Business & Management

Statisticians Urged to Digitalise Data Analysis

Published

4 years ago

November 19, 2021

The Guest of Honour-Hon. Amos Lugoloobi (4th R), Prof. Ben Kireyera (C), Prof. Eria Hisali (3rd R), Dr. James Wokadala (2nd R) and Dr. Godfrey Akileng (R) with Speakers and Delegates at the Annual Statistics Day Symposium held on 18th November 2021, Food Science & Technology Conference Hall, Makerere University.

The School of Statistics and Planning has been urged to embrace digitalisation of data analysis as a way of modernising national statistical systems to support sociocultural development in Africa.

The call was made by Prof. Ben Kiregyera, a senior statistician and researcher, during a symposium to mark the Africa Statistics Day held 18th November 2021 at Makerere University.

The symposium was organised by the School of Statistics and Planning in partnership with Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBoS) and the Uganda Statistics Society (USS), under the theme “Modernizing National Statistical Systems to support sociocultural development in Africa.”

The Dean School of Statistics and Planning (SSP) Dr. James Wokadala (2nd L) poses for a group photo with colleagues from SSP at the Symposium.

The keynote speaker, Prof. Kiregyera pointed that there is a lot of delay and laxity in collection and delivering real time data to the public by the responsible bodies which jeopardises the work of other bodies that use this same data e.g. the Central Bank and other institutions.

He believes this can be addressed in various ways like scaling up of Statistics advocacy, statistical literacy, extending frontiers to the traditional,national systems through embracing the new data sources that include telecom data, E_ commerce, Web crawling, Social Media and GIS.

Countries in the East Africa that have since migrated digitally in terms of data analysis include Rwanda that uses tabs which are assembled within the country by university students as well as Kenya.

The Keynote Speaker, Prof. Ben Kiregyera

The Professor pointed out that the demand for data analysts in America is higher than that of statisticians something that should push all the statisticians to embrace new skills to increase their competence in a very fast changing world that doesn’t need manual work but digital. This he said can be achieved through building new data sources,capacity building in data science as well as producing more data scientists.

Speaking at the opening the symposium, the Principal of the College of Business and Management Sciences, Prof. Eria Hisali said the college intends to launch an initiative dabbed the “The policy Lab series.” Witch will attract dignitaries especially policy makers from Parliament,cabinet, senior civil servants and academia to meetings to address various issues affecting the economy of the country.

Minister of State for Planning, Hon. Amos Lugoloobi (C) with Principal CoBAMS-Prof. Eria Hisali (L) and Dean SSP-Dr. James Wokadala (R).

Prof. Hisali added that the college had created a unit specifically for data management, in it’s infancy as young as 3 years, intending to support agencies in data analysis.

“We have been able to run courses in computer management and impact evaluation that attracted over 60 students from various parts of the world,” he said.

The Guest of Honour, Hon. Amos Lugoloobi.

Responding to the Principal, the Minister of State for Planning, Hon. Amos Lugoloobi, who was the guest of honor noted that over the years there has been a gap in dissemination of the service to the public and if such future plans are fulfilled then the college will have played a very big role in developing the economy of this country.

The Dean of the School of Statistics and Planning, Dr. James Wokadala, thanked his staff for their continued contribution to training statisticians in the country. Dr. Wokadala called upon statisticians to be aggressive,proactive and vigilant to fill any gap in the economy even when they are not called upon. The School of Statistics and Planning has been in existence since 1968 and has so far and trained over 2,200 undergraduate students with 5 programmes and 9 post graduate programmes with 3,030 students, the Dean noted.

Article author and Symposium Moderator, Ms Betty Kyakuwa.

Betty Kyakuwa is the Principal Communication Officer CoBAMS and CEES

The Africa Statistics Day Symposium recording:

Africa Statistics Day Symposium, 18th November 2021, Makerere University

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Business & Management

Cementing the Mak-UNISA partnership: Prof. Sarah Ssali meets Dr. Sizile Makola

Published

34 minutes ago

April 15, 2026

Ritah Namisango

L-R: Associate Prof. Godfrey Akileng, Dean,School of Business, Visiting Scholar-Dr. Sizile Makola, DVCAA-Prof. Sarah Ssali, Ms. Agnes Sansa-PhD Student during the meeting on 13th April 2026.

On 13^th April 2026, Prof. Sarah Ssali, the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic Affairs) of Makerere University, hosted Dr. Sizile Makola, a Visiting Scholar and Senior Lecturer from the University of South Africa (UNISA).

Makerere University and the University of South Africa committed to partnership and collaboration through a signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Consequently, Dr. Makola, a researcher and an expert in human resource and business management is scheduled to spend two weeks at Makerere University, interacting with the leadership at different levels, researchers, students, as well as staff in the Department of Marketing and Management, School of Business under the College of Business and Management Sciences (CoBAMS).

Additionally, the visit accords Dr. Makola the golden opportunity to finalise her comparative studies with members of staff from the Department of Marketing and Management on behalf of Makerere University for the Ugandan context.

The meeting between the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic Affairs) and Dr. Sizile Makola was attended by Associate Professor Godfrey Akileng-the Dean, School of Business, and Ms. Agnes Sansa from the Department of Marketing and Management.

Welcoming the Visiting Scholar, the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic Affairs) urged Dr. Makola to solidify the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between both universities through academic exchanges and deepening scholarship on African-centred leadership.

Prof. Ssali shared a brief trajectory that has shaped Uganda’s workspace. She mentioned the critical role of three pillars that have fundamentally influenced the human resource development landscape in Uganda namely: Cultural practices, Structural Adjustment Programs (SAP), and Spirituality/Religion. She also acknowledged the distinct historical differences between Uganda and South Africa.

Dr. Makola’s discussion with the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic Affairs) also featured the ongoing comparative study that Dr. Sizile Makola and Ms. Agnes Sansa are conducting in relation to how organizational and human resource management conditions shape the recognition and conversion of women leadership resilience in Uganda and South Africa.

The study is titled: Ubuntu/Obuntu Bulamu, Emotional Capital and Women’s Leadership Resilience: A Comparative Study Across Public and Private Sectors in South Africa and Uganda.

Impressed by the ongoing study, Prof. Ssali implored the visiting faculty-Dr. Sizile Makola to share with her the findings in due course.

Prof. Ssali expressed the readiness of the Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic Affairs) to work with the different units within Makerere University, and the University of South Africa, to support programmes aimed at strengthening collaboration, partnership, research, and internationalization.

On 10^th April 2026, Dr. Makola delivered a captivating guest lecture titled,Re-Imagining Human Resource Management in Africa, targeting undergraduate and postgraduate students pursuing human resource management courses at Makerere University.

Emphasizing the need to integrate indigenous knowledge and organizational practice, Dr. Makola argued that researchers should theorize from African contexts, treat indigenous knowledge as a source of theory, use methodologies capturing moral, communal, and context-bound dimensions of work, and build concepts from African languages, values, and institutional histories.

She stressed the need for African-centered human resource management thinking, rather than just adding local case studies to Western frameworks. Dr. Makola’s argument was informed by limitations of Western human resource management frameworks, which assume autonomous individuals, formal institutions, and technical organizations, which are separate from family and community.

Related articles:

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African Scholarship Must Theorize from Indigenous Knowledge to Build Contextually Grounded Leadership Systems,” Dr. Sizile Makola

“African Scholarship Must Theorize from Indigenous Knowledge to Build Contextually Grounded Leadership Systems,” Dr. Sizile Makola

Business & Management

Call For Applications: Student Mobility – University of Padova, Italy (Oct 2026-Jan 2027)

Published

1 day ago

April 14, 2026

Mak Editor

Group Photo of the trainers and trainees that took part in the workshop on multivariate statistics and time series analysis, held 11th-20th June 2024 between the School of Statistics and Planning, CoBAMS and University of Padova, Italy. Makerere University School of Statistics and Planning-University of Padova, Italy dynamic workshop on multivariate statistics and time series analysis, 11th to 20th June 2024, Makerere University, Kampala Uganda, East Africa.

Arising from an existing Memorandum of Understanding (until September 2028) between University of Padova, Italy (UniPd) and Makerere University (Mak), the two institutions partnered and will jointly implement the Bilateral Agreement for the mobility for students between 2026 and 2027. At Mak, the Departmental Flow Coordinator is Symon Peter Wandiembe (PhD) and the project Principal Investigator and Contact Person is Saint Kizito Omala (PhD), both of Department of Statistical Methods and Actuarial Science (DSMAS).

In this regard, the Department of Statistical Methods and Actuarial Science wishes to announce opportunities for student mobility to the Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Padova, Italy for the Winter Semester, October 2026 – January 2027.

The selection process shall entail five-steps:

Step 1: Submission of documents by candidates for nomination, with an internal deadline of April 20^th, 2026, 05.00 p.m. (EAT) to allow for time to process nomination applications;
Step 2: Meeting of the Nomination Committee to review documents received from applicants;
Step 3: Submitting the list of nominated candidates, by April 30^th, 2026, to the International Projects and Mobility Office of the University of Padua, Italy;
Step 4: Eligibility check and communication to successful candidates by the International Projects and Mobility Office of the University of Padua, Italy; and
Step 5: Application for the Mobility opportunity by successful candidates.

Please see download for detailed call.

Inquiry

S.K. Omala via +256 772 491545 before April 20^th, 2026.

Advert Bilateral UniPd_Mak_Agreement_for Student Mobility Download

Business & Management

Mak CoBAMS Hosts UNISA’s Dr. Sizile Makola

Published

7 days ago

April 8, 2026

Ritah Namisango

L-R: Dr. Zaina Nakabuye, Dr. Jude Mugarura, Dr. Agnes Sansa, Dr. Sizile Makola, Prof Edward Bbaale and Dr. Anthony Tibaingana at the 8th April 2026 meeting in the Office of the Principal. Principal of the College of Business and Management Sciences (CoBAMS), Prof. Edward Bbaale welcomes Dr. Sizile Makola, a Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management from the University of South Africa (UNISA), to the College and Makerere University, Kampala Uganda, East Africa, 8th April 2026.

On Wednesday 8^th April 2026 the Principal of the College of Business and Management Sciences (CoBAMS), Prof. Edward Bbaale received and welcomed, Dr. Sizile Makola, a Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management from the University of South Africa (UNISA), to the College and Makerere University.

The interaction meeting held in the Office of the Principal brought onboard the following members of staff from the Department of Marketing and Management, School of Business: Dr. Jude Mugarura, Dr. Zaina Nakabuye, Dr. Agnes Sansa, and Dr. Anthony Tibaingana.

Dr.Sizile Makola is visiting Makerere University for two (2) weeks to cement the MoU between Makerere University and UNISA and to finalise her comparative studies with staff from the department of marketing and management on behalf of Makerere University for the Ugandan context.

Dr. Makola is scheduled to deliver an interactive guest lecture to undergraduate and postgraduate human resource management students on Friday 10^th April 2026 from 2:00pm to 4:00pm in the School of Business, Conference Hall.