208 quotes found
"I'd be sacked if I worked here."
"I'm much too loud, you have a horrible office, I'm not coming back."
"The hand held hoe should no longer be a tool of production."
"There was an efficient extension service when I was growing up in the 1970s, but such extension is available to 14% or fewer farming households today."
"We need people to advise farmers on how to apply fertiliser."
"Control pests and prevent post-harvest losses such as those caused by inadequate storage."
"Donors should focus on those higher up the value chain."
"It is enterprises that are the critical drivers, they drive demand from farmers."
"If donors want to achieve their objectives, if they want to improve livelihoods, they should focus on businesses that add value to output."
"Why not cut and paste for Uganda."
"To bring a seed from breeder stage to the market can take three years."
"But loans often are for a maximum of 12 months. Twenty-year loans are needed at low rates."
"We can't operate our business without water, electricity or an access road,"
"This environment motivated me to start Victoria Seeds in 2002 because the policy was favorable."
"You need confidence and to believe in yourself."
"When I told my friends I was starting a seed company they thought I was out of my mind."
"That is a business for men, they told me."
"I pushed on and even picked up a name that would inspire me every day."
"But what did I do? I went to a research project the East African Agricultural Productivity Programme and presented my plan."
"They wrote me a letter to take to the bank to guarantee my loan if I fail to repay it."
"The bank then accepted to give me startup capital."
"In 2006 I was an AWARD grantee at IITA and this really transformed me as an individual."
"The following year I got the YARA award."
"The training was for scientists but they brought me in as a woman in business."
"Everyone said I was out of my mind."
"They said business is a male dominated area and that the private seed industry hardly existed in Uganda."
"The bank actually shut the door in my face."
"They told me I don’t have a business history and they cannot run such a risk. *They were not going to give me any money."
"I named it after the largest body of water on the continent."
"I felt it showed that I will always be here."
"In the early years it gave me the confidence every day to wake up and say, I am not going anywhere."
"Who would have thought so many years ago that as the only girl-child of four siblings my path would lead to Uganda’s electricity distribution utility and managing such an important public service."
"In Africa it is said that ‘it takes a village to raise a child."
"I was fortunate to grow up in an extended family environment."
"I went to a faith based girls’ only school where discipline and values were instilled in us."
"This I believe is the important cornerstone that gave me the courage to follow a career path probably not traditionally set out for women."
"One of the early defining moments in my working career was during my first job as a sales executive in a company dealing in office equipment."
"When I had contracted a sale, which was ten times the average salesperson’s daily output."
"It dawned on me that there are no limitations to the possibilities that can be achieved."
"Through dedication, commitment to results and hard work, I held the power to succeed."
"I joined the energy sector as a graduate trainee in 1996."
"I rose through the ranks to executive level at Umeme Ltd."
"Energy distribution company listed on the Ugandan and Kenyan stock exchanges."
"At the time of my intern year, the graduate training programme, which ran for two intensive years and hosted by the then publicly owned utility was a public entity."
"This exposed me to the entire business."
"Today I am managing 600 permanent employees and 1,000 contracted staff."
"I am proud to be the first female Executive Director to the board of Umeme Limited, a company and sector for which I hold so much passion."
"Through my efforts together with the Umeme team, the country has been able to more than double the number of households."
"That are connected to electricity over the past 10 years."
"The increase in access to electricity has improved the livelihood of households and communities and Uganda and has been."
"We have close to 1,500 people benefiting from the project."
"I think I’ve evolved over the years, but right now, I’d call myself a passionate learner of life."
"My entire career has been around advertising, communications and marketing, but I just have a passion and a zest for life, for brands and for people."
"Those three pillars; life, brands and people, that’s who I am."
"I am a graduate, of journalism."
"I graduated from Makerere University."
"I having my career then evolving into advertising; working with advertising agencies and then going into marketing and communications as my broad field of specialization."
"That’s who I am."
"From what people see from the professional side, I’m a lover of sports."
"I also like to see myself as a believer in people."
"I do quite a bit in terms of mentoring and lifting people up."
"Any opportunity I get to lift others is a gift."
"I take that with a big spoon."
"I am a Jesus lover and that really underpins my values as a person."
"What else can I say about me?"
"I’m into public speaking, I take any opportunity, like every week, I am speaking to some people."
"I’m frequently doing public speaking engagements."
"I and the microphone can’t be put apart."
"I’d describe my childhood as ‘very protected and yet very instrumental in who I am today’."
"Why do I say protected?"
"I say protected because my parents did their level best to afford us the best of what they could offer."
"I come from a huge extended family, and so there were always big cousins around, and protected in terms of when I look back now, in terms of privilege, because there’s so much that we could do that the average family could not do at the time."
"That’s why I’ll say protected."
"When I say very pivotal in who I am today, it also made me very independent because I was put in boarding school when I was seven years old."
"Once you’re put in boarding school at a very young age, you’ve got to figure out life on your own quite early."
"That, then, made me be in a protected environment and yet helped me develop into a very independent person."
"When I look back at my childhood, I’ve got fond memories of big family gatherings."
"I’ve got fond memories of being in a private British school in Kenya."
"I’ve got fond memories of childhood friends that I can no longer trace, because we were in this private British school."
"Once you come into secondary school, then you start forming lifelong relationships, especially from my secondary school and those are the lifelong relationships that I have now."
"I have fond memories of growing up in Kenya, Nairobi."
"Even when I go there now, I smell the air and it brings back childhood memories."
"That’s my childhood."
"My career journey is one I’m really grateful for, because obviously, I have worked for the big corporations that come to mind."
"When I joined MTN Uganda as advertising manager, prior to that I’d been with advertising agencies so I have many years of advertising experience."
"I joined MTN as an Advertising Manager and then Brand Manager."
"And then from there, I went to Commercial Microfinance Bank as the Head of Marketing and Retail."
"I went to DFCU Bank as Head of Marketing and Communications."
"I then took a break for a year. After the sabbatical and I joined Vision Group, a media conglomerate."
"I never need more than three years because after three years, I feel like, ‘Okay."
"I think I’ve done what I came to do here."
"I move on to the next challenge, because I love challenges."
"I don’t like to sit in a place where I feel like I’m being paid, but I’m not really doing much."
"I am not adding any more value."
"Sometimes that calls for crazy decision making, but I love challenges."
"I love to feel that when I wake up in the morning, and I go to work, I’m going to make a difference."
"I’m going to add value to the company."
"That’s why my previous work stints were all three years, until I got to Vision Group where I surprised myself by lasting eight years."
"I guess why I survived eight years, so to speak, is because I kept re-inventing my role such that by the time I left, my role had grown by leaps and bounds as I kept re-inventing it and adding responsibilities and finding new ways to keep myself challenged."
"My career path has really been one where when I look back, intentional, and yet not intentional by my standards."
"I honestly see the hand of God leading and guiding me and placing me in different institutions and I doing my bit and and always giving my best."
"I’ve always pushed myself no matter what task I’m given, to give my best and I think that remains one of my principles."
"That work ethic hasn’t changed and right now I’m trying to teach it to my team at Urge Uganda."
"That work ethic where nothing is impossible and you can do all things."
"I learned that work ethic while I worked at Scanad."
"My first gig at an advertising agency, two years fresh out of university."
"I was like, ‘Whoa what is this?’ Because we were working hard and burning the midnight oil."
"I guess this was the same at even my university because we would be up at midnight, you know, typing work and everything."
"People would hand in written work but Mass Communications’ students even before the age of computers."
"We were typing and that really taught us to stay up late, work hard, you know, burn the midnight oil."
"So, just those two first years of my career after university really taught me the work ethic that enabled me now to excel in these different places that I went to."
"I had hit the ceiling. Even when I chose not to renew my contract, it was really because I had done everything that I had been tasked to do."
"I had reached the areas where I felt the company should be going to, and I had kind of like stalled."
"I realised that the company could do with new energy that would then take them to the next level."
"I needed to find other ways to pour out, to use my knowledge."
"I also felt that it could best be expressed in starting a company of my own. So that’s really why I left."
"What I loved about Makerere was the sports."
"It facilitated my interactions with a number of people."
"I was the Hockey Captain for Mary Stuart Hall."
"I was swimming, playing basketball and squash."
"In the mornings, the guys would come round, pick us and we would jog around the university while singing mchaka mchaka songs."
"In the market place now, a lot of people will relate to you simply because you went to Makerere."
"My feel is that there are presently few graduates who are able to think critically and hold valuable conversations."
"We understand the need to employ young people, but their skill, knowledge, eye for detail, and commitment to excellence isn’t there."
"It’s dragging us back! I could make the byline as an intern."
"The guys in the newsroom are struggling because they spend hours rewriting and editing stories."
"I would be lying if I said I planned my career."
"To change and adapt to the Mass Communication field and go with what it offered me was divine guidance."
"God has opened doors for me to have experiences that now serve me in this role."
"I have questioned moves like leaving MTN for Commercial Microfinance because moving from corporate to downtown opposite Owino was a mind-boggling experience."
"We need to empower the private sector including small and medium business (SMA's) with skills of harnessing the consumption of the renewable energy resources."
"The aim of the Product is to enable Ugandans access electricity in off grid areas by addressing the affordability barrier arising from the up-front cost of solar systems."
"This is in line with the National Development Plan (NDPIII) Sustainable Energy Program objectives of increasing access and utilization of electricity."
"Increasing adoption and use of clean energy and promotion of utilization of energy efficient practices and technologies."
"Our new partnership with Equity Bank Uganda will enable us reach more people through their countrywide customer network."
"The most appropriate technology to bring down energy losses, sustain a rigorous safety regime and invest in strengthening the network to improve the quality and reliability of supply."
"The company was pleased with the good operational performance during the year highlighted by further reductions in distribution losses and above-target revenue collections."
"My Dear Ladies of Substance, I welcome you all from the voting exercise and thank you for participating in big numbers."
"Indeed this level of participation has been unprecedented."
"That speaks of your interest in TCNOGA and strong desire to move it to greater heights."
"I thank God and the Holy Trinity for bringing us this far."
"For His unquestionable love for TCN & TCNOGA, and pray His grace continues to go before us."
"I thank you ladies for electing me as your next TCNOGA Pesident."
"A position I humbly accept."
"Thank you for believing in me, for accepting the dream i have for TCNOGA."
"Thanks for giving me another chance to serve, this time as your PRESIDENT."
"In a special way allow me to thank my family, my husband and children, who encouraged me from the time i conceived the idea for presidency."
"I thank my campaign team led by cohort 93 to 98!! Ladies."
"You rock the other cohort leaders who rallied behind me."
"I want to thank Theresa Nabyonga a young lady at Campus who rallied all the young girls."
"I look forward to that same energy during my term."
"I thank Mrs. Francesca Kakooza and everyone who offered themselves for leadership for your zeal for a better TCNOGA."
"We remain one TCNOGA, and look forward to working with you."
"I thank everyone who has participated in one way or another."
"The IT team, all your efforts shall still be needed as we begin the real work now."
"We shall work with you all, listen to you and engage you in our quest to move TCNOGA further."
"I thank the outgoing President Mrs Immaculate Lwanga and her committee under whose leadership I have flourished."
"Our Founders all past leaders, for on your shoulders we stand."
"The project is about giving back to the community and ensuring a strong foundation for the next generation of women leaders."
"We have already laid the foundation stone for the junior school."
"The progress so far is a testament to the alumi commitment."
"Through networking, training, and mentoring opportunities, we shall break barriers in male dominated business sectors, providing our female clients with access to larger volumes of growth capital."
"You’ll get knocked down many times and there’ll be tears, sweat and self doubt,but dust yourself and keep moving. That’s the go-getter spirit."
"Your network is your net-worth."
"Is a quote I hear a lot and I believe it’s true."
"My strategy for everything I’m passionate about is to invest in knowing 2 to 3 people more knowledgeable than me about my area of interest and purpose to learn from them."
"Humility is knowing that there’s always someone better than you at something and that there’s always someone who wants to learn from you."
"I invest in building a strong network of people I look up to and also build a similar network of people I can help mentor."
"Through research and utilizing my networks, I create a lot of opportunities for myself."
"Technological Innovation can be a driving force in creating long term solutions for many of the issues we face in our communities today."
"My definition of innovation is finding a new way of problem solving that’s relevant, resilient and disruptive of the status quo in nature."
"When I look around me, I see many problems that need to be solved in different sectors; energy, water and sanitation, health, education."
"What’s happened over the years is that millennials are more empowered to step into the entrepreneurship and innovation space to come up with ways to solve some of the most pressing needs using enterprise and innovation."
"This space excites me a lot because the possibilities are endless."
"I’ve been involved with lots of innovations as a mentor and implementer."
"Learning that is personalized, unique and treats each child as different is key to helping children thrive."
"When children are in one big class, it’s easy for educators to treat them as equals but what you don’t realize is that each child is unique and learns differently."
"Some thrive in a group setting, some grasp the information quickly from a teacher, and others prefer to learn on their own."
"What’s important is finding unique aspects of each child’s learning ability and capitalizing on that to make them better."
"That’s why the concept of Blended learning where teaching is done partly using technology and traditional teaching methods works better for young children."
"It can be as simple as using technology and complementing that with a teacher, or adding different aspects like peer-to-peer learning, self learning and technology."
"The blended learning approach helped children learn better and retain the knowledge more easily."
"I would say the recognition from Anita Borg Institute as the Change Agent Award winner still tops my milestones."
"Helping a couple of start-ups gain a foothold and start operations."
"lending a hand in helping mentor young women in technology are other key ones."
"I was never afraid to do things."
"I did a lot of things my brothers did and choosing tech was a no brainer."
"I felt it was an open field; if boys can do it, I too can."
"I see tech as an enabler."
"I became interested in computer science around the age of eighteen when I was exposed to computers for the first time."
"But even long before that my father had always encouraged to me to study sciences."
"His dream was for me to become a doctor, but I hated chemistry and anything to do with blood so that just wasn’t going to happen."
"The two subjects I loved were physics and mathematics, so I focused on those."
"After secondary school, while waiting to decide what I would study at university, I worked at a university library which had a computer lab."
"This was where I got the opportunity to sit in front of a computer for the very first time."
"I was fascinated from day one and I remember asking the lady in charge so many questions to try and understand how computers worked."
"Every single evening after that, I found an excuse to go to the lab, sometimes not leaving until very late."
"I researched what career opportunities existed within this new world of computers that I had discovered and went on to opt for computer science at university."
"During my career I realized I loved the process of setting up new systems."
"For a while I worked for a large corporation in the telecommunications sector."
"I joined them at a time when they were doing a lot of setup work which I really enjoyed."
"When it became much more about maintenance, I grew bored."
"Having previously been with a small IT support company."
"I also found that I missed being on the front line, working directly with clients and making things happen."
"I moved on to join a startup called Solar Sister which distributes solar solutions and empowers rural women to better their livelihoods."
"This was a perfect fit because I loved the idea of using technology to make a difference in the lives of everyday people."
"I was also their first hire in Uganda and was entrusted with setting up their operations here."
"This experience made me fall in love with entrepreneurship and gave me the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of setting up a small organization from scratch. *After that I knew I wanted to start my own organization."