Kiira Motors Announces Uganda’s First e-Mobility Expo

PRESS STATEMENT

Kiira Motors Announces Uganda’s First e-Mobility Expo

31^st July 2024 – Kiira Motors Corporation (KMC) has today announced Uganda’s first e-Mobility Expo and Kiira Vehicle Plant (KVP Open House– which is taking place on Friday 16^th August 2024 at the Kiira Vehicle Plant in Jinja from 12:00 pm to 10:00 pm.

Held under the theme The Future is Green; The Future is Now, the first-of-its-kind event is designed to explore, showcase, and encourage the adoption of electric mobility solutions in Uganda.

The Kiira Vehicle Open House and e-Mobility Expo 2024 will gather over 200 industry leaders, potential customer, suppliers, policymakers, investors, innovators, and the public to discuss Uganda’s readiness to adapt to the e-mobility revolution – all towards positioning the nation as a net source of e-mobility solutions in Africa.

During a media roundtable held on the all-electric city bus the Kayoola EVS Model 2024, Mr. Paul Isaac Musasizi, the Chief Executive Officer of Kiira Motors Corporation, said, “This expo marks a significant milestone in Uganda’s journey towards embracing electric mobility which offers immense potential for reducing the nation’s carbon footprint and creating new economic opportunities while fostering innovation. We are proud to host this inaugural event and showcase the innovations that will shape the future of mobility in our country.”

The expo will feature a series of fireside conversations drawing content experts in the fields of e-financing, carbon trading, energy and e-mobility infrastructure development, and more.

Uganda in the recently concluded census recorded a population of 45.9 million people. Thanks to increased urbanisation, the mobility needs of this population have resulted in vehicular emissions which are the leading cause of Kampala’s increased air pollution readings from a dangerous annual averaging at 39.5 micrograms of pollutant matter in each cubic metre in 2019 increasing to 41 micrograms per cubic metre in 2024. This is eight times higher than the 5 micrograms per cubic meter that the World Health Organization defines as the safe limit for air pollution- negatively affecting the health and well-being of citizens epically in the urban centres making the case for e-mobility solutions which also serve to improve the national energy equation considering that with fossil fuels today we import both the energy ~ USD 2Bn annually and the vehicles ~ USD 730 M annually.

Allan Muhumuza, the Team Leader of the Mobility Bureau in the Secretariat of Science and Technology in the Office of the President, said, “With a vision to see Uganda transition to e-mobility in public mass transport, motorcycles, and passenger vehicles, the Government is implementing the National e-Mobility Strategy – which looks to build an efficient and self-sustaining ecosystem. This event is a bold step towards further bringing together all the relevant players towards seeing this vision come to life to combat climate change and enhance the quality of life for our citizens.”

The expo will draw exhibitors with a wide range of products and services including Innovex, Nexus Green, Green Hub, Karaa, KaCyber Securities Ltd., GoGo and many more.

The Open House provides an opportunity to participants tour the state-of-the-art Kiira Vehicle Plant. The Kiira Vehicle Plant has an installed capacity of 2,500 vehicles per annum. This will be tooled up to 5,000 vehicles per annum in the medium term positioning Uganda as a net source of Mobility Solutions in Africa.

ENDS

Tags: Denis Jjuuko, Kayoola EVS, Kiira Motors, Kiira Motors Corporation, Kiira Motors Vehicle plant, Mr. Paul Isaac Musasizi, Out to Lunch, Prime Time Communications, Science and Technology

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#OutToLunch: Finishing university? Learning has just started

#OutToLunch: Finishing university? Learning has just started By Denis Jjuuko Some of Uganda’s universities have concluded their end of year exams at least for their undergraduate students. Some students have taken to social media to celebrate this milestone. It is not every day that one gets to complete their education. In Uganda, many have been studying since they were three years old or younger. That is averagely 20 years of classrooms. Phew! Anything that takes 20 years to accomplish should be celebrated. And those in Uganda who have managed to complete their education are the lucky few. The majority of kids who start their primary education don’t get the opportunity to sit their primary leaving exams. Numbers continue dropping in secondary education and other levels. The end of exams comes for most of these students at the precipice of something new —disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence that is changing the world. Some jobs will have to go but many others will be created. There are about 400,000 young people that enter the job market in Uganda every year. It is a dauting task to find work but it is also an opportunity for many young people to define their future. The end of final year exams and the graduation ceremony in months ahead doesn’t mean the end of learning. Formal education for many may be over but lifelong learning starts right now. Life is about learning something new all the time and being able to adapt to the realities that are thrown our way. But the most important thing for the majority of young people finishing their university or other education is finding a job. There is a lot of talk about the disruptive nature of artificial intelligence but machines and such technologies won’t entirely replace humans. Those who will succeed are those who will learn how to work alongside them. But there are still other things that fresh graduates looking for a job in Uganda must embrace. They are equally important or even more critical than even some of the digital skills. Talent alone or high academic qualifications may open the door for you but it won’t keep you in the room. That is why many times people with average talent succeed over the most talented ones. Virtues that keep average people flying. At university, there is perhaps no course unit on virtues. Stuff like honesty. Yet it is a key ingredient of success. How many people promise to do something and do it? There is an increasing shortage of honest people in Uganda. Anyone who tries not to shortchange everyone will succeed. People including the most dishonest ones like working with honest people. They want to protect their side of the bargain. You have heard of honor among thieves. Communication skills are very important. You can’t only answer your phone call before you receive the deposit to do some work and then answer only when you want and then complain that person demanding their work are unreasonable. They were not unreasonable before you agreed to do the work. Giving feedback is critical. When they send you somewhere, you must report back. You don’t wait to be asked to inform them of what happened. Employers like people who are proactive. And so do customers for those who may want to go the self-employment or hustling route. There is no African time. And if you plan to work in Kampala, at the moment there is no public transport worth the ink of this article. Roads get clogged. But you can’t tell people that you arrived late because of traffic jam. I understand these days roads can be closed even to pedestrians but the reason you have a phone is to call and communicate why there is a delay. You may give it as an excuse but people will one day find out that you are lying. Read as much as possible. The more you read, the more you understand the world its complexities. Reading creates an open mind. Don’t be rigid. Listen to what others say. Writing even in the age of ChatGPT is still important. You will not always be sending WhatsApp audios. Learn to write. You can’t avoid it. One way to learn writing is by reading. And of course, learn a new skill. There are many online courses. Google, Storytelling Africa, Udemy and many other platforms provide free or very affordable courses. All you need is an internet connection and sparing a few hours a week. In the meantime, congratulations on the completion of your university education. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant djjuuko@gmail.com

June 4, 2025

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: Favourable interest rates are good for everyone, not just government, banks must do more to curb digital financial crimes

#OutToLunch: Police, banks must do more to curb digital financial crimes By Denis Jjuuko A friend was recently riding on a boda boda in a leafy Kampala suburb when another speeding boda boda approached her. The approaching boda boda had a passenger, a young man, who grabbed her bag and sped off. It was in the early afternoon. It is a normal thing in Kampala to lose your bag or be attacked like that whether you are in one of Kampala’s exclusive suburbs or not. Walking on Kampala’s streets including the busiest ones is never safe. You simply don’t know when you will be attacked. Although she had some money and other essentials in her bag, her biggest concern was her smartphone. Like many people, a phone is one of those things that are hard to do without nowadays. She was frustrated and went on a frantic search for it. Reporting to the police and such other things. She can’t work without a phone so she decided to replace it as soon as possible so she can carry on with her business and be able to get in touch with her family and friends. As soon she got a replacement phone that afternoon, she started receiving several messages that scared her. The thieves who stole her phone were not ordinary ones or at least they have a network of sophisticated hackers. The messages she was now receiving indicated that money had been transferred from her bank account to another account within the same bank. This happened within a few hours or minutes of losing her phone. She hasn’t yet been able to trace the thieves and find way to get her money back. She most likely won’t succeed. Like most people who buy high end smartphones, she had thought it was one of those safe things and it couldn’t be easily cracked open in Kampala shortly after losing it. It seems the more technologically advanced smartphones become, the more sophisticated the hackers become too. There must be a racket in Kampala who send young men on boda bodas to grab smartphones so they can hack them and transfer money to their accounts within a few minutes. They must be sitting somewhere and waiting whose phone they land on. And the fact that they can transfer money illegally from one bank account to another, shows how confident they are that they won’t be caught. There is an increased number of Ugandans embracing digital banking and even a higher number using mobile money platforms. It is convenient and modern. One doesn’t have to always spend hours in the banking halls transacting. It is not 1990 anymore. Digital banking including mobile money had led to some financial inclusion with many people, hitherto unbanked, able to access financial services. There are even people whose only access to financial services is through mobile money. But how safe is their money? If somebody can lose a modern smartphone and within a few minutes they have lost their money, how can the banking and mobile money companies help them? How can police help them? Largely, the majority of Ugandans are left to suffer with losses. Trips to the police to help track the thieves become endless and costly that the majority of Ugandans have given up to even reporting about it. They know there won’t be much help to recover the money. The banks and mobile money companies will largely blame the victim and do everything in their power to protect themselves. Because we have spent much time ignoring these attacks and blaming the victims, the thieves have now gained so much confidence that they are attacking government payment systems. The case of Uganda losing Shs60 billion in 60 minutes when a payment was initiated by the Ministry of Finance to the country’s central bank is still fresh. Although the attack happened in September 2024, not all the money has yet been recovered. And we are talking about government here with all the resources and contacts you can imagine. Imagine how much is being lost by individuals and businesses. Like my friend, a small business owner, the thieves have set her several years back. She wasn’t able to pay her rent and salaries for April on time. She now has to borrow to keep her business running. The police and other security intelligence organs must put in a shift to curb the rampant digital financial and other crimes. Players in the financial industry must also continuously invest in technologies that limit these crimes while sensitizing their clients on these issues otherwise gains made will be lost when people return to old ways of banking or keeping the money in their pillowcases. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

May 27, 2025

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: Favourable interest rates are good for everyone, not just government blueprint for politicians and entrepreneurs building churches

#OutToLunch: A blueprint for politicians and entrepreneurs building churches By Denis Jjuuko When it comes to religion, many times politicians, billionaire entrepreneurs, the middle class and other classes agree. At least on building magnificent houses of God. Across Uganda, many people have contributed or even single handedly built these houses of God. Fancy to a fault, majestically standing on hills with spires that compete with those seen in Hollywood movies. Many of these worship centres, particularly those single handedly built by one person or a family with their friends, are usually located in rural areas where the funders were born, walked barefoot to school before migrating to Kampala to find fortune and fame. The floors are of Italian or Spanish marble, porcelain or at worst polished terrazzo. Stained glasses with the beautiful image of the Virgin Mary complete the curvy life size windows. The pews are of the hardest wood. The world’s best sound engineers come in to install the public address system. The house of God must be fancy. Once construction is complete, they call in their Kampala friends for the grand opening. The clergy lines up at the foot of the building to welcome them. The parking lot is full of the most expensive SUVs. The parishioners walk in every prayer day fearful of stepping on the floors, sometimes so shiny that they see their own body reflections. Their best clothes can’t even be used to clean the pews. They can scratch them. For a moment, the poor are in heaven before returning to their houses where floors are screeded with cow dung. There is nothing wrong with people using their fortune and connections to build grand churches or mosques. It is their money; their appreciation of what God has helped them achieve. They no longer have some of these other problems so they can “give back” to God. The problem is whether the grandeur church is what the community really needs. Shouldn’t politicians, the rich and famous first do a needs assessment? Usually, besides the magnificent house of God stands a school with a falling roof or whose walls are being held in place by crooked timber poles. Windows are just wide openings where mild steel frames would do. Inside some of the classrooms, are anthills. Pupils sit on logs and like their homes, the cow dung is the main material used for floor screeding. Teachers look like they last had a decent meal on Christmas day. The health centre is miles away and poorly equipped. The only hope for survival whenever they fall sick is through prayer in the church built for them by the only person who was lucky enough to survive the biting poverty. Yet the funders go to India or Kenya or Germany whenever they feel any discomfort. And are not afraid to give testimony that last time they fell sick, they traveled to Europe for better management and while there, they were thankful to God for their life hence the magnificent church building. Yet the blueprint for an impactful church exists. In most cases wherever the Catholics built a church, they built a school as well and almost everywhere they set up their regional headquarters (read a diocese), they built a functional hospital. They knew that you can’t pastor the dead! They also knew that an educated population is good for them and their beliefs. Some people call it sustainability and perhaps that is why they have existed for millennia. You saw how they put on a show at Pope Francis’ funeral. Why can’t politicians and billionaire businessmen do the same? If you have Shs6 billion (nearly US$2 million) like we heard of the Ssembabule church or the one in Mitooma, why not build a church of Shs2 billion, a school of Shs2 billion and a healthy centre of Shs2 billion? You could also may be build all those with about 70% of the kitty and create an endowment fund with the remaining 30%. The annual interest from the fund could be used to operate the school and the hospital. If 30% of Shs6b is invested say in a long-term treasury bond, it could give a net return of approximately Shs255m per a year or Shs21.3m per a month, enough to subsidize a rural school and health facility. Alternatively, an income generating project could be established alongside the church building. A factory to add value for the parishioners. It could be a dairy plant or a coffee factory depending on the area. A scholarship for the needy bright students could be another alternative. That way people wouldn’t have to meet their creator ahead of time. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

May 27, 2025

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