Out to Lunch – Page 4 – Prime Time Communications

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: Superstition and witchcraft keeping Ugandans poor

By Denis Jjuuko Many years ago, a car carrier was parked on the side of the road that connects Kireka to Kyaliwajjala on the outskirts of Kampala. The car carrier, comprising of a truck head and trailer seemed to be still in good working conditions. Days turned into weeks, months and years with the truck still in its position, on the pavement facing the direction of Kireka. Nobody seemed to know the owner of the truck though some alleged it belonged to an entrepreneur who had died in the infamous “balance the boat” accident of a few years ago. At one time, stories go, authorities tried to tow it away but they brought a weaker towing truck probably with a team that didn’t know how to disengage it so that it can free wheel. Once they failed to remove it, the truck became a legend of myths. If you used a boda boda along this route, the rider would tell you all sorts of stories — that the truck speaks at night—like a human being and can even call out your name. That it was a sanctuary of all Uganda’s spirits. The truck was not only an eyesore, it had become a road safety hazard. Last Saturday, a young man involved in the Kampala auto show perhaps in a bid to promote his upcoming event decided to do something. Working with UNRA, he brought in a team of mechanics that knew how to disengage it and make it towable. Once he arrived on the scene, a sizeable crowd formed at a respectable distance. No boda bodas were willing to work in the area. They all wanted to witness history — not of a rocket trying to go to Mars or another planet but an old truck being towed away. One of Uganda’s leading television stations sent in a crew for live coverage. Journalists from many media houses arrived in droves to cover a truck being towed away. A bigger breathless crowd waited on X (formerly Twitter) in apparent anticipation of what may happen making it one of the most trending topics on the social networking platform in Uganda. Within about five hours, the truck had been disengaged and was able to be towed away. People formed small groups and wondered in whispers whether the crew won’t be struck at night while others drove by in the morning to confirm the truck didn’t return by itself in the night. The truck didn’t have self-driving capabilities. Ironically, all this happened nearly a stone’s throw away from the Uganda Martyrs Shrine in Namugongo, a testament of Uganda’s belief in Christianity and confirmation of people’s beliefs in the underworld. Anyway, Ugandans seems to be very spiritual. Christianity or even the Uganda martyrs didn’t take away their other beliefs. The wide belief in the truck being a sanctuary for the spirits also showed one of the reasons we are poor. Many people spend most of their time praying instead of working. Every little challenge is prayed for. Visits to the witchdoctor’s office are organised on a daily. There are even taxi stages in Kampala known to lead to shrines. You have heard of Stage y’Abakyala. Western embassies accredited to Uganda claim that people submit paper applications for visas spread with blood, feathers and other fetishes. Almost every business that fails is blamed on witchcraft of the neighbours or some stepmother or co-wife. At workplaces, many people don’t greet others, shake hands or come in close contact with others in fear of witchcraft. A person who succeeds at work is believed to have performed juju on the boss. At one stage, a musician was alleged to have got his wealth and fame by making regular visits to the Lake Victoria floor. He got cheeky and released a song about it, thereby making more money from those who were spreading the rumor. Conmen send messages of how the illuminati can make you wealthy if you paid them a connection fee. The reason such conmen exist is because people believe in the illuminati. The illuminati in Uganda is euphemism for witchcraft. We hear that some national sports teams sometimes have a witchdoctor on retainer yet the performance never improves. Kids are sacrificed every day in search of wealth. Those seeking for love or a pregnancy spend countless nights at premises of witches. Witchdoctors are usually poor so how can they then make one rich if they can’t do it for themselves? Don’t they want to be wealthy too? At hospitals, especially the public ones, representatives of witchdoctors set up bases where they encourage patients with chronical illnesses to discharge themselves so that they can treat them in their shrines. Desperate for a cure, many end up realizing they have been taken for a ride when it is already too late. Businesses can’t grow when we are consumed into spiritualism, superstitions and believing every setback is a result of somebody bewitching us. Every success can’t be because your witchdoctor is doing magic. Every failure can’t because of your step mother is bewitching you. Previous failures to tow a truck, like we saw on Saturday, had nothing to do with witchcraft rather poor understanding of vehicle systems. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

July 8, 2024

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch Business bet: Grow food within 120km of Kampala

By Denis Jjuuko Last week we predicted that most parts of greater Kampala will be urban in 30 years. Before that, Kampala’s population is estimated to grow to approximately 7.5 million people in the next 10 years according to the World Population Review. Urbanization means that they will be less land devoted to agriculture within Kampala’s 40km radius. Yet people still need food. Africa imports food worth approximately US$35 billion a year according to the African Development Bank and is estimated to grow to more than US$100 billion in the next 10 years. This is a result of “population growth, low and stagnating agricultural productivity, policy distortions, weak institutions and poor infrastructure,” says a report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), a United Nations agency. Many of African dollar or even shilling billionaires are involved in food. In Uganda, we even import cabbages, onions and such other things! Yet our land is so fertile and the climate still favours agriculture. Uganda has a water body almost everywhere and even if you are to sink a borehole, the water isn’t that deep in most parts of the country. As Kampala expands and its population grows, there will be more demand for food than ever. The government is pushing industrialization as one of the ways to create the elusive jobs. With the internet and advancements in technology, many non-traditional jobs will be created leaving many youths working outside the agriculture sector. As Kampala expands, some people will become middle class. The middle class will demand more organic foods. They also don’t work in the gardens. Over the last few decades, many people have abandoned agriculture preferring to look for jobs in urban areas. The declaration that now some towns are cities will also lead to more people migrating to urban areas in search of jobs. At the end of the day, they will need food. There is a news video circulating online that the price of Matooke, the staple food in many parts of Uganda especially the populous central region has significantly gone down over the last few months. This has been largely attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the market and generally demand for food is enormous in central Uganda given the way Uganda’s economy is structured and the level of urbanization. One way farmers can cut costs and increase their incomes is by growing food that is needed in a particular market. If, for example, you grow a particular food crop where the market isn’t available it becomes expensive to transport it to the market. Let us take an example of Matooke. If you grow Matooke in western Uganda, the transport costs are enormous to bring it to Kampala where the market is. This means that the farmer will get less as the traders have to factor in the cost of transport. In the news video I referred to above, the farmers in Isingiro say the price of a bunch of Matooke is now between Shs500 and Shs3,000 instead of Shs15,000 on average they were being paid recently. In Kampala, a bunch of Matooke costs between Shs5,000 and Shs15,000 today from about Shs12,000 to Shs30,000 a few months ago. This means that most of the money the farmer could get is now taken by the transport man. With increments in taxes levied on fuel, the farmer will get much less. As you know, our value addition on Matooke is still in its infancy even though there is a factory that is being set up to make flour among other products. So the best bet for a farmer now to increase their profit is to grow food within a radius of about 120km from Kampala. This will cut down the cost of transport significantly and avoid price fluctuations that result in flooding the market. When a farmer is far away from the market, they may not be able to predict the market as they need much more time to bring the product to Kampala. A farmer within 120km of Kampala can easily monitor the market in Kampala and decide whether to bring the Matooke to the market or not since the delivery period is short. In two hours, a farmer can have his Matooke on the market if the plantation is within a radius of 120km. This calls for zoning the country so that farmers whose products are perishable like Matooke grow it near their biggest markets. Produce with a long shelf life can be grown anywhere even though the transport challenges would remain. So for those who are looking for post-COVID-19 business opportunities, growing food within a radius of 120km from Kampala is a smart bet. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

July 8, 2024

Out to Lunch

Mental health challenges impeding economic growth

By Denis Jjuuko The death allegedly by suicide of a Ugandan digital marketer last week created some buzz about mental health at least on social media that probably not seen before. There is need to note that not all deaths by suicide are a result of mental health challenges. The cause of the alleged death by suicide by the marketer may not necessarily be attributed to mental health. However, it gives Ugandans another starting point to work on issues that affect their mental health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are more than 700,000 people who die due to suicide every year. Suicide, a WHO report notes, is the fourth leading cause of death among 15–29-year-olds globally. Over 77% of these deaths occur in lower- and middle-income countries like Uganda. Some statistics show that Uganda’s suicide rate stands at 15% per 100,000 people, which is rather high. In refugee settlement areas, for example, 60 people died by suicide in 2022 prompting organizations like AVSI Foundation to launch programs like Game Connect, a sport for mental health project. The Nnaabagereka through the Nnaabagereka Fund has also initiated a program on mental health and so is the Rotary Club of Kampala Naalya, where I have previously served as president. Such efforts must be supported. One of the biggest challenges when it comes to mental health is the stigma that is associated with it. Many people suffer silently and cannot talk about it prompting delays in seeking professional help. Many people will not even tell you that they have a patient in Butabika Hospital due to stigma. The same people have no problem informing anyone who don’t even care that they have a patient in another hospital. Initiatives that are working on mental health issues must create as much awareness as possible while trying to curb the causes of mental health challenges including the rampant drug and alcohol abuse. If you go to construction sites today, many young people working as porters for example claim that they get their “fuel” from alcohol so they have bottles of gin in their pockets from which they occasionally drink before pushing another around of materials on a wheelbarrow. If you get stuck by the roadside, the guy who will come to help you change a tire will most likely be half drunk. If you see a boda boda guy zigzagging on the road or as recklessness as they come, he is most likely imbibing on some cheap gin. Of course, alcohol and drug abuses are not only restricted to the informal sector. Many people working in the formal sector suffer from it. But they also suffer from work related depression and stresses. The obsession with quarterly performances can create a lot of pressure on people. Businesses must look at mental health as one of the impediments of growth. Globally, it is estimated that mental health will cost economies USD2.5 trillion annually by 2030. Those are actually the conservative estimates. Work related stress and depression is also said to cause at least 50% of all illnesses suffered by workers. Businesses and governments must do more to encourage mental wellbeing and resilience. Games that make people relax and focus could help. Having enough sleep is another. Regular mandatory physical exercise could be another. In poor economies like Uganda, many of the people who are lucky to have a job are paid per a day worked probably following the Biblical directive that those who won’t work won’t eat. Such people won’t take leave to deflect from work. It means going hungry. There is need to find solutions for such workers so that they can take days off once in a while and connect with their loved ones and reenergize. Several talks on mental health at workplaces could help. A notable speaker on the subject can help people cope with the issues that affect them and find answers to some of the questions that constantly linger in their minds. Of course, many young people have no jobs to start with and financial induced stress and depression is real. The government must, therefore, prioritize finding sustainable jobs for people. Due to lack of jobs and opportunities, many Ugandans have become negative. Check out their social media posts. To many such people, there is nothing good that is happening so they spend half their time lambasting anyone they think is responsible for their predicament. The negativity on sometimes issues they should actually be positive about increases their stress and poor mental health wellbeing. Yet gratitude leads to mental health resilience. Government must also increase the number of psychiatrists in Uganda. Currently, there are approximately a mere 53 of them, meaning about one for every million people. Increased sponsorship of students interested in that field at medical schools could help bridge the gap. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

July 2, 2024

Out to Lunch

The industry of bolts and nuts and what small businesses can make on a car

By Denis Jjuuko In one of the dingy alleys of Nakasero at hitherto Kampala’s major hardware market area existed a very tiny shop that seemed to attract lots of customers. The customers, largely contractors would come with a piece of metal that they showed to the lady owner. The customers wanted the exact same part. Many times, the seller didn’t know where the part was. She was sure she had it but she didn’t know where to find it. However, she knew how to find it. This meant emptying her sacks or baskets on the ground floor and start going through hundreds of pieces of metal to find the part. As more customers came over, she would task the buyer to carefully look for what he was looking for as she attended to another customer. It was tedious but her customers never complained. They knew the modus operandi and most importantly they were sure they would find what they were looking for. The shop owner used to go to Dubai, Japan and such other places to source her wares. Most of them were old stuff, discarded from motor vehicles, towers, and machinery. Here people would use her wares as replacement parts in vehicles and even factories, construction and fixing whatever needed fixing. The materials she was selling aren’t unique at all. Simply, bolts and nuts. Yes, different sizes of bolts and nuts. As her business boomed and she became the reference point for bolts and nuts in Kampala, other people started similar shops in Shauri Yako and Kisekka markets. I don’t know whether her tiny shop still exists but there are many other shops today that sell bolts and nuts. They are usually in high demand as replacement parts for vehicles and factories, construction and for fixing lots of things. The funny thing is that the last time I checked, there was no factory making bolts and nuts in Uganda. I was once directed to one in Namanve industrial area. The warehouse was well decorated with all sorts of bolts and nuts and other materials that form the fastening industry. I realized the warehouse was a store and wholesale selling point. The owner was simply importing them from China and India. Though of course, my research may not have been thorough and was done several years ago. There could be guys making them today. I have googled several times how bolts and nuts are made and saw several videos from India and China. There was nothing sophisticated about making a bolt or nut. Largely, it involved an iron or steel bar that fed into a machine that sized it, created threads and the shape at the top. Nothing special to be honest. This story came to mind over the weekend when Kiira Motors announced that it had made eight electric buses from its temporary premises at Luweero Industries in the precinct of the UPDF barracks in Nakasongola. Like every time Kiira Motors makes such an announcement, the story that trends on social media is whether the parts were made in Uganda or not, followed by the argument that we cannot make things. But nobody manufactures a car in its entirety. It is small parts made by so many players that are put together to make a car. Same way a 5-star hotel makes a buffet. They get ingredients for the buffet from several suppliers who also get them from several farmers. It is called a value chain. Anyway, most motor vehicles have more than 30,000 parts. Buses, sometimes have as many as 70,000 parts. Many of them have to be fixed together using bolts and nuts. If our argument is that we can’t make a car, why then can’t we at least make bolts and nuts? It isn’t just bolts and nuts that we can make. There are many things that we can make on a vehicle that don’t require significant investment. Individuals asking what are we making on a vehicle can easily invest some little money in such areas — same amount they invest in a plot of land that remains idle and bringing no income in places like Kira (no pun intended). The beauty of car parts is that the majority can be used in other sectors. For example, we can make car seats but if you can make car seats, you can also make seats for technical benches at stadiums (Hoima stadium is coming up), dental clinic chairs, waiting room/reception chairs and basically any upholstering. We already have an industry here in Kisenyi where taxi seats are made. We simply need to deploy slightly better technologies. Fiber parts like face and rear. If you can make translucent sheets used for roofing shades and pergolas, you can make car fenders and bumpers. Brackets are used a lot to attach a range of car systems. All one needs is a bender and cutter to turn iron bars into such parts. Anyone making stainless steel balconies can make bus hand holds and cabin rails. Internal aluminum moldings should not be so difficult either. Cars are very sophisticated as a finished unit but many parts that make a car are not that sophisticated to make. And like I said earlier, most of these parts can be used in all sorts of industries and sectors. Instead of spending our bandwidth on the argument that we cannot make a car, what about, as small businesses, we started with those basic parts like bolts and nuts? The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

July 2, 2024

Out to Lunch

Churches, clans should be more entrepreneurial

By Denis Jjuuko Last year, my friend lost a mother and we drove down to Kyaggwe for her burial. The ceremony was going well, punctuated with what seems to be the Church of Uganda anthem — Yesu Omwana gw’Endiga. Every few minutes, the choir would start yet another installation of this popular hymn. All was going well until preaching time when the priest turned the funeral into a begging charade for fuel, car repairs, meals and anything that came to his mind. Every time he made a joke and people laughed, he would pick out the person who laughed the most and ask them to contribute. His assistant was at hand with the basket to collect the money. The begging went on for an hour or so again punctuated with Yesu Omwana gw’Endiga whenever he felt people were no longer contributing as expected. Also, there is a Catholic priest, popular with his choice of words about the secular world during his preaching. He is invited frequently to speak at non-church events. One time, he was a keynote speaker at the event I attended and he spent a large part of his keynote address begging for a microwave, of all things! The organisers of the event seemed embarrassed. After his address, they announced that he will be going back to the rectory with one. Microwaves are some of the cheapest kitchen wares in many urban households. Had he simply privately told them of this need, they would have bought it. He didn’t need to publicly beg for it. I remembered these two incidents the other day when a bishop begged for indulgence to beg the president for a new vehicle. It was a tad embarrassing. See, I grew up in Masaka where I was used to seeing bishops with several cars. Bishop Ddungu with his famous black Mercedes Benz limo and later a Peugeot 505 as the Benz aged. Even ordinary priests drove nice cars prompting many young boys to dream of joining Bukalasa seminary. I don’t remember ever as a young person hearing a priest begging for fuel, clothing or some cheap household item. The day before the bishop made begged for a vehicle, a section of clan heads in Buganda were in State House begging for a contribution to their sacco. The president promptly offered Shs200m. I couldn’t believe that clan heads can go to beg for as little as Shs200m. I mean, there are 54 clans in Buganda. If each contributed Shs4m, they would get Shs216m, more than what the president promised them. They would get this money in the same period or less it took them to secure the appointment. There are some 15 million or so Baganda in Uganda, if they mobilized them, they would easily raise a few billion shillings. They can look at Saccos like CBS Pewosa. Just one branch of Masaka bought shares worth Shs1 billion during the Airtel IPO (initial public offer). It has less members than most clans. Also, if the bishop worked out an income generating strategy, he wouldn’t have to embarrass himself publicly begging for some Japanese car on live TV at a national event. In fact, the president would donate without him begging first. He would appreciate his mobilization skills and trying to tap into those voters, he would endear himself by aligning with the church in that area. Dioceses and clans must come up with sustainable business strategies. Again, if you look at a diocese like Masaka, they largely control the economy of the area. They have thousands of schools at all levels, dairies, printeries, brick making factories, hospitals, real estate, hospitality centres and even trading businesses. It is highly unlikely that the bishop there would publicly beg for a car. The diocese can afford to buy him one or two every few years. Many religions are good at mobilizing people to build grandeur churches or mosques. It is not uncommon to find a beautiful church or mosque in a community where the masses can’t afford Nigiina sandals (low quality Crocs). If these poor people can be mobilized to put up a structure with the highest spike or minaret in the area, why can’t they be mobilized to build a silo or milling machine for their grains? Why can’t the diocese in Gomba own a factory that adds value to ginger grown in the area? Why can’t clans own coffee hullers in Buganda? All Buganda clans have their ancestral grounds (obutaka). Many of them are nearly 1,000 years old with rich stories to tell. What is so difficult in turning this into tourism attraction that can tell authentic stories of our heritage? Each can easily make an annual after-tax income of Shs200m from both the Bazukkulu (clan members) and foreign tourists. Not every tourist is interested in lions and elephants. If real estate is their thing, they would also make more money in hotels at their ancestral ground than constructing rentals somewhere in Kampala. Churches and clans need to be entrepreneurial and come up with strategies that can turn them into economic powerhouses that politicians can beg instead of the other way round. They can learn a thing or two from dioceses like the catholic one of Masaka. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

July 2, 2024

Out to Lunch

Out to Lunch: Giga factories could provide solutions to Africa’s job challenges

By Denis Jjuuko There used to be a TV series on the National Geographic channel that showed some of the biggest or busiest things in the world. From the busiest hotel in the world, train station to the airport. Imagine a hotel with 7,000 rooms, fully booked and all the guests eating breakfast at almost the same time or within a few hours. And then meals have to be prepared for a similar number as well as walk in clients. Think of an airport that handles more than 250,000 passengers a day. The same TV program also had a segment on mega factories sitting on hundreds of acres of land with thousands of employees producing some of the famous brands we know today. These series were some of the most fascinating things one can watch. A single factory as big as some of the suburbs of Kampala. If you are a regular reader of this column, you may have noticed my fascination with manufacturing. I think most countries develop by manufacturing stuff even though some have done so through financial services and being trading outposts. But the majority, it is manufacturing that creates the jobs and propels economic transformation. The United States, the world’s biggest economy, is desperate to have the factories back from China and elsewhere. Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, is known for manufacturing. Japan is also known for the same. Without mega factories in China, the majority of Chinese would be unemployed. Manufacturing creates sustainable decent jobs where the majority of people can work. It doesn’t require sophistication for workers to get things done because what the majority of factory workers do is repetitive. Within a few days on the job, a worker can easily be trained to press a button or fix something before the product goes to the next person on the line even for the most sophisticated products. Africa plays a decimal role in manufacturing relying on other countries to do so. A report by McKinsey says that Africa will need to create 18 million jobs a year to absorb the growing labour force until about 2035. Payment apps and all sorts of apps built around the Airbnb and Uber models that are attracting lots of funding from angel investors won’t be the only solution for Africa’s development. In fact, the majority of those apps are collapsing because they were surviving on capital being raised from Silicon Valley without enough customer base to sustain them. They should have known that unemployed people have no money to transact through the payment apps and are too broke to order for food on delivery apps. One of the things Africa can do is to build factories. They don’t have to be mega though like those in the TV series. We could build giga ones instead and get the continent ready for the battery market in preparation for a transition from fossils to electrification of mobility. Oil, as a scarce resource, made the countries where it was discovered wealthy. Countries couldn’t just manufacture oil. They had to drill it in the wells where it was discovered in commercially viable quantities. The world relied on them and they could sometimes refuse to pump or pumped more than required. As electric vehicles become the norm, those who will have invested in giga factories will become as important as the Arabs have been with their oil. Unlike oil which couldn’t be found anywhere in sufficient commercial quantities, anyone can build batteries and electrification components if they focused on them. There are more electric boda bodas in Kampala than ever and people have started importing electric and hybrid vehicles given that this financial year there is no import duty charged on such vehicles. The countries that are developing this capacity today won’t pass on the knowledge to Africans. The continent will continue to organize conferences sponsored by the west to talk and talk about the imbalance between the north and south and issue communiques after communiques like it has been the case for more than 60 years now. Nobody will transfer knowledge to the continent because some technocrats attended a conference and talked about it. Many of the raw materials required to make the batteries are here. What is required is to build our intellectual property to play a part in this industry. Building the giga factories on the continent will not only create sustainable decent jobs but also enable vertical integration of automotive and mobility businesses and wean Africa off its reliance on global supply chains that can easily be disrupted by geopolitical maneuvers or pandemics like we saw in 2020. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

February 21, 2024

Education

#OutToLunch: Graduates may have to consider dirty jobs

By Denis Jjuuko In many of Kampala’s restaurants and hotels the other week, you could not fail to notice some happy people enjoying meals, taking photos and celebrating their achievements. The older people in the groups seemed happier. They had done their job. Their children had finally made it having graduated from Makerere University, the country’s premier higher institution of learning. It is one of the happiest moments for the majority of Ugandan parents having paid tuition fees and such other things for at least 20 years. Graduation also marks a passage to adulthood. From dependency to parents and guardians to becoming a benefactor to sometimes the parents themselves or even the siblings of the person who has graduated. Usually, the parents and aunties start even asking whether you found somebody at university. Grandchildren are now on their minds. In that moment, nobody realizes that the country, according to some reports, creates only a few thousand jobs a year. Makerere alone sees more than 12,000 students graduate annually. In the early years of Uganda’s independence, graduation meant a good job that came with a house in “staff quarters” or “Kizungu”, ability to buy a car and pencil your name in the annals of Uganda’s middle or even upper class. It is a bit different this time. Jobs of whatever nature are really scarce to find yet our university education focuses largely on what people call white collar jobs — the kind of jobs where people wear nice suits, sit in swivel chairs and work on a computer and call it a day at 5.00pm. Formal education creates these expectations which have come to be a bit unrealistic. That is why thousands of people apply for a single job in Uganda. There is a mismatch between education and the job market. There is a need for these two to talk to each other so that we educate people who can find the jobs that could be created today. There of course will always be formal jobs because some people will retire but we are also a very young country, which means we will see more people staying on jobs longer than ever especially those who adapt to emerging technologies. Artificial intelligence will continue to disrupt the workforce leading to redundancy like we have seen with tech behemoths in America laying off people. The beauty with technology though is that other jobs will be created. Those who will survive will be those who can adapt to new ways of working. As Makerere was carrying out its week-long graduation ceremony, Facebook was celebrating 20 years of its founding. In a post by Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook (now under Meta) CEO and founder, to celebrate the occasion, talked about artificial intelligence and the metaverse and the role they will play in future. He said his platforms (WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger and Facebook) are used by more than three billion people at least once a day. What that means is that today’s graduate is most likely going to use these platforms to do their job. Of course, we can argue that you don’t need a degree to learn to use these platforms but how can we take advantage of them? They offer great marketing possibilities at almost no cost. Many young people are today earning money as influencers and content creators. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) without large marketing budgets are taking advantage of these platforms. It is a shame that Facebook is banned in Uganda. It is a business enabler. Many business owners in the informal sector don’t know how to fully use these platforms for business purposes and university graduates could utilize them and support these SMEs. Large companies are already doing this, which means small businesses should do so too. Such graduates who take advantage of this must continue learning as the technology evolves. If they thought learning has ended with their degrees, they would be deceiving themselves. Even though we love talking about technology and the possibilities, we should never forget that a lot of work and opportunities are in jobs some people refer to as dirty. Jobs where you use your hands to work in sometimes places that may not have swivel chairs and air conditioning. For example, in many areas, there are lots of residential buildings coming up. Just outside my office, a building with perhaps 100 condominium apartments has just opened up. Lots of people have moved in since the beginning of the year. At least for now, artificial intelligence won’t clean it or do errands for the occupants. Yet imagine if one did errands for about 30% of the apartments every week, they would be able to earn a decent income. Or they need is being efficient and professional and use tech platforms to get ahead. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

February 19, 2024

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: Investment ideas to fulfill your 2024 resolutions

By Denis Jjuuko This week sees the end of the festive holiday period almost for every organisation especially those in the private and development sectors. Like every new year, many people come up with resolutions, committing themselves to what they would like to achieve. For many, making more money tops the list. Money, makes the world go round or so we are told. If making money is one of your resolutions, here are some ideas: Trading in FMCGs: There is a saying that cashflow is king. If you want to make money in 2024, you may have to look at businesses with a lot of cashflow. Trading is one such business. You can buy stuff in the morning and have them sold by the evening. This is common in the sector known as fast moving consumer goods or FMCGs. Almost everybody or household uses them every single day. Such goods may include sugar, soap, cooking oil, wheat, bread, and packaged drinks (soda, water, beer, juices etc.). Fuel (petrol and diesel) are considered as FMCGs too. There are so many other goods in this category just like you see in the supermarket or retail shop near you. Because they are highly consumable, they provide good returns to those who trade in them. The margins per item is small but the secret here is in the volumes. Traders earn about Shs500 or so per a carton of soda or bottled water but the numbers they can sell a day can be huge. A small trader doing just 1,000 cartons a day would be able to earn a gross income of half a million shillings. In a six-day week, that would be Shs3m or approximately Shs12m a month. Treasury bonds and bills/unit trusts: There is an increasing interest in treasury bonds and bills as well as unit trusts. Unlike trading, these are hustle free investment options. You simply walk into your commercial bank with a minimum of Shs100,000 and start investing in bonds and bills. Insurance companies and investment companies regulated by the Uganda Capital Markets Authority offer unit trust investment opportunities some of as little as Shs10,000. Bonds, bills and unit trusts offer returns of about 10% annually. If passive income is your thing, this is where to invest. If you reinvest the interest, in a few years, you can significantly see huge returns due to the power of compound interest. Real estate: There are some people who are running away from real estate especially rentals to invest in the hustle free treasury bonds and bills and unit trusts, which means there is a gap that is increasing in real estate rentals especially for the lower and middle income categories. Already, statistics from Habitat for Humanity Uganda indicate that the country’s housing deficit stands at 2.4 million housing units. As Uganda continues to urbanize, there will be an increasing demand for houses for especially young people who are doing their first or second jobs. Houses that are affordable for the lower and middle income earners will continue to be in demand for years. The investment here is also not so high and can be done incrementally over a long period of time. Besides rentals for this population segment, land banking and selling and buying are still other income generation and saving options. Motor vehicle spare parts: If you live and work in the greater Kampala metropolitan area, you know the state of the roads in the country. Each vehicle you see on the road is a potential client. Given the state of the roads, car breakdowns are going to be the norm rather than the exception. The lack of an efficient public transport system and the culture of owning a motor vehicle considered as a yardstick of success will see an ever-increasing number of vehicles on the road. Most of these vehicles come in old from Japan and the state of the roads will ensure frequent breakdowns. Roads take time to be built even when money is available, making investing in motor vehicle spare parts a worthwhile venture. Electric mobility: A trending photo this week was of Tesla car being offloaded from a car carrier somewhere in Uganda. Teslas are fully electric vehicles. Many development partners and blue-chip companies have started electrifying their fleets. This is a result of URA removing import duty on electric and hybrid vehicles this financial year. Kiira Motors’s vehicle plant is nearing completion with the installation of the assembly lines, paint shops and testing facilities ongoing in Jinja. But we don’t have enough mechanics and technical people to maintain these electric vehicles. We don’t even have enough well-trained electric bus drivers. The electric mobility value chain has great potential for those looking for investment opportunities this year. Personal health: Apart from making money, many people resolve to do something about their health every new year. They perhaps understand that you can only make money if you are alive and healthy. Personal health is already an industry worth of billions of dollars globally. As the country urbanizes and a few people get out of poverty, they will always be willing to spend on their personal health making it an area with potential returns for investors. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

February 5, 2024

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: Patching up potholes and lighting ip expressways shouldn’t wait NAM/G77

By Denis Jjuuko In the early years of the National Resistance Movement (NRM), Dr Samson Kisekka was appointed Prime Minister and then Vice President. Kisekka was said to be a rich man who even had a certain part of Kampala named after him. He had built a modern private hospital in the 1970s in Makerere Kivulu/Kagugube area near Old Kampala. When traders of motor vehicles set up shop nearby, the market became known as Ewa Kisekka or Kisekka Market as we know it today. Dr Kisekka is said to have been a man of means who is rumored to have provided significant resources to Museveni’s rebel outfit, the National Resistance Army or NRA which would capture power in 1986. Kisekka was rewarded with the influential position of Prime Minister and later Vice President. Vice Presidents all over the world usually play the role similar to that of a bridesmaid — be near the bride but not do too much to outshine the bride. May be because of boredom, Dr Kisekka perhaps became the first Vice President in history to hold a weekly radio show. In the days before 1993, Uganda had only one radio station. So, every Tuesday evening, Kisekka did his radio show on Radio Uganda. He was boisterous, boastful, funny and engaging with a deep voice that was actually meant for radio despite his old age. He boasted about his farm in Temangalo near Kampala. He talked about the good life he lived. He reminded whoever cared to listen that he was “Omusawo Omutendeke” translated as a professional medical doctor. As a “Doctor Omutendeke”, he urged his audience to listen to the advice he was giving them if they wanted to live a similar good life like the one he was living. One of Kisekka’s pet subjects was on how Ugandans prepare for visitors. How they leave no stone unturned because visitors were expected at their homes or in their communities. On a tour somewhere in Uganda, Kisekka realized that the community had just worked on the road so that he could use it. They had filled the potholes, dug the trenches and had the road reserve slashed of any bushes days before his arrival. In his speech, which was played on Radio Uganda, Dr Kisekka deeply laughed at the community telling them in their faces that they were an unserious lot. He said they didn’t need to dig up the road for him because he was arriving in a monster vehicle as VP and most importantly, he was also wearing designer shoes. There was no way thorns would pierce his feet. He reminded them, that his car had been driven all the way to the platform where he was standing to give the speech. He then delivered the punch. “Unlike me, you and your children have no shoes. You have no vehicles so thorns will always be piercing you. What about ensuring that your community road is always well maintained even when you are not expecting me?” he said and then let out his signature laugh. On another time, he refused the gifts of goats and chickens the community was giving him. He told them his farm in Temangalo had lots of goats, cows and whatever food he wanted to eat. Yet when he looked at the people giving him the chickens and eggs, they looked like they lacked proteins and hadn’t eaten eggs or meat in a year. He laughed again, boisterously with a lot of pride. Kisekka must be turning in his grave that decades after his speeches and even death, his NRM-beloved is doing exactly what he was telling people not to do — preparing everything for visitors as they starve. Patching up potholes and lighting up expressway spurs just because visitors are coming. The visitors would tell a mature palm tree that was planted the other day. They would tell a road patched up for them. They would know that the lack of traffic jams is because roads are blocked and the citizens are told to use the dusty Nakawuka road to access Entebbe International Airport. Imagine if we had built the Nakawuka road without waiting for the visitors? Businesses would prosper in that area. Uganda Revenue Authority would collect more taxes. We would decongest Kampala of traffic jams. If we hadn’t waited for visitors to patch up potholes, we would have created a culture where roads are well maintained throughout the year. The visitors would then come and see a well-managed country and would wish to return or invest. We may create the impression for visitors from Entebbe to Munyonyo and some parts of the city centre but what if they venture out of their hotels and visit bars in Najjeera on their own? Won’t they see the messed up roads? What if they visit Kabalagala (which many will do) and then realize that not everything that glitters is gold? Will they still be impressed? As Kampala and Entebbe were put on a standstill so that Uganda hosts delegates attending the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the G77 conferences, let us a create a culture that impresses the citizens and residents first. That is how countries and cities develop. Remember what Kisekka said more than 30 years ago. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

February 5, 2024

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: There is more to learn from Joseph Yiga than just his mega country home

By Denis Jjuuko In the early evening of the second day of this year, a video started trending on various social media platforms in Uganda. A guest attending a house warming party had recorded the video while narrating what the amenities were in the house. He concentrated on the visitors’ toilets, guest house, flowers and the sheer size of the compound. Although he exaggerated the acreage of the land on which the house sits, the picture was clear for everyone. Photos eventually emerged as well. For the next few days, social media discussions were centered on the house. Its sheer size and architectural beauty. One person tweeted that at least Kampala’s billionaires were finally building something Hollywood-esque. Others compared it to a five-star hotel in Kigo. Both the hotel it was compared to and the mansion borrow from the Mediterranean architectural themes. A well-traveled friend who was among the guests at the house warming party told me that he hadn’t entered a house that big before and commended the owner’s taste. On social media, eventually everyone asked who the owner was. It turned out, the house on the shores of Lake Victoria in Kasanje Buwaya belonged to Kampala businessman and papal knight Joseph Yiga and his wife Regina. Many people had never heard of Joseph Yiga before and many actually confused him with a dealer in real estate with whom he shares both names. Yet Joseph Yiga is the founder of one of Uganda’s most known brands — Steel and Tube and before that, Hardware Deals. I would never blame them for not knowing him. I have been to events where Yiga has attended but he keeps a low profile. He will never arrive at an event where he would ask the protocol people whether they knew who he was. That is for wannabes who actually have nothing to their name or have just fallen into things the other day. Yiga didn’t become a captain of the industry the other day. He has been in the trenches of business for the better part of his life. Before he founded Hardware Deals, the precursor to Steel and Tube, Yiga had been involved in the cosmetics business among others. As Kampala expanded, he saw opportunities in the construction sector and eventually started his steel manufacturing empire. Steel and Tube is said to be among the top five steel manufacturing businesses in Uganda. That means he can afford the mansion in Kasanje that rivals some of the best five-star hotels in Kampala. But I don’t want to write about his mansion. We know he can afford it. But what do we learn from him? The story is in his move from a hardware stockist to a large manufacture of steel products. He was never contented with playing second fiddle to businessmen from Asia who came here and set up manufacturing businesses and controlled the market. Many Ugandan businesspeople travel to Asia, particularly China, for decades importing stuff and stocking them. Most of the stuff they import can easily be made here but they don’t look at business that way. Countries develop when nationals can control some of the sectors of the economy. If we concentrate on being traders of stuff we can make, we are always at the mercy of those who manufacture them. Manufacturers set the price of their products. They determine the quality and quantity you can get. They can even remove the business from you and start dealing with another trader who may be can deposit more money with them than you. There is nothing you can do about it. That way they determine how much money you can make and you will never make more than them. Many times, they use your money. Had Yiga remained a hardware dealer in Nakasero in the Kampala Central Business District, he would have been wealthy but not able to control any percentage of the steel market in Uganda and the region as he does today. He would probably have built a mega country home but not as luxurious as the one he built in Kasanje Buwaya. He would have employed many people but not the thousands that work in his factories today. If there is anything Ugandan businesspeople can learn from Joseph Yiga, it is the need to move from trading to manufacturing and of course other sectors like banking. We can’t be leaving this to only foreign entities. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

February 5, 2024

Out to Lunch

OutToLunch: Electric mobility as a new year business option

By Denis Jjuuko One of the most trending videos last year was of a bus driver recorded having a meal while driving. He wasn’t snacking, picking on a crisp or something. He had his plate full from which he would pick some African food while driving. At one stage, he even sipped some soup direct from the plate. On seeing the video, police as usual reacted and had him arrested. Another driver was recorded WhatsApping while driving a busload of passengers. One would expect that bus drivers pay the utmost attention given the number of people on board. In most cases, they are the worst. They drive at high speeds beyond the 80kph that they emboss at the back of their buses, overtake in blind spots, or simply overtake and other road users must find their way or else a head on collusion. They install train horns in their vehicles that they sound with reckless abandon. They don’t care if they make you deaf in the process, as long as they have sounded the horn as if their lives entirely depend on it. Most times, the buses are rickety with broken centre bolts that make it impossible to move in a straight line. If you want to see impunity on the road, follow a bus on a highway. One of the major reasons they drive that way is because many haven’t received proper bus driving training. They are easily moved from lorries or even taxis to buses. Some start as cargo loaders and along the way start learning to drive. In a few years, they are bus drivers. Most bus drivers are paid per a trip so drivers consider sitting down for a meal or driving at the recommended kilometre per hour a wastage of time. The more trips they make, the more money they earn in a day, week or month. The more money a bus owner makes. I have though never understood why a businessman would spend Shs700 million or more on a bus and then hand it to the most incompetent driver ever or one who wouldn’t care about how the bus is driven. If bus owners don’t value human life, at least they should look at their investments. Many of these buses don’t have comprehensive insurance so once they are involved in an accident, that is the end of it. No compensation. That could explain why many bus companies struggle to stay in business for decades. So, I was impressed on a recent visit to Nakasongola where I met bus drivers undergoing skilling by Kiira Motors. Even though the program being implemented by Kiira is updating drivers with the skills they need to drive electric buses, it is also focusing on customer care and experience, traffic rules and regulations, routine service maintenance and repair as well as handling and operation of equipment including electric charging. If they can skill a big pool of bus drivers including those who drive internal combustion engine buses, the better for the country. Passengers eventually won’t be driven from one part of Uganda to another like bales of used clothing. But this work can’t be left to one entity and its parent ministry. Bus and taxi drivers must be equipped with regular skills they need to do a job that puts the lives of the passengers and other road users first. Not just thinking of how many trips they can make a day. Bus owners must be aligned to this necessity as well. Of course, it isn’t just bus and taxi drivers that require refresher driving courses. Many ‘my cars’ drive recklessly and don’t even know basic traffic rules and regulations. Once they have made some money, they buy a car and next day, they are driving for Christmas to the village to show it off to their relatives. Many arrive by sheer luck. Beyond the case for driving, last year saw an increase in the number of electric vehicles in Uganda albeit with nearly all of them in Kampala. Some corporate bodies, NGOs and diplomatic missions accredited to Uganda started electrifying their fleets. This heralds a new era of electric mobility. Sooner than later, there will be lots of electric vehicles without the skills to drive and maintain them. The opportunities for electric vehicles are massive and there is a lot for the private sector to play. We shouldn’t just wait when the vehicles are all over the city and then try to catch up. It isn’t just cars by the way. Some entrepreneurs have been converting boda bodas from petrol engines to rechargeable batteries. Since there are more boda bodas than cars in Uganda, that sector also has a lot of potential—from charging infrastructure, skilling, to maintenance. If you are reflecting on what to do in the new year, electric mobility is one option. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

January 10, 2024

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: Lifetime skills for S6 students on vacation

By Denis Jjuuko If you visit some of the malls in Kampala these days, you would not fail to notice young people milling around the rails, dressed in damaged jeans and taking selfies with their peers. Many are on vacation having completed their advanced level secondary education even though there are many who may not be in this category. Some end up catching a movie or having some chips and chicken served in cardboard boxes. The majority though are just hanging around. For the next eight months or so, such students especially from middle income families will wake up to do nothing for nearly a year as they wait to join university and other such higher institutions of learning. Parents will be happy to let them hang around the city with reckless abandon. Yet this is the time for these young people to acquire some skills, do some work and gain experience or gain some lifetime skills. So what can students on a long senior six school break done during this time? Here are some ideas. Learning to drive Self driving vehicles are many years away even in the developed world. So driving will remain an important lifetime skill for many people. Some jobs such as sales and marketing in big organizations require somebody who knows how to drive. But also it is a job itself for many people. Somebody who knows how to drive has an advantage over someone who doesn’t. It also enables one to be responsible as drivers make decisions every second. If you want your child to improve their decision making capabilities, teach them how to drive. Don’t just teach them how to drive though. Let them learn how to change tyres, washing the vehicle and even changing oil. Cooking and baking There will never be a day when people won’t need food. Most people will always eat cooked food. So instead of the child eating food in cardboard boxes as I mentioned earlier, let them learn how to cook. You can take them to a school that teaches people to cook or bring a teacher at home to teach them. You can pull this together with your friends or relatives in the same neighborhood to reduce the cost. Even if they don’t end up doing this as a business, they will still be able to cook food for themselves and their families. If you teach them baking, they would even start earning income during this period. They can make cookies (or is it daddies?), cakes and such other stuff and sell to their colleagues or shops nearby using the same amount of money as capital that they were spending loitering in Kampala malls. Content creation Creating content is now a source of income for many. Many content creators or social and digital media influencers have no formal qualifications in the work they do. They get a smartphone and generate content. I believe that those who will get trained will become better and earn better. So teach the child photography and videography basics so that they don’t necessarily have to just spend their time taking selfies or photographing the food before they eat it so they can share with their buddies for bragging rights on Gram! Along the way they will become experts and start earning as soon as possible. You can hire a photographer or videographer to teach your children these skills. Even if they don’t become content creators, in whatever career they choose, content creation will be critical as all professions need it to communicate better. There are also some skills offered by companies like Google online such as digital marketing and data analytics that they can enroll for and many are free of charge. Instead of simply watching Netflix, they can spend some of their time getting these skills. Money skills Ugandan schools don’t largely teach people money skills. We learn it when we start earning it and we make many mistakes. So if people learn about money when they are still young, they will make informed decisions later. So the kids taking this long break from academics, can be taught about money by ensuring they manage the budget at home. Send them to markets to buy items and manage the entire process. If they can work somewhere in a place where they have to deal with money, that is even better even if they aren’t paid a lot. Do you have a friend who runs a fuel station, supermarket or restaurant? Those are great training areas on acquiring some money skills but also gaining some work experience especially customer care service and even income if possible however little it can be. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

January 9, 2024