Mrs. Kamya looked forward to the training which was to help improve their operations in administering the research fund. Other members of MaKRIF secretariat included Evelyne Nyachwo, Grace Ruto, Gloria Nagayi, Karungi Jancita, Julie Nabirye, among others.
In his remarks, the Director Quality Assurance Officer, Dr. Cyprian Misinde acknowledged the importance of ORCID and called on all researchers to embrace the tool for their own benefit and to improve the evaluation of institutional research ranking.
“Being a research-led institution, we are ranked, and our ranking is partly based on research we do. So, if our research is not known, then we lose credit and it affects our position internationally”, Dr. Misinde noted.
Mr. Brian Masiga speaking on behalf of the Research and Education Network for Uganda (RENU), praised Prof. Robert Wamala and his team at DRIP for their efforts towards improving the research ranking of Makerere University most especially in research outputs.
“ORCID is one of those digital identifiers that is sort of like a CV that tracks the work that has been done by the researcher over a period of time”, Mr. Masiga said.
During the training, Prof. Robert Wamala presented a report which was previously discussed by the University Central Management on research outputs. The report showed that there were only 24% of academic staff who could be identified by ORCID. It is by this revelation that management resolved to sensitise staff and also to ensure that all systems at Makerere University are integrated with ORCID. Prof. Wamala assured the participants that the requirement for ORCID registration in research management was to ease Mak-RIF’s work in tracking research identities against outputs.
“The biggest importance towards the University is that Makerere University can actually validate and affiliate that a professor who claims to come from Makerere University is actually from Makerere University. Once these ORCIDs are generated and given through a hub and managed by Mak-RIF, Mak-RIF doesn’t have to ask people for their publications, these publications are automatically fetched into a hub”, Prof. Robert Wamala reported.
Mr. Tamale Fredrick from RENU delivered a presentation on the registration, use and benefits of ORCID to both the institution and the researcher. He explained that it was possible to integrate research done before a researcher obtained the ORCID other than creating a new identity profile.
Mr. Juma Katongole, Deputy Chief – Directorate of ICT Support(DICTS) reported that they had commenced the integration of ORCID in some of the institutional information systems like Research Information Management System (RIMS)- a systems that tracks postgraduate students’ research, and Makerere University Human Resource Management System (e-HRMS) which manages university staff records.
Mr. Katongole commended the partnership with RENU that working the Uganda OSHID Consortium they were able to integrate the systems and report appropriately.
“Because this information belongs to a staff or a researcher, they can always revoke permission. However, we follow data acquisition guidelines. Our role is to connect and synchronize. Since there is a bit of change management required, I’m happy that Prof. Wamala has gone around orienting stakeholders”, remarked Mr. Katongole.
Dr. Stephen Wandera contributing to the discussion, was glad for university’s resolve to leverage the ORCID platform for research identification and journaling.
“We could encourage staff members to make sure that they have created the profiles with the Web of Science, and many others. We need to make sure that as scientists, we are located and positioned properly in the global space”, Dr Steven Wandera reported.
Dr. Wandera said that through ORCID registration, the university will have better rankings and the contribution as individual researchers and institutions are properly allocated.
Dr. Sabrina Kitaka, supplementing on the engagement, commended the initiative and the benefits towards the university and the research ecosystem.
Dr. Zahara Nampewo and others confirmed having an ORCID but may require further assistance on how to tag their publications. Similar to the views of other GMC members, Dr. Zahara Nampewo and Dr. Dorothy Okello thanked DRIP for organizing the training.
In his closing remarks, Chairperson MAKRIF, Professor Fred Massagazi Masaazi said that the topical conversation on the development was very important and the benefits of ORCID was evident and relevant to MAKRIF. He was delighted that Mak-RIF staff had joined the discussion. Prof. Masagazi Masaazi pledged support of MAKRIF in advancing Makerere University’s Research Visibility and Impact by championing ORCID adoption through MAKRIF.
Through the Food for Peace initiative, the Rotary Club of Makerere Passport is stepping in to provide meals to over 200 students who struggle to afford meals, especially during the examination period.
According to Professor Barnabas Nawangwe, the Vice Chancellor of Makerere University and President of the Rotary Club of Makerere Passport, hundreds of students drop out of Makerere University every year due to financial constraints. The reality for those who remain is sometimes tougher, for they struggle to survive.
While addressing the media at a press conference held at Makerere University on November 11, 2026, Prof. Nawangwe shared that many of these students skip meals, a situation that is more frequent during examination periods, when the demands on the brain are much greater.
The University is aware of these reports and in his capacity as Vice Chancellor and President of the Rotary Club of Makerere Passport, Prof. Nawangwe lobbied the club to take action.
In preparation for intervention, a comprehensive needs assessment was conducted, inviting students to come forward and share their needs. About 200 students responded to the survey, indicating a pressing need for food support during examinations.
The findings birthed a legacy project code-named “Food for Peace”, targeting, for a start, 206 students at Makerere University, regardless of their sponsorship status, as long as they participated in the survey. The Makerere Rotary Peace Centre spearheaded the survey that helped identify the first cohort of those who will benefit from the initiative and guided that for a dignified experience, the beneficially names will remain in records and not disclosed.
Prof. Nawangwe emphasised that the core mission of this cause is to move a step up with efforts to ensure that economically challenged students at Makerere University do not go a day without a meal. Service providers in halls of residence will serve these students their food following a meal card.
Seeding the Project
The Guest of Honour, Mr. Emmanuel Katongole, the Rotary International Director (RID) for Zone 22, while launching the initiative shared his personal experience of facing challenges that almost barred him from attaining an education. He believes education is an equaliser in life and that everyone should have a chance to access it. He reminded those in the room that they were all there together because of education.
RID Katongole highlighted the importance of supporting people, both as individuals and as a community. He expressed pride in being part of the launch of this project because it is going to create many more “Emmanuel Katongoles” through the provision of a meal.
He therefore personally committed to contribute UGX 5 million annually, starting this year, for as long as he lives or until the project ends. He also pledged to remain part of the initiative.
92nd Guild Commends “Service above Self”
From a student perspective, H.E. Kadondi Gracious, the 92nd Makerere University Guild President, delivered a vote of thanks for the initiative. She noted that students had petitioned Parliament to intervene in the matter and were happy that solutions had started coming from within.
She framed this move not just as charity, but as a way of restoring hope to Makerereans who were unsure of how they were going to maneuver through the examination period without lunch. In appreciation, the Guild President commended Rotary for showing what it actually means to offer service above self.
Sustainability of the “Food for Peace” Project
Although the immediate intervention is directed towards fewer than 300 students who expressed a need for assistance, the vision is bigger and looking beyond the current examination season.
As the Rotary Passport Club President noted, “if this is going to be sustainable, it means we are going to look out for partners to create a fund to sustain this initiative.”
The Club Secretary, Associate Professor Helen Nambalirwa Nkabala, explained that as a legacy project, it is not a one-off. She committed the services of the Passport Club to supporting this legacy project.
Grounding the sustainability move, RID Emmanuel Katongole set the pace by pledging annual cash and in-kind support towards providing consistent assistance to students throughout subsequent academic periods, thereby enhancing student welfare over the long term.
Dr Winfred Kabumbuli, the Makerere University Dean of Students, showed strong support for the initiative since it falls within the core mission of student welfare. She appreciated the collaboration with Makerere University Passport Club, and pledged to rally internal support.
Call to Action and Contributions
The Club President made an appeal to alumni, corporate bodies, development partners, individuals and institutions of goodwill to join this noble cause, intended to ensure that students not only remain at the University but also attain their full potential on a full stomach.
The immediate fundraising goal is UGX 10 million shillings, which is required to implement the initial phase of food support. Excess amounts collected will facilitate an increase in the number of beneficiaries and after the examination period, add to the kitty for subsequent semesters.
Support and assistance can come in the form of financial contributions, food supplies, corporate partnerships, logistical support, and long-term partnerships.
To facilitate support, the club, through its Charter Treasurer (C.T.), Professor Winston Tumps Ireeta, shared the banking details as follows
Bank: NCBA Uganda Limited.
Account Name: Rotary Club of Makerere Passport
Uganda Shillings (UGX) Account Number: 228129200017
United States Dollar (USD) Account Number: 228129200027
SWIFT Code: CBAFUGKA
Bank Code: 36
Students were left with one final promise from the Chief Guest, “you are no longer alone. You have a partner in the Rotary Club of Makerere Passport.”
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