Business & Management
Academicians Retooled on the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA)
By Jane Anyango
Over 30 members of the academia comprising staff and graduate students from Makerere University School of Economics, Muni University and Makerere University Business School on 28th September, 2021 converged for a training on the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA).
The blended seminar held physically and virtually was organized by the Environment for Development Initiative (EfD-Mak) Centre facilitated by the Makerere University don, who is also Research Fellow at the EfD-Mak center and Fulbright Scholar Dr. Nickolas Kilimani.
Dr. Kilimani streamed live from the USA on the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting focusing on the Integrated Water Resources Management, Policy Analysis and Decision making.
Dr. Kilimani highlighted the recent developments in Environmental-Economic Accounting in Uganda, the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting and its objectives, Water resources accounting modules and the role of Water Accounting in Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM).
Dr. Kilimani observed that the national economic policy has been underpinned by macroeconomic theory and the necessary statistics are collected and arranged using the System of National Accounts (SNA) which covers all economic activity from production to consumption and accumulation, and all industries using the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as the key indicator.
He noted that the basic theoretical foundation of the SNA has not changed since 1953 even with the detail that has evolved with technological, economic and social change adding that, for more than 70 years, governments and business have used the information from the SNA as an information source in economic analysis and policy.
“The SNA does not adequately account for the environment and yet economic activity can adversely drive both observed and unobserved changes in it. The System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) aims to address the deficiency of the traditional national accounting (the SNA) by accounting for the environment and linking it to environmental information through common concepts, definitions and classifications” Dr. Kilimani stated.
Compared to the SNA, Kilimani said, the SEEA is not yet widely used in decision making, partly because, it has recently been adopted as an international standard.
Dr. Kilimani said the objectives of SEEA are to develop a consistent data system for economic and environmental data and provide a common system to derive indicators and measure sustainable development.
He explained that the SEEA provides a better measure of national wealth to include not only produced capital but also natural capital, and assesses availability of natural resources, their use in production and final consumption and the cost of depletion. In addition Kilimani said, SEEA assess the level and cost of emissions and other waste from production and consumption and identifies monetary flows related to the environment which are already within the SNA (e.g., expenditures on environmental protection, environmental taxes and subsidies,etc.)
Dr. Kilimani underscored the role of Water Accounting in Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) noting that the growing pressure on water resources and high uncertainty on future water availability have caused the urgent need for better planning and management.
He emphasized that water is not only essential to cover basic needs for humans and the environment that underpins them, it is also a key factor for the economic development of diverse sectors with conflicting interests as regard to its use.
“The IWRM paradigm is considered a good approach to deal with those complexities. It proposes a coordinated utilization of water and land resources to support economic and social development without compromising environmental sustainability.
It recognizes that water management is a key aspect since human intervention is the trigger for all trade-offs and conflicts around water. IWRM highlights the influence of catchment management on water resources quantity and quality, as well as the need to preserve the natural capital for future generations.” He added.
Dr. Kilimani said Water management is considered a social, economic, and political issue rather than just technical and therefore, stakeholder involvement in water management is needed and this translates into legal requirements for public participation and transparency in water governance.
“The value of water, the opportunity costs of its allocation, or the costs of making it available should be known and recognized in order to incentivize water use efficiency. The implementation of those legal requirements calls for making information about water publicly available in a clear and accessible way. In this sense, water accounting emerges as a useful tool to promote efficiency and transparency in water resource planning and management”, Kilimani stated.
The current and proposed framework for IWRM in Uganda
Dr. Kilimani said the existing institutional and policy framework shows the multiple institutions charged with the management of water resources in Uganda, but, there is a need for an explicit connection between water sector policies and those of the social-economic sectors, since water resources are a key input into the country’s economic and social sectors.
“The institutional framework in Uganda, provides for a key component such as Water for Production. Institutions in charge of managing the productive sectors of the economy, i.e., MoFPED, (MAAIF), and the MTTI need to link their development plans and policies with those of the water sector. A sound national water policy should relate the different development plans of the social-economic sectors in an explicit manner”. Kilimani said.
In the (2015) paper, Dr. Kilimani and other researchers proposed a framework for policy analysis which relates the development plans for the different social-economic sectors to those of the water sector.
This framework he said is aimed at providing policy analysis of IWRM in a typical economy by linking e.g., agriculture, industry, households, hydro-electricity and navigation which are key sectors that primarily depend on water.
The don explained that development plans in these sectors involve several policy variables and inputs. Therefore, the interaction between the policy variables and their impacts are monitored through multiple indicators in the social-economic and ecological domains.
“Given the multiplicity of variables, the SEEA framework uses aggregated water data as do the existing approaches for analyzing the associated policy impacts.
Computable general equilibrium (CGE) models also use aggregation and hierarchical decomposition in order to simplify model development and data compression to manageable sizes.
While the aggregation hides some of the temporal and spatial variability, it still preserves the fundamental trends that help to provide needed answers by policy-makers”, Kilimani said.
SEEA, a new area of interest to academicians and the Government of Government
The Director EfD-Mak Center Prof. Edward Bbaale described the seminar as the most exciting because it brought on board a new area which is of interest to the Government of Uganda.
Prof. Bbaale said, Uganda Bureau of Statistics, the National Planning Authority and other partners are trying to work on the system of Environmental-Economic Accounting away from the conventional system of National Accounting.
“Our System of National Accounting is deficient in incorporating Environmental aspects because as we produce and consume, then in one way or another, we are depleting the environment which we refer to as natural capital and this natural capital is all the time depreciating but there is no way in our conventional GDP measurements that, but now, this new system is solution to this”, Prof. Bbaale stated.
From the academic perspective, Prof. Bbaale commended the facilitator for showing participants how to undertake the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting and ably bringing participants on board in terms of the key variables that are important in this new system specific to the water sector.
The Director appreciated Dr. Kilimani for exposing participants to the policy, non-policy and the output variables and giving tips on some methods such as the Computable general equilibrium (CGE) which can be utilized to understand the impact of a policy decision on the rest of the economy in terms of the social, economic and environmental outcome.
“The lesson here is that we need to invest our time into understanding this new System of Environmental-Economic Accounting as a way of incorporating new ventures in our research as economists and academicians. And to our graduate students, this is an area worthy of investing their time and I am glad that a number of graduate students attended this seminar”, Prof. Edward Bbaale said.
Prof. Bbaale said, a number of reports are already out and that SEEA is an area which is very virgin, where very limited research has been undertaken partly because of lack of numbers that incorporate the environment into the entire national analysis.
“But now, some strides have been taken, some milestones are being achieved and if our own, Dr. Nickolas Kilimani with a Fulbright Scholar in the US is having all these on his fingertips, it is a huge resource to Makerere University, to our country and it is a starting point of deeper analysis into how the environment is being affected when we are doing our production and consumption activities”, Prof. Bbaale said.
He reported that the seminar was quite intriguing and important for national policy and pledged to arrange to involve policy makers from the Ministry of Water and Environment and the National Water and Sewerage Corporation in the next seminar.
Participants comment on the seminar
Makerere University PhD student from the School of Economics Alex Aliga, who is also a lecturer at Muni University Uganda said the seminar was timely.
“It has enriched many of the things that I had learnt in class and I had taken for granted. The System of Environment and Economic Analysis though new is very important and interesting because once you begin to understand Natural Resource Accounting and integrate it into GDP, then we get to understand the full value of our resources. In that case, it means that we may actually be richer than what we thought we are. Some of these things are not easy to bring to the GDP which is the measure of our national economy.
I got many lessons; – understanding how you can apply the theoretical things into practical and to influence policy is very important for our country. Given the fact that our resources are under attack, climatic change and environmental issues are real, we need this knowledge so as to be able to sustainably use our resources for a better future”, Mr. Aliga said.
Dr. Paul Edabu, a Senior Lecturer at Muni University said:
“The day’s seminar was an eye opener to the current situation in Uganda bearing in mind that we have two blocks of people who are in accounts and economics and there is no integration even in our ministries.
Our country is at a paradox, today people are restricted to cut trees from the forests and also carrying out farming in the wetlands and the next day, a factory is erected in the wetland. This seminar is timely and something I had yearned to learn because it incorporates the environment as a key resource into the national accounting system”, Dr. Edabu commented.
SEEA and the Government of Uganda
Government of Uganda (GoU) is moving towards resource-led industrialization by developing a set of natural capital accounts under the Uganda Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) program. The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), National Development Plan, and Uganda Green Growth Development Strategy (UGGDS) recognize the challenges of development planning without accounting for its effect on natural resources, many of which are non-renewable.
In cognizance of the above, GoU with her development partner UNEP with its World Conservation Monitoring Centre arm is working with the Darwin Initiative to develop Natural Capital Accounts for Uganda.
The project is aligned with existing initiatives on natural capital accounting, i.e., the Gaborone Declaration for Sustainable Development in Africa, the UN project on Natural Capital Accounting, and the World Bank Wealth Accounting and the Valuation of Ecosystem Services programme.
The Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) Ministry of Water and Environment, and Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development commenced with the development of land accounts and Water accounts in 2019. Under the NCA program, the country launched the Wood Asset and Forest Resources Accounts.
Natural Capital Accounting effort is based on the international statistical standard, System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA).
Jane Anyango is the Principal Communication Officer, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES)
![[L-R] Dr.Godfrey Akileng - Dean School of Business, Prof. Sarah N. Ssali - Ag. Vice Chancellor, Chief Guest - Mr. Odrek Rwabwogo, and Gordon Katwirenabo-Assistant Commissioner, Quality Assurance and Value Addition, MAAIF at the Congress.](https://news.mak.ac.ug/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Entreprenuership-Congress-2025-400x240.jpg)
![[L-R] Dr.Godfrey Akileng - Dean School of Business, Prof. Sarah N. Ssali - Ag. Vice Chancellor, Chief Guest - Mr. Odrek Rwabwogo, and Gordon Katwirenabo-Assistant Commissioner, Quality Assurance and Value Addition, MAAIF at the Congress.](https://news.mak.ac.ug/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Entreprenuership-Congress-2025-80x80.jpg)
Business & Management
Brewing Innovation: 9th Annual Youth Expo showcases enterprises in Uganda’s coffee value chain
By Ritah Namisango and Monica Meeme
On 17th October 2025, the Makerere University Freedom Square was a beehive of activity as over 600 students from the College of Business and Management Sciences (CoBAMS) participated in the 9th Annual Innovation and Youth Expo.
Organized by the Makerere University Entrepreneurship and Outreach Centre, the 2025 Innovation and Youth Expo, focused on Uganda’s most strategic Agricultural sector – COFFEE.
Under the theme, Brewing Prosperity: Youth Entrepreneurship in Uganda’s Coffee Value Chain, student entrepreneurs exhibited more than 300 innovations including youth coffee brands, brewing demonstrations, agri-tech prototypes, live cupping sessions, among others.
The Youth Expo focused on amplifying youth-led innovations across the entire coffee value chain—from farm to cup, providing a hands-on, interactive platform for young entrepreneurs to exhibit their products, prototypes, and business ideas, while engaging directly with industry stakeholders.
By placing the youth at the center of the value chain, the Youth Expo demonstrated the untapped potential of innovation, creativity, and enterprise among Uganda’s next generation of entrepreneurs.
Student innovations for real-world impact:
The Director of the Makerere University Entrepreneurship and Outreach Centre, Dr. Sarah Bimbona, urged students to view their innovations not just as academic projects, but as the starting point for real-world impact.
“These innovations should not just end here or be seen as projects for marks. Continue nurturing those dreams, take them further, and make them a reality,” she advised.
She recognized the critical role of faculty and mentors, specifically appreciating them for their tireless support in guiding students through their innovation undertakings.
Dr. Bimbona emphasized the importance of linking academic learning with practical enterprise, highlighting that student-led innovations have the potential to create meaningful economic and social change.
Students encouraged to embrace entrepreneurship:
The Dean, School of Business, Associate Professor Godfrey Akileng specified that entrepreneurship is one of the flagship initiatives of the College of Business and Management Sciences. He encouraged the students to seize the moment. “This is your opportunity to showcase your innovations, to interact with industry players, and to change your mindset from job-seekers to job creation,” he said. “Let the entrepreneurship Expo awaken a new spirit in you-one that says-yes, I can make it.”
Associate Professor Akileng cited the story of Bill Gates as an example of what determination and innovation can achieve, reminding the students that greatness often starts from simple beginnings. “There is no reason we cannot build something extraordinary from coffee and other local products,” he stated, emphasizing the value of entrepreneurship in national transformation.
The Dean, School of Business, expressed deep appreciation to the industry partners for their collaboration and generosity. “You have invested time, knowledge and financial support to be here. Thank you for supporting the Entrepreneurship Congress and Expo,” he remarked.
BRAC Uganda participates in the Expo:
The Communications Officer of BRAC Uganda, Ms. Barbra Ampaire, stressed that BRAC aims to equip youth with the tools and knowledge to discover and maximize their potential.
“We have supported thousands of youth through tailored programs in areas such as tailoring, livestock farming, agribusiness, financial literacy, and value addition. These initiatives are supported not just with training, but also with seed capital, equipment, and ongoing mentorship,” she said.
Ms. Ampaire noted that Makerere University, being a hub for students and young innovators, aligns perfectly with BRAC’s focus on empowering youth while they are still developing their ideas and ambitions.
A case for domestic consumption and local processing:
One of the participants from the BRAC Scholar Transition Fund, Mr. Godwin Birungi, emphasized the need for domestic consumption and local processing, highlighting that exporting raw coffee reduces employment opportunities and stunts economic growth.
“When we consume and process our coffee locally, we not only improve public health, but also create jobs and stimulate our economy.”
He encouraged young entrepreneurs to embrace patience, maintain consistency in their efforts, and stay focused on their goals, emphasizing that building a successful and sustainable business is a gradual process that requires dedication and resilience.
“Building a sustainable business takes time. Many successful entrepreneurs spent over a decade before making a profit. Find your passion, refine your strategy, and stay the course.” he said.
Student entrepreneurs speak out:
The Marketing Manager of Victory Cakes students’ enterprise, Ms. Keziah Nasenga, explained that the team offers two main product variations including coffee cupcakes with icing and those without, catering to different customer preferences.
She noted that the cupcakes are crafted using brewed coffee mixed with hot water, then blended with traditional baking ingredients such as flour, vanilla, and other flavor-enhancing components.
A student from the Ring Hair Stimulator group, Ms. Martha Alwe, said their product is a premium hair care solution designed to promote healthy hair growth, prevent breakage and hair loss in women, and enhance beard growth in men through a specialized beard oil.
“The full product line includes beard growth oil, hair shock treatment, hair spray, leave-in conditioner, and hair growth shampoo each carefully developed to address a wide range of hair care needs with quality and effectiveness,” she said.
The Marketing Manager of the team of Coffee Cupcake, Ms. Catherine Nasaazi, explained that the shampoo is enriched with sodium benzoate, tea tree oil, and other ingredients.
Precursor to the Youth Expo:
The 3rd Uganda Entrepreneurship Congress held on 16th October 2025 at Makerere University Yusuf Lule Central Teaching Facility Auditorium, provided a perfect transition into the 9th Annual Makerere University Youth Expo held on 17th October 2025 at the Freedom Square.
During the Uganda Entrepreneurship Congress, students listened to lived experiences and case presentations from young, mid-level and senior entrepreneurs. The panelists who discussed topics on Market Readiness, Value Addition and Story Telling, as well as, Financing the Future, enlightened the students and upcoming entrepreneurs to creating impact, access to markets and capital, and breaking the barriers in a competitive world.
The students gained valuable knowledge from the Chief Guest-Mr. Odrek Rwabwogo, Chair of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development, and the Keynote Speaker- Mr. Moses Nyabila, CEO of aBi Development Ltd.
Mr. Rwabwogo challenged the young entrepreneurs to think beyond Uganda’s borders, when he highlighted that true entrepreneurship lies in producing goods that can compete on the international market.
“When you build a business that can sell in another person’s market, you are a hero or heroine because what you have done is disrupting the status quo, which praises imports over exports. In this country, for instance in Kikuubo business area, you hear statements such as my container is about to reach Uganda, and not my container is leaving the yard in Uganda and is taking avocado to Spain or another country. I want the language to change.”
Partners of the Uganda Entrepreneurship Congress and Youth Expo: Makerere University (Mak), Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), National Coffee Research Initiative (NaCORI), BRAC Uganda, Tooke, Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at Makerere University, Vision Group, Mountain Harvest, Pepsi, Rainforest Alliance, Sumz, and the Banana Industrial Research & Development Centre.
Writers: Ritah Namisango, Principal Communication Officer at Makerere University & Monica Meeme, a student of Bachelor of Journalism and Communication at Makerere University.
Business & Management
Makerere University Young Entrepreneurs urged to prioritize value addition to enhance their innovation
![[L-R] Dr.Godfrey Akileng - Dean School of Business, Prof. Sarah N. Ssali - Ag. Vice Chancellor, Chief Guest - Mr. Odrek Rwabwogo, and Gordon Katwirenabo-Assistant Commissioner, Quality Assurance and Value Addition, MAAIF at the Congress.](https://news.mak.ac.ug/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Entreprenuership-Congress-2025.jpg)
Young entrepreneurs from Makerere University have been urged to focus on value addition, quality and branding if their innovations are to grow into sustainable businesses in the country.
The call was made by several speakers during the opening of the two-day Uganda Entrepreneurship Congress and Youth Expo (16th to 17th October 2025) hosted by Makerere University College of Business and Management Sciences, under the theme, Brewing Prosperity: Youth Entrepreneurship in Uganda’s Coffee Value Chain.
The annual event serves as a national platform for youth, entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, and private sector leaders to unlock youth-driven innovation.
The entrepreneurship congress and expo features over 600 students from the College of Business and Management Sciences (CoBAMS) showcasing more than 300 innovations, with a spotlight on the coffee sector. The expo is among the several initiatives that the University has launched to unlock the entrepreneurship potential of students and youth in Uganda.
According to Professor Barnabas Nawangwe, Vice Chancellor of Makerere University, the move was motivated by the high levels of youth unemployment in the country, which currently stands at 16.1 percent for those aged 18 to 30 (Uganda Bureau of Statistics, 2024).
Addressing the participants during the Entrepreneurship Congress, the Chief Guest-Mr. Odrek Rwabwogo, Chair of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development, rallied students and youth to embrace entrepreneurship.
“Education can come from strange places. Everyone has gifts, talents, abilities and resources to utilize. In a country with many unmet needs, entrepreneurship is about what you change, he said.
Mr. Rwabwogo stressed the value of local innovation. “Not everything can be commercialised especially in a country that imports 90% of what it consumes. Identify needs that outsiders will never cater for-our language, culture, and food. Those are unique strengths, he remarked.
Mr. Rwabwogo challenged the young entrepreneurs to think beyond Uganda’s borders, when he highlighted that true entrepreneurship lies in producing goods that can compete on the international market.
“When you build a business that can sell in another person’s market, you are a hero or heroine because what you have done is disrupting the status quo, which praises import. In this country, for instance in Kikuubo business area, you hear statements such as my container is about to reach Uganda, and not my container is leaving the yard in Uganda and is taking Ovocado to Spain or another country. I want the language to change.”
Representing the Vice Chancellor of Makerere University – Professor Barnabas Nawangwe, the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic Affairs), Professor Sarah Ssali noted that the expo comes at a time when youth unemployment stands at 16.1 percent, which informs the university’s move to challenge this growing reality.
“I am glad to note that Makerere University continues to champion innovations and turning graduates from job seekers into job creators, and champions of societal transformation. The expo is Makerere’s attempt to strategically locate itself in the conversation around coffee being the biggest export earner in the country,” she said.
Statistics indicate that Uganda exported 667,037 kilograms of coffee worth US$162.36 million, highlighting the sector’s importance to the economy and its role as a key foreign exchange earner. Despite this, most youth are excluded from high-value segments of the coffee value chain, such as processing, branding, and export, often remaining confined to low-income farm labor.
According to Professor Ssali, this disconnect represents both a critical risk and an unprecedented opportunity. The expo, therefore, serves as a national platform for youth, entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, and private sector leaders to unlock youth-driven innovation across the coffee value chain, from climate-smart farming and agri-tech to processing, branding, and global market access.
She believes that by moving beyond subsistence farming towards ownership, innovation, and high value enterprises, the youth in Uganda can secure a greater share of the global coffee market while catalyzing job creation and sustainable development.
Dr. Sarah Bimbona, Director of the Makerere University Entrepreneurship and Outreach Centre, said several of the innovations on display have the potential to be scaled into viable enterprises. She added that these new ventures would build on the success of over 150 companies that emerged from previous editions of the entrepreneurship expo.
Dr. Bimbona used the golden opportunity to highlight three requests for support. She appealed for support, noting that the Centre has spent nine years nurturing over 1,000 business ideas annually, yet the impact of these ideas remains difficult to measure due to lack of resources for tracer studies. Commending Mr. Rwabwogo for accepting to become the Patron of the Centre, Dr. Bimbona requested him to amplify the Centre’s reach and support for youth, women and broader economic development.
On opening opportunities, the Centre offers guidance to entrepreneurs free of charge and seeks partnerships to connect student ideas with the industry. “We have the expertise and experience. We just need that extra push to remain relevant in the business community,” she stated.
Dr. Bimbona reiterated the transformative power of mentorship that is provided through the Makerere University Entrepreneurship and Outreach Centre.
The Dean, School of Business, Associate Professor Godfrey Akileng specified that entrepreneurship is one of the flagship initiatives of the College of Business and Management Sciences. He encouraged the students to seize the moment. “This is your opportunity to showcase your innovations, to interact with industry players, and to change your mindset from job-seekers to job creation,” he said. “Let the entrepreneurship congress awaken a new spirit in you-one that says-yes, I can make it.”
Associate Professor Akileng cited the story of Bill Gates as an example of what determination and innovation can achieve, reminding the students that greatness often starts from simple beginnings. “There is no reason we cannot build something extraordinary from coffee and other local products,” he stated, emphasizing the value of entrepreneurship in national transformation.
The Dean, School of Business, expressed deep appreciation to the industry partners for their collaboration and generosity. “You have invested time, knowledge and financial support to be here. Thank you for supporting the Entrepreneurship Congress and Expo,” he remarked.
Associate Professor Akileng commended Dr. Sarah Bimbona, and the entire entrepreneurship team namely Dr. Cathy Mbidde, Dr. Kasimu Sendawula, Dr. Hanifah Nantale, Dr. Marion Nanyanzi, and Mr. Luke Muhwezi for nurturing student entrepreneurs at Makerere University.
The entrepreneurship congress featured a keynote address, and two panels focusing on: Market Readiness, Value Addition and Story Telling, as well as, Financing the Future.
The Keynote Speaker, Mr. Moses Nyabila, CEO of aBi Development Ltd, urged the government and private sector to establish an export fund to support young entrepreneurs in starting their businesses.
Mr. Nyabila explained that the fund would help young entrepreneurs launch simple start-ups that have the potential to grow into larger enterprises. The fund, he noted, would not only support production, but also empower entrepreneurs to handle basic packaging and export processes. According to him, such an initiative represents a critical form of value addition.
Mr. Nyabila added that such initiatives would help challenge the current status quo, which prioritizes imports over exports. He used the expo as a platform to call on the government to shift the national mindset toward building Uganda’s presence in the global export market.
During the panel discussions, contributors discussed several steps through which the young entrepreneurs can be equipped with skills that can help them to join the competitive market.
Some of the panelists included: Bob Paul Lusembo-Head of Business Growth, BRAC Uganda Bank, Geoffrey Okidi-Financial Deepening Uganda, Nakabuye Flavia Bwire- Inclusion and Microfinance Specialist, and Sectrine Muganzi-Coffee Farmer and Youth Entrepreneur.
Other panelists included Jackline Arinda Akampwera-CEO Jada Coffee, Gordon Katwirenabo-Assistant Commissioner, Quality Assurance and Value Addition, MAAIF, Edwin Danze- Head of Marketing, Next Media Group, and Godwin Birungi- Founder, Rubungi Enterprises.
The different Speakers acknowledged that while Uganda has no shortage of innovations, gaps in value addition and branding continue to undermine product competitiveness, reinforcing the stereotype that Ugandan products are of poor quality.
One of the panelists, Jackline Arinda Akampwera, CEO of Jada Coffee, noted that branding strongly influences perceptions of quality. In the same development, she argued that limited branding is also largely responsible for the misconception that Ugandan products are substandard.
“We have this perception that when we see a brand on a billboard, it must be of good quality. Branding is therefore central to entrepreneurship,” Arinda said. “In Uganda, there’s limited branding and value addition, which affects the marketability of our products,” she said
Arinda shared that before she joined the coffee business, she realized Uganda had no widely recognized coffee brands, despite being a top coffee producer. This inspired her to create a brand that would appeal even to non-coffee drinkers.
“You don’t have to be a coffee consumer to know coffee brands—just like you don’t have to be a football fan to know who Ronaldo is,” she said. “That’s what branding does. Even if people don’t drink coffee, they should know that Jada Coffee exists. I came in to change the way the market operates.”
She added that this lack of branding also explains the low domestic consumption of coffee. To address this, Arinda began introducing coffee at social functions—events that traditionally only offered juices and sodas—as part of efforts to popularize local coffee consumption.
Gordon Katwirenabo, Assistant Commissioner, QA and Value Addition, MAAIF agreed with Arinda. He stated that the government is very intentional in promoting value addition to the country’s produces.
“Value addition is very prominent in our policy framework. If you produce and get only money for production, then there is no value, and then you cannot achieve the economic importance and transformation that we need in our communities. So, through that were are very intentional in supporting value addition,” he said.
On his part, Godwin Birungi, Founder, Rubungi Enterprises noted that while branding is very important, branding alone is not enough if the products themselves lack quality. He argued that the two—branding and quality, must reinforce each other for a business to thrive.
“I realized that there is a need to be consistent in producing high quality products. The more you produce high quality, the more you lift your brand,” he said
-
General1 week agoCall for Applications: Government Sponsorship 2026/27
-
General1 week agoMakerere is No.1 in the Region – THE University Rankings
-
Agriculture & Environment2 weeks agoRUFS Project Team Trains Smallholder Farmers in Mbale City in Smart Agronomic Practices
-
General1 week agoZAMREN Board Visits Mak, Discusses AI
-
General7 days agoMak and University of the West of England Sign MoU to Advance Research, Innovation and Skills Development