In the fight against youth unemployment, on November 10, 2021, the Minister of State for ICT, Joyce Ssebugwawo, announced the appointment of a Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) and Innovation Council. The first of its kind in Uganda, the council will work with the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance to formulate strategies for creating jobs for the youth through ICT outsourcing and Innovation; and prescribe regulatory frameworks/reforms and projects relevant to the growth of the BPO and Innovation industry.
The council will also identify, support and scale up breakthrough technologies and disruptive innovations.
The Government of Uganda embarked on an initiative to develop the BPO and Innovation sectors in Uganda as one of the key areas that the Government can exploit as a long-term solution to addressing issues of unemployment amongst educated youths. Uganda has great strengths in attracting BPO jobs into the country, 30,000 youth leave the university each year, and these are English speaking and ICT literate.
The ICT industry in the country has also grown in the last 10 years putting the country at an advantage in handling ICT jobs around the globe. It is a very good time to recharge Uganda’s efforts in the BPO & Innovation industry.
Led by the globally celebrated ICT expert, Professor William Bazeyo, the council includes distinguished ICT professionals from academia, public and private sectors.
Through the Ministry of ICT & NG, the Government has adopted an ICT-led socio-economic policy for accelerated development with a focus on ICT entrepreneurship development, rejuvenation of the private sector, and wealth creation in the National Development Plan III (NDPIII) and the NRM Manifesto 2021-2026.
The NDP III under the Digital Transformation Program recognizes ICT as a fulcrum of development. The national plan recognizes ICT as an accelerator, amplifier and augmenter of change across the economy.
The Digital Transformation Programme will be pursuing the following strategies to contribute towards the NDPIII: To promote ICT innovation, enhance ICT skills and vocational development and promote development-oriented mind-set and to increase government participation in strategic sectors.
Ssebugwawo says that the appointment of the BPO and Innovation Council is a deliberate effort by the Government of Uganda to achieves its aspiration to create jobs through the promotion of BPO and Innovation and importantly; place Uganda the forefront of the next wave of strategic technologies, support a new generation of leading BPO & Innovation companies and scale disruptive innovations to accelerate the transition to a digital economy.
The terms of reference for the BPO and Innovation Council are as follows:
1. Represent the Government, Academia and IT Enabled Services /BPO industry experts in executing BPO/ITES and Innovation strategic interests.
2. Work with MoICTNG to supervise the implementation of the proposed BPO & Innovation strategy and ensure the involvement of all sectors.
3. Oversee collaborations between Government-Academia-Private Sector and Development Partners to implement projects and recommendations relevant to the growth of the ITES/BPO and Innovation industry.
4. The council will also identify, support and scale up breakthrough technologies and disruptive innovations.
5. Serve as a catalyst to increase the competitiveness and capability of Uganda as an ITES/BPO destination to create jobs for the youth and revenue for the Government.
6. Support all efforts to raise awareness and promote Uganda as a BPO/ITES destination and Innovation power-house
7. Foster collaborations with International and Development Partners to invest alongside the Government to promote BPO in the country.
Ssebugwawo says, “Our economy significantly slowed down on account of Covid19, now is the time to contribute to its rebuilding by creating opportunities for our youth. This will be a challenging task for the council, I nonetheless have confidence that they will deliver this national calling.”
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of ICT and National Guidance, Dr. Aminah Zawedde congratulated the various council members upon their appointment.
“The appointment of this BPO and Innovation council is a deliberate effort to contribute towards the collective effort to digitalize the economy as a vehicle to achieve social and economic development. It’s a strong response to the growing need for strengthening the coordination, inclusiveness and, ultimately, the effectiveness of BPO & Innovation development,” Dr. Zawedde said.
The BPO and Innovation council is comprised of the following:
Prof. William Bazeyo, Chairperson
Professor Bazeyo is Lab Director and Chief of Party of Resilient Africa Network (RAN), bringing together 20 Universities in 16 African Countries.
Having started Resilient Innovation Labs in four regions, namely the Horn of Africa at Jimma University in Ethiopia currently serving Somalia as well soon to add South Sudan, in Sahel region in the University of Health and Allied Science in Ho in Ghana bringing together in this 1st year Senegal, Ghana and Mali, in East Africa Makerere University coordinating DRC and Rwanda initially and in the University of Pretoria, South Africa coordinating SA, & Zimbabwe initially.
He is currently working with Tulane and Stanford University to create Resilient Communities in Africa using locally/ African technologically designed innovations done by African Students, faculty and the actual communities participating.
Dr. Rebecca Isabella Kiconco, Vice Chairperson
Rebecca holds a PhD from The Eindhoven University of Technology in The Netherlands. She serves as a faculty member at the faculty of Commerce at Makerere University Business School in Uganda, where she has worked for over 13 years.
Rebecca has skills in quantitative research. Her research and consultancy interests span the realms of technology adoption in developing countries, specifically sub-Saharan Africa, the usability of mobile technology applications, and tax compliance.
In tandem, she facilitates learning within and outside universities. Working in a multicultural setting is one of her strong suits, and she is a great team player.
Her goal is to support and contribute to pragmatic research in developing countries through innovative and creative methodologies that can change society.
Rajeev Agarwal, Member
Rajeev specializes in Business Consulting, Strategy & Transformation at Techno Brain, a Business Process Outsourcing Group. In addition, he has over 18 years of Professional Sales and Business Development experience across Africa in building, managing, expanding and growing BPO sales revenues. Actualizing tangible impact in revenues, operations and the bottom-line during two decades of his career journey is a hallmark to reckon with.
He has expertise in blending exceptional marketing skills, coupled with solid business management experience and the vision to marry novel technologies with new market opportunities in distant geographies. In addition, he can envision business rationale, Entrepreneurial Orientation, Cross-cultural Interactions and Emotional Intelligence.
Eva K. Mugerwa, Member
Eva is an experienced commercial lawyer with vast experience in regulatory compliance in the public and private sectors. She worked with Standard Chartered Bank Limited as Country Legal and Compliance and later headed East Africa’s Financial Crime Risk/ Anti Money Laundering section.
She has also worked with Uganda Registration Service Bureau [URSB] as a Director who supported and championed key business reforms to achieve improved service delivery, especially related to the ease of doing business in Uganda.
Eva is a member of the United Nations Joint Population Program, The Steering Committee of the National Security and Information System, a key standout was the culmination of the National Identity card mass registration exercise.
Most recently, she was appointed by the Chief Justice of Uganda to represent the Uganda Law Society on the Committee investigating Allegations of Corruption in the Judiciary.
Eva is a regular guest speaker at international events leading collaborative synergies between several Government Ministries, Departments, agencies, and International Development Partners.
Rowena Turinawe, Member
Rowena is the Business Transformation Manager at the National Information Technology Authority Uganda.
Rowena has over 9 years of national and regional IT service management experience (spanning 5 countries) at mid-management and senior management level in the following fields; e-Governence, business transformation. Strategic planning & implementation, IT service management, delivery of complex projects, stakeholder management, event monitoring and technical support management, process and policy design as well as service delivery.
Rowena holds a first-class Bachelor’s degree in Information technology from Makerere University and has concluded an award of Master of Science in Information Systems and Change Management, University of Manchester – United Kingdom. She is COBIT5 & ITIL certified, a Project management professional (PMP) and PROSCI Change Management Practitioner.
Fred Otunnu, Member
Fred is the Director of Corporate Affairs at the Uganda Communications Commission.
He is both a social scientist and lawyer. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Social Sciences, a Masters in International Relations & Diplomatic Studies, a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) all from Makerere University and a post-graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (Law Development Centre, Kampala).
Fred has a wealth of experience in international relations, ICT regulation, consumer protection issues and corporate communications. Prior to his current appointment, Mr Otunnu was Acting Director of Broadcasting at UCC.
Richard Okuti, Member
Richard has over 20 years of experience in IT for business and over ten years of experience in International Trade Development, specifically transforming organizations into globally competitive entities and linking them to markets.
Currently works with CBI: Center for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries. Previously, he worked with United Nations, International Trade Centre (ITC) to facilitate the Internationalization of SMEs & Startups through influencing policy, building the capacity of government agencies and associations to provide relevant services to SMEs & Startups and directly skilling and creating linkages for SMEs/Startups.
He has experience in exporting agricultural products to China, India, Italy, and Kenya and IT and tourism services to Denmark, Netherlands, Switzerland, and the UK. He has additional experience in ICT4D, and business incubation gained in association with I-Network & Makerere University.
He is a member of the Alliance for Trade in Information-Technology and Services (ATIS), The Private Sector Foundation of Uganda (PSFU) & AIESEC Alumni.
Richard Zulu, Member
Richard is the founder and lead at Outbox, a Google for Entrepreneurs partner hub that helps new and upcoming African entrepreneurs interested in using technology with workspace, mentorship, and training programs.
He has over six years of experience in building support systems for startups and developer communities.
Richard is the chairperson of Startup Uganda, an association of innovation and entrepreneurship support organizations (IESO) working towards strengthening the startup support ecosystem and sector.
Charles Odongtho, Member
Charles is a graduate of Mass Communication and Bachelor of Laws Degree (LLB) from Makerere University. He has undergone several pieces of training and skilling in Communications and Media Management from The Netherlands, Kenya, the United States of America, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Uganda.
Over the last 20 years, he has worked with Radio Paidha, Uganda Radio Network, Vision Group, Panos Eastern Africa, NTV Uganda, NBS Television and currently hosts a prime TV show, “Behind the Headlines” on the National Broadcaster, UBC.
A highly passionate, exposed and motivated journalist, Charles is solid in innovating and planning ideas that provide solutions to public, political and business communications challenges.
Charles has grown into an effective Business and political communications consultant and takes time to train, mentor, and regularly speak to young journalists and leaders in the country.
Dr. Hawa Nyende, Member
Dr. Hawa holds a PhD in informatics from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. She is a lecturer at the department of IT, School of computing and informatics technology, Makerere University. She has more than eighteen years of IT and training experience ranging from United States Government contracts to university activities.
She has proven ability to work effectively in multi-cultural environments, manage diverse staff and meet program goals and objectives. In addition, her experience in European and African regions and in researching digital service innovation brings added value to transforming society through digitalization.
In addition, her experience working with international NGOs provides the ability to meet international standards and quality. She has extensive training experience in the Information Technology area and expertise in informatics research, software development, and project management.
Dr. Diana Nandagire Ntamu, Member
Dr. Diana is an Entrepreneurship Development Specialist with 20 years of experience working with Uganda’s private and public sectors. She is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Entrepreneurship and the Director of the Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Incubation Centre at Makerere University Business School (MUBS).
She holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an MBA (Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management) and a B.A Education (Economics) from Makerere University.
Over the last 20 years, Dr. Ntamu has worked with local and international institutions promoting entrepreneurship through training and research. As the Director of the Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Incubation Centre, she has designed and implemented training programmes for social entrepreneurs, micro, small and medium enterprises and provided leadership to the various projects at the MUBS Entrepreneurship Centre. She has researched the small and growing businesses in Uganda and Nigeria, the leather sector in the East African Community, entrepreneurship in family businesses, entrepreneurship and poverty alleviation in markets, marginalisation and women entrepreneurship, youth employment and social entrepreneurship.
Over the last 20 years, she has served on committees and boards in public and private sector institutions. She is a member of the Uganda Women Entrepreneurs Association (UWEAL), a member of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Research team in Uganda, a member of the Institute of Small Businesses and Entrepreneurship in the United Kingdom and a member of the International Society of Third Sector Research (ISTR).
She serves as a member of the Projects Committee of the MasterCard Foundation-funded projects at the Private Sector Foundation and the MUBS Leadership and MUBS ICT Centre Boards.
Secretariat
Charles Auk, Secretary
Charles is an Assistant Commissioner at the Ministry of ICT & NG.
Irene Karungi Sekitoleko
Irene is a Telecommunication Engineer at the Ministry of ICT & NG. She has a background of working with Start-up companies.
Angela Ndagano
Angela is a Communications Expert with NITA-U and the World Bank’s Regional communications Infrastructure Program.
She has over 10 years’ experience in journalism, marketing, stakeholder management and ICT communications working with various organizations to strategically plan and execute communications programs.
“The BPO and Innovation Council appointment takes immediate effect,” Says Ssebugwawo.