It is January 2019. We are invited to a meeting with various stakeholders of the innovation ecosystem in Uganda.

Post-its and markers on the tables, walls filled up with paper – it’s the usual brainstorm drill. First, we start with mapping the start-up ecosystem and its various challenges. Then the group meeting continues with a discussion on how to strengthen the Ugandan start-up ecosystem. One statement stands out: ‘The biggest threats to the growing start-up ecosystem are fragmentation and lack of transparency not the lack of capital’.

Indeed, when taking a closer look at the ecosystem, it is obvious that the number of innovation hubs and entrepreneur support organisations (ESOs) is rising. These innovation hubs and ESOs are all founded on a strong belief in Ugandan entrepreneurship and they are all eager to support innovators to thrive. Some of the challenges these ESOs face were uncovered as well. Most ESOs are young and small, and work in silos, with scattered impact and perceived competition.

The role of UNCDF in the innovation ecosystem is driven by the quest for digital solutions that solve real community needs in key sectors like agriculture, education, health, energy, and finance. Quickly, UNCDF Uganda realised that to support innovators, there is a need to go beyond technical assistance and grants. An environment that nurtures sustainable start-ups, that can thrive and reach scale needed to be put in place. Therefore, UNCDF called upon a meeting with some of the key members of the Ugandan start-up ecosystem to discuss ways to address the fragmentation in the ecosystem. The idea of “Startup Uganda” was born.

This idea got consolidated in February 2019, when a larger group of start-up hubs and ESOs agreed upon the formation of Startup Uganda (SU) as an association of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Support Organizations (IESO) working towards strengthening the start-up support ecosystem and sector. With the support of UNCDF, the association has achieved real progress, with more than thirty members to date, a functional secretariat, and various steering committees put in place. Also, Startup Uganda has developed a five-year strategic plan that stipulates the ambition for a stronger Ugandan start-up ecosystem.

Official launch of Startup Uganda

The most visible activity of Startup Uganda is the Kampala Innovation week (KIW). The first KIW 2019 edition, that brought together over 100 exhibitors, 100 speakers, and 1,000 attendees was a tremendous success. Startup Uganda attracted important partners including key ministries of ICT and innovation, development partners like UNFPA, Enabel, GSMA, and International Trade Center. KIW has become an annual event to look forward to in the Uganda innovation ecosystem.

KIW 2020 is coming up this November 2020. It is going virtual and themed “Recovery, Resilience, Innovation” to tackle the current situation of the Covid-19 pandemic. UNCDF, as a founding partner of Start-up Uganda, continues to support this initiative.

A good sounding board to understand the achievements of this initiative would be listening to the members themselves: “To me the greatest success is the shift in human relations between us members as we have slowly opened up to each other more, the willingness to be vulnerable with each other speaks for the increased comfort but mostly trust levels. The growing dynamics in the interactions of members is also revealed with transparency in communication to the Startup Uganda Coordinator. The fact that members easily share their concerns proactively and also reach out to each other on different accounts beyond mutual programming activities shows that we are closing the fragmentation. Today, I can simply pick my phone with so much ease and call a member to process something I believe they can help me with"

At UNCDF, we continue to foster such initiatives beyond Uganda in Asia and Africa. We are inspired by the systemic changes we witness in the various markets where we operate. For Startup Uganda and Uganda’s innovation ecosystem, we know that a lot still needs to be done, but the seeds of growth have been sown.

We look forward to a successful KIW 2020 that will take place from 26-28 November 2020. Stay tuned as we post about the proceedings of this new edition.

Click here to register and find out more about KIW 2020.