December 2023 – Prime Time Communications

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: Investing in the movie industry and its value chain could be the next big thing

By Denis Jjuuko About 30 years ago, a Ugandan soap opera captured the imagination of the nation, turning hitherto unknown actors and actresses into household names. Some like Sam Bagenda who was quoted over the weekend, the public doesn’t even know their real names. Where he turns, he is known as Dr Bbosa after the character he portrayed so well in the famous series, That’s Life Mwattu. Other series followed such as Bibaawo and Ekitobeero trying to capture the market created by the success of That’s Life Mwattu. Actors took to the stage and it seemed a new industry was born. But it seemed the success of Ugandan TV shows were always short lived. Foreign soaps such as Sunset Beach, Generations, and Isidingo would always interrupt the flow, leaving Ugandan actors to only perform in poorly attended theatres. South American telenovelas and even Philippine ones have of recent been the rage. But it seems there is a revival of the Ugandan TV soaps. You have probably heard the kids in the neighborhood singing Sanyu Sanyu nkwagala, a theme song for the Sanyu series on one of the pay TV channels. Or you have been incessantly called to remind you that the “TV has been cut off yet Sanyu Sanyu Nkwagala is about to start, please pay up.” Sanyu revolves around a young fashion designer who marries into the extremely rich Kirunda family that runs the country’s biggest fashion enterprise. Kirunda, a cunning businessman or criminal depending on how you look at things is played by Abbey Mukiibi of the Kalisoliiso Crew. It is a well-crafted script and the production is good. It isn’t only Sanyu that is keeping soap lovers captivated. There is also Ssuubi, a domestic worker working for the family of coffee mogul Kaaya. Kaaya is played by renown actor Andrew Benon Kibuuka of the Bakayimbira fame. It also features visual artist and former Buganda Kingdom minister Owek Nuwa Wamala Nnyanzi. And of course, Comedy Factory and its Mzigo Express. The production of Ssuubi or Mzigo Express is as good as Sanyu even though sometimes the casting could have been better. There are several other Ugandan TV series and lovers can be hooked on TV the entire weekday evening. Of course, there are also some poorly done ones I have watched but there is no need to dwell on them. Even though these series are featuring many known faces, there are many actors and actresses I am seeing for the very first time and they are good at what they are doing. Many are young and smart and the future for the industry seems to be bright. Like I have argued before, the creative industry can employ millions of young people. There are 71 licensed TV stations in the country and hundreds of radio stations, most of which lack content. Audio dramas targeting mobile phone users could also be made. And of course, the internet opens many opportunities. Many young people already earn a living creating content on YouTube and TikTok. X, formerly Twitter, recently started paying verified users (may not be yet possible in Uganda though). However, some of the creators on platforms like TikTok produce bizarre videos in a bid to bait followers to watch them. Many such creators lack the skills and talent to write creative scripts and of course acting them out. I don’t think they will stay in the industry for long. So, there is a need to train more script writers and production crews if this is to work and most importantly create distribution channels and systems so the content can reach the target market. The training doesn’t necessarily have to be through formal education where people get degrees and such certificates. Hands on training would create the numbers necessary today to get these young people quickly into work. The emphasize must be on original content and not necessarily on recycling or even copying jokes like some standup comedians do. It also doesn’t have to be vulgar or tribal to sell either. What channels through which would this content be distributed? What synergies can be made? In Nollywood, Nigeria’s highflying film industry, it is estimated that each movie employs approximately 100 people from pre-production to movie production to post production. Nearly 3,000 movies are produced annually in Nollywood, which translates into approximately 300,000 jobs a year. Generally, a million people work in Nollywood. According to Business Day, a Nigerian newspaper, Nollywood contributes 2.3% of the country’s GDP. Nigeria is Africa’s biggest economy. Africa’s film and entertainment industry has the potential to create 20 million jobs and US$20 billion annually by 2025 according to UNESCO. This won’t happen on its own. Deliberate efforts will be needed for the industry to thrive. If you are looking for where to invest, what about the movie industry and its value chain? The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

December 19, 2023

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: Chanel mobile money interest payments to pension savings

By Denis Jjuuko Some old people in Uganda receive some Shs25,000 a month from the government to enable them to “afford life.” The people who are involved in this activity claim that the elderly on this program look forward to this money as it enables them pay for some household needs. Most people would like and even pray every single day to live long lives. I don’t know though how many would love to survive on this Shs25,000 (US$6.5) a month. Nevertheless, one is better than zero. Uganda’s workforce stands at more than 18 million people today. The majority of these people will in about 30 years retire from their jobs either because they have reached their age for retirement or too old to hustle. Most of these people today are unsalaried and will remain so for all their working lives as they work in the so-called informal sector. Even though most of these people will not be able to kuyiriba (hustle), many will still be alive given the improvements in medical treatment technologies, availability of information and living generally better lifestyles. The challenge they will face will be consistent income. For decades, many people banked on their children to look after them during retirement especially those that managed to pay school fees for these offspring. Although that may have worked in the past, it is one sure way of suffering as you wait for the benevolence of the children, who themselves may not have much or may prefer to spend their money elsewhere. We are increasingly becoming capitalistic. The social system that most people in Africa depended on is getting broken as the continent urbanizes. And if millions of people retire or unable to work every year, the government cannot be able to pay those on regular pension (retired civil servants), those being retrenched from public service and the elderly. Even if they pay, the Shs25,000 a month is too little to enable anyone live a decent life. Uganda isn’t the only country that has this problem. Africa is the youngest continent where the median age is 19 but with a working population of 788 million people. Like Uganda, the majority of these people will be retiring in 20-30 years. Again, like Uganda, the majority of these people (600 million) have no pension savings. When they retire, they will become destitute. In Uganda, employers are supposed to contribute to NSSF for their workers but the reality is that many people in informal jobs can’t do this. We are known as the most entrepreneurial country in the world but the majority of these entrepreneurs are kuyiriba-ring such as hawking, being paid for work done or per a day etc. Just study those who claim to own online shops or the guy slashing your compound where he comes once a week during the rainy season and maybe once a month during the dry season. Who will pay his NSSF? They may be catered for in the law but the reality is different. What needs to be done is to create systems that can enable people to save by seeing the benefits of it. Many people are increasingly becoming members of village saving schemes, saccos or investment clubs (building societies), and Nigiina (where people raise money for one person on a regular basis until every member has received their share) among others. But these are usually short term and not looking at pension 15 or 30 years later. I recently attended the African Pension Supervisors Association (APSA) conference and as experts debated pathways to sustainable inclusive pension in Africa, I kept on thinking about mobile money and how it can revolutionarize pension in Africa. Periodically, I receive some mobile money. Little amounts. Last month, I got Shs2,695 as interest payment. There about 40 million mobile money users in Uganda. There are two major mobile money companies in Uganda and they each pay out an average of Shs5 billion per a quarter to customers like me. That is Shs10 billion every three months. In a year, that is Shs40 billion on average. Imagine if this money was instead of sending it directly to me, they opened a pension account for me linked to my National ID where it is saved and invested? Growing at a net income of about 12% annually, this pension scheme would bring in Shs4.8 billion in net profit in the first year. If you compound this for 15-30 years and telcos contributing every quarter, many people would be able to retire with something. It can also be linked to the national health insurance scheme and allow each member to voluntarily contribute. It would require innovative incentives to work such as withdraws of a certain percentage every five years or funeral covers for parents, spouses or offspring. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

December 19, 2023

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: Predictable incomes, culture of paying debt key in lowering interests on loans

By Denis Jjuuko You have probably heard somebody say these not very magical words; “It is very little money,” especially when they are being asked to pay back some money, they were so desperate to borrow. Or somebody has accosted you for depositing money on a particular mobile money line without asking them first as they had a debt on a line on which you deposited. You also probably know somebody who came crying to borrow some money and has since switched off their phones or no longer answers your phone call. Some wise people have advised Ugandans to only lend people money that they can afford to lose. Imagine! This habit of failure to pay back is extensive. I saw a post with a quote attributed to the Bank of Uganda Deputy Governor saying that the Uganda Bankers Association had told him that commercial banks in the country have Shs5 trillion of loans in courts. Apparently, once some people borrow money from the banks, when payment time comes, they run to court disputing the amount to pay or the legality of the lender. As you know courts take their time to decide non-political cases. It can be years before a judge is allotted the case and then the scheduling and adjournment can take forever. As the judge is about to give his judgement, he is transferred and another judge is appointed to hear the case. Adjournment of cases is the norm in Ugandan courts. In the meantime, the lender is losing money and the borrower is in court purposely to play the long game. It’s perhaps one of the explanations for the high interest rates we pay on loans thereby affecting the country’s economic growth. Usually, we only complain about the banks and not our failure to honor our loan obligations. Failure to pay debt is one of the major impediments to growth. In his top selling autobiography, legendary businessman, Bulaimu Muwanga Kibirige (BMK) and now deceased, credited his growth on supplier’s credit where he received goods on credit and paid back. He said that many of his colleagues who always found ways not to pay back suppliers had their businesses collapse within a few years. Some of these people, he said, had been wealthier than him. By the time of his death, some used to call him for financial assistance. Of course, debt payment issues aren’t squarely on the shoulders of the debtors. The banks aren’t innocent either but there are also other issues why interest rates are high in Africa. The size of the economy, political instability, high levels of poverty and high inflation rates among others could provide richer explanations. But the borrowers can’t always be absolved. The majority of people in Africa have no predictable income since they largely work in subsistence agriculture, growing food for household consumption with the little surplus left to sell. Even those who practice commercial agriculture, the majority have small gardens and always unsure of their income. Today the tomato harvest is good but everyone has had a bumper harvest thereby crushing the prices. Next season, few farmers have remained in the business and the prices are high prompting everyone to grow the tomatoes the following season. By harvest time, there are simply too much tomatoes and the prices are down again. That is the circle most smallholder farmers operate in. Banks looking for somebody to lend money won’t even bother giving them a call. They know that chances of a borrower not being able to pay back are high. If they are to lend, they extend as little as possible (at high rate) which is unable to help get a farmer out of poverty. Yet 50km away, in the country’s capital, the tomatoes are on high demand that some are being imported into the country either as fresh tomatoes or factory processed tomato paste (look at the shelves in your local supermarket). This being the rain season, there are reports that farm gate milk prices have crushed by more than 50 percent. In December, at the first sign of a dry season, the prices will go up again. But farmers have no alternatives to preserve their milk and wait for the prices to go up. The money they would have made due to increases in the prices in the dry season will go into looking for water for the cows. You can say that about almost every crop or produce. If we want lower interest rates on loans, there is a need to ensure that the majority of our population who are involved in agriculture earn a predictable income, the judiciary must become efficient in disposing cases (Katikkiro Mayiga writes about this in his book Uganda:7-Key Transformation Idea), and cultivate a culture of people paying back their debts and stabilize the economy and the politics. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

December 7, 2023

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: Nyege Nyege and the case for local governments to identify their niche attractions

By Denis Jjuuko For many years, Jinja had lost its status as the industrial hub of Uganda when many factories closed following their privatization to private entities. The private investors preferred setting up in Kampala near to the market or executives didn’t want to abandon their Muyenga mansions for life on Kiira Road on the banks of River Nile. Jinja, with its wide streets, became somewhat sleepy, eventually known for making chapattis! But the picturesque location that is Jinja was always going to be key for its revival. Residential houses where once factory executives resided became bed and breakfast lodges. And tourism players started building hotels and lodges on cliffs where people could see the majestic Nile flowing towards the Mediterranean. Sports such as kayaking and bungee jumping were introduced. Someone brought in quad bikes and horse riding. Soon, Jinja became a preferred destination for tourists, honeymooners and those seeking a nook to break away from the hustle and bustle of Kampala. Many young people spend their weekends in Jinja. Located a mere 80km away from Kampala, the town is a cheaper option for those seeking gateways. Transport fares are reasonable and accommodation is affordable and there are lots of stuff to see and enjoy on budget. Eventually, factories returned to Jinja and many are being set up increasing the number of people in town. But also, Jinja still has big open spaces where big events can be staged. The agricultural show is a parmanent fixture on the town’s calendar and of recently, the famous Nyege Nyege that took place over the last weekend. There is no event that divides opinion like Nyege Nyege in Uganda. It has been debated in parliament and at one stage, MPs wanted to ban it even though people questioned if they had the legal mandate to do so. The ethics ministry termed it an immoral event. Busoga political stalwart Rebecca Kadaga showed up to preside over its opening ceremony, like she did again this year. Pictures and videos will emerge of a few people who have drunk a little too much or who are dancing seductively or dressed in clothes the size of handkerchiefs. Those against the four-day music festival will use such images to justify their opposition to the event as one that is leading to the erosion of the country’s moral compass. Regardless, young people arrive in Jinja in droves to enjoy the event. Many fly in from overseas and turn the town upside down for four days to the chagrin of the country’s morality police. Wherever people converge in large numbers, some may do certain things that many won’t approve of. People ‘misbehave’ at workplaces or even worship ‘crusades.’ There is no way, a few people wouldn’t let their passion take over during a musical festival. Anyway, it is during this event that Jinja experiences some bit of traffic gridlock and have the many lodges filled up. Some people turn their homes into temporary hotels while those in the camping tent business make a killing. Boda boda riders, chapatti makers and all sorts of small businesses make lots of money during this festival. Jinja local government authorities and the Uganda Revenue Authority must be smiling all the way to the bank. Banks themselves are smiling as well. However, if you are a local government in one of the major towns or cities as some are called, you should have taken keen interest in Nyege Nyege. Local governments need to promote their towns so that businesses can blossom which in turn will mean increased revenues. They don’t necessarily have to do music festivals. Masaka, for example, could do more about grasshoppers during the two seasons a year (hopefully they return). They can promote the season and open up collection or gathering centres where at night, people can get involved. They can make the exercise a fun event for four days each season. Uganda is food rich. Another town can do a food festival. Actually, that can be done in each region of the country given our peculiarities when it comes to culinary stuff as long as we portray it as fun event. Packwach’s Nang Nang fish is delicious just like the cassava in Kafu. Malewa in Mbale. Malakwang in Gulu. Firinda in Tooro and potatoes (chips festival?) and Enturire in Kabale. What about games? Wrestling (ekigwo), board games (mweso, dduulu), okwepena (what is it in English?), skipping the rope, and blend it with modern ones people have come up with these days like Otyo and a town’s fortunes may change forever. Towns like Arua have golf courses. They also don’t have to be events held once a year. Local governments with support from their mother ministry or that of tourism or the Uganda Investment Authority may help towns identify their niche attractions and work on a plan to promote them. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

December 7, 2023

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: If people can contribute to Kyabazinga wedding, they can do so for impactful causes too

By Denis Jjuuko Many times, the Busoga region appears in the press for the wrong reasons. High levels of poverty largely blamed on sugar cartels that disenfranchise farmers and even higher cases of teenage pregnancy that are sometimes above the national and East African average. But earlier this month, the focus was on the royal wedding. Globally, people love weddings and more so if it involves royals or very famous people. Television stations left no stones unturned in broadcasting the event live. Many people on social media claimed to have spent the day glued to their TV sets to capture every aspect of the ceremony. Jovia Mutesi, the Queen Consort, had done a great job of ensuring there wasn’t much known about her before the wedding. There were no previous social media posts of her past circulating everywhere. No groupies claiming, she is their bestie. At least I didn’t see them. Not even her kwanjula photos. The first images we saw were of her farewell ceremony on the day of the wedding. Kudos to her and the team. For the past nine years of William Gabula Nadiope as the Kyabazinga of Busoga, it has been hard to tell what the kingdom is doing from an outsider’s perspective. He seemed to be largely holed up in his palaces, appearing once in a while at events before disappearing from the public view. We even heard at one stage that he had been appointed an ambassador by the central government. And when his prime minister announced the wedding date and unveiled the future queen consort, everything seemed to be going awry. A corporate bank issued a famous letter that they have no money to contribute followed by an audio allegedly of a woman he married in a small island country in Europe. But the kingdom didn’t panic. They stayed on course with their strategy, only issuing a statement when some lawyers had written about the existence of another marriage albeit without any iota of evidence at least for us watching from the distance. Undeterred by such allegations, organizations and even individuals continued to line up to the prime minister’s office to donate and wish the king and his future wife happy nuptials. That confidence that people had in their king even when many allegations were flying on social media and even in some newspapers is something Busoga Kingdom must build on. Kingdoms today don’t have the mandate to fight poverty and provide social services to their people. That is the sole responsibility of the central government, which enjoys absolute authority yet the people demand social services from the kingdoms — at least the kingdom that have legitimacy. It is not possible for these legitimate kingdoms to sit back and tell the people who are desperate that your social contract is with the central government. The people actually know that but they have learnt to manage their expectations. So, for Kyabazinga to continue enjoying his legitimacy, he must do something. The wedding has shown him what is possible. If people can contribute billions to a wedding, they can contribute to kingdom programs that alleviate people from biting poverty. The organizing committee of the wedding already know this and I saw that they committed themselves to do something in the first 100 days of this wedding. It is good that they don’t lose momentum but they should also be thinking long term. You can’t significantly reduce teenage pregnancy in 100 days. They also committed themselves to ensuring the people of Busoga participate in the parish development model. Good stuff. But they should avoid portraying themselves as an extension of the central government or ruling party. They wouldn’t want to be blamed for its excesses. At one stage during the wedding, it looked like a political party event. Towing an independent line would ensure that they don’t alienate the Kyabazinga’s subjects that belong to other political parties. They should work with all people across the political divide. For many reasons, they can look west to Buganda which manages to deliver social services to its people without the resources from the public till. If corporate bodies see value in the work of Busoga Kingdom, they will partner with it just like they collaborate with Buganda. The Kyabazinga already has a team that he can rely on and he shouldn’t allow them to go into hibernation mode after the 100 days they talked about. It will also be important to put administrative structures in place that are watertight to safeguard the interest of the kingdom. Since the Nnabagereka of Buganda was Inhebantu Mutesi’s witness in church, she now has a direct line she can use to learn how she can create an office that can address some of the challenges children and young women in Busoga face today. Just like her husband, she already has the will of the people. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

December 7, 2023

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: Grasshopper farming could create thousands of jobs

By Denis Jjuuko A crisis nearly happened in Uganda this month. November is the month for millennia that is known for grasshoppers that the Baganda named the month after it — Musenene. It is the last month in the second rainy season that comes with grasshoppers or Nsenene in Uganda. Mild rains usually come in with grasshoppers just like they do in May at the end of the first rainy season. However, this November has been a bit different, with grasshoppers nearly doing a no show. People in Masaka, the urban area where the grasshoppers always showed up waited and waited with fluorescent lights beaming at the highest levels every night ready to attract and catch them only managing to see a few butterflies each night. Approximately 120km away in Kampala, a crisis was about to unfold. Where are the grasshoppers, everyone asked. Memes started flying on social media that if the grasshoppers don’t show up, the people should instead feast on those who belong to this particular clan. You know, Nsenene is one of the 54 clans of Buganda! Ugandans even when a crisis is unfolding, they will always find some humour. Nsenene is a delicacy that is loved by Ugandans. Many people long to feast on them in May and November. Some people peg their annual income on these two seasons. Many hawkers and traders forget about other items so that their full focus is on the grasshoppers. Taxi operators abandon people to bring grasshoppers to Kampala, which is the major market in Uganda, driving at speeds that ambulances can’t match. Grasshoppers are highly perishable! If a grasshopper is seen in a town, within hours, people have set up the infrastructure necessary to catch them. As we waited for the now elusive grasshoppers, a few were seen in a small trading centre in Kassanda. Within hours, some optimistic business people had hired generators from Kampala, bought iron sheets and round metallic containers commonly known as Drums to catch them. That is how far people go to catch these flying insects. Then, we heard that they had finally been spotted in Fort Portal and Bundibugyo in western Uganda. The excitement in Kampala was unparallel. Finally, the grasshoppers were here. People asked dieticians if they could eat as much as they want. A small cup containing about 300 grams was going for Shs10,000. People complained of the cost but they were still lining up to buy. I have heard that Masaka finally got swarms of them crushing the prices significantly to the chagrin of the Nsenene traders. However, the delay for the Nsenene to leave their habitat so we could enjoy them shows one of the biggest challenges of our time. For millennia, we have enjoyed the delicacy that is grasshoppers but we have never bothered to do something about it. We simply wait for God to send them every May and November. The majority of us have no idea where these grasshoppers come from. Why can’t we do studies about them? Why can’t we hatch them and commercially farm them? To be fair, I heard some years ago that some researchers have done so in Makerere and had found it humanly possible to commercially farm Nsenene. I hope I am wrong but I haven’t heard of any place where Nsenene is farmed today. It is a delicacy that can bring significant rewards to the investors all year round than simply waiting in anticipation every May and November and complaining whenever they don’t show up or delay to do so. As Uganda’s population grows and turning the Nsenene habitats into farmlands and urban centres, we should not always expect that grasshoppers will be in abundance every May and November as it has been for thousands of years. The delay this November is a sign that the worst times are ahead. Our famed scientists have their job well cut out. I am not sure who was funding the Makerere researchers but this is one area the government of Uganda can take up. Grasshoppers and its value chain can create thousands of decent jobs for young people throughout the year instead of just twice a year. The youth who work the night to catch them, transporters, utility companies and the distribution network that we usually see every May and November would now be annual businesses. We can process them so that they are available on the shelf for whoever is interested. We can export them too. Approximately two billion people or 25% of the world’s population eat insects. That is a market that is estimated to grow to US$18 billion by 2032. We can target it. Edible insects like grasshoppers are richer in protein, amino acids, vitamins, fat and energy than animal meats and therefore could solve some of our malnutrition challenges. And we didn’t have enough time to talk about white ants (enswa), crickets (amayenje), and locusts (amayanzi) today! The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

December 7, 2023