21st Century Ugandan Businesspeople

"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'd be sacked if I worked here."

"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."

"I learned that work ethic while I worked at Scanad."

"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."