Ugandan students begin business journey to New York with chance to win $1million

Some four students of International University of East Africa, namely: Titus Kaali, Norbert Mwebaze, Gladys Eyatoru and Godwin Ahimbisibwe have started a journey that could see them secure $1million (about Shs3.7billion) seed funding award, thanks to the Hult Prize Foundation, fondly known as the ”Nobel Prize for Students”.
The four IUEA students have already jumped the first hurdle after being declared the winners of the IUEA campus entrepreneurs programme before walking away with $1000 prize money, courtesy of the University.

As result of this feat, the four are now eligible for a regional competition to be held in Nairobi, Kenya where they will be the sole country representatives. And if they make it passed the regional contest, they will have a shot at the $1million seed capital which will be given to help the winning team launch its enterprise, for this case could be Mag Box Enterprise.

Worth noting is that several ideas were presented by students across African countries, but the panel of three judges deemed the pitch made by the four IUEA students, which among other things entails mass organic reproduction of maggot for chicken feeds as the most viable venture and closer to the reflection of what the founders of Hult Prize seem to have had in mind when starting this initiative nearly a decade ago—socially sensible and commercially viable.

The Idea
The focus of the entrepreneurs’ programme which culminated into the competition rotated around solving youths unemployment questions. The winning pitch—Mag Box, demonstrated the need for generating quality organic chicken feed, which is currently in low supply in the country, provide massive employment and kick start the growth of poultry industry in the country. Given similar challenges in the region and the continent at large, the demand for their products can only swell further.

According to a February 2017 publication produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development, there are an estimated 44 million chickens in Uganda (both commercial and backyard flocks). The publication noted that demand for poultry products is growing as a consequence of urbanisation and income growth. It further indicated that commercial and semi-commercial poultry production is increasing, with the vast majority of chickens being owned by small farmers, usually women who are also primarily responsible for their care.

In an interview with Mr Kaali, Mag Box will be the solution to enhance the poultry industry and raise the income levels of not just the many unemployed youths but also the women who appear to be the majority in the industry.
“Mag Box is the compost company of the future. It does use natural process to make compost. And it will also create jobs, solving the unemployment question. This is why we are involved in this kind of programme. We want to change the nature of education by creating more job makers rather than job seekers,” Dr Emeka Akaezuwa said in an interview shortly after declaring the winners of the competition held at the IUEA. He pledged the IUEA support to the students, saying they even encourage their students to start doing business while still at campus.

The Founder of Asure Network, Mr Paul Mizel who was part of the panel of judges, thanks to his invaluable experience in team building strategies and activities for multiple clients, said in an interview that he was impressed by the quality of pitches and ideas that were presented by the IUEA students.
“Quality of pitches were all good. They were all trying to solve existing problems. Some ideas were disruptive but that is what you need to create sustainable business—one which solves social challenges yet commercially viable,” said Mr Mizel.

Other pitches
• Yasmin Sultan Swaleh, Kiiza Thomas and Walid Yasiin pitched for an app they named as Jatham Trade app. By close of second year they say the app will be employing at least 15000 people. This innovation seamlessly coordinates a trader, customer and delivery person. care of that
• Water Sanitation and hygiene (WASH) project. This will be established in the Democratic Republic of Congo particularly in Goma. It will do water purification which is problem in that part of the world. It will provide excess of 10000 employment.
• Money Bees
This was pitched by Milton Mwila, Richard Bulere and Agape Buyana.
They said they will specialise in bee value addition. This will be done through branding and marketing of the product.
• Jusy innovation Centre
According to Justus Tukamuhebwa, Jowab Ahimbisibwe and Peter Amanyabyona, production of liquid Soap is the way to go in Western Uganda.
• Several pitches were also made on cashing in on commercial agriculture
• And Derrick Jjunjuu, Amony Jackline, Ismail Aliyu Athir and Simon Chao Aloysius thought that Lutimbe Mobile cinema can unlock some fortune that can take care of unemployment. They said they will go around screening movie freely particularly in rural areas and earn commissions from adverts.

[email protected]