As African economies navigate rapid technological change, a growing consensus is emerging among policymakers and business leaders that the continent’s future competitiveness will depend as much on digital skills and human capital as on roads, railways and energy infrastructure.

That reality is expected to dominate discussions at eLearning Africa 2026, the continent’s leading conference and exhibition on digital education, training and skills development, which opens in Accra, Ghana, this week.

The event, that will officially be opened by Vice-Presidentr Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, will bring together more than 1,000 participants from over 80 countries, including ministers, senior government officials, education leaders, business executives, technology innovators, investors and development partners.

While education remains at the heart of the conference, the broader conversation will be economic. Across Africa, governments are grappling with how to prepare young populations for labour markets being reshaped by artificial intelligence, automation, digital platforms and changing workplace demands.

For countries such as Uganda, where youth unemployment and skills mismatches remain persistent challenges, the debate extends beyond classrooms and universities. It is increasingly about ensuring that workers, entrepreneurs and businesses can compete in a digital economy.

Held under the theme “Africa’s Time, Africa’s Terms: Learning for Sovereignty, Strength and Solidarity,” the conference will explore how African nations can build and govern digital learning systems that reflect local realities while supporting long-term economic growth.

A major highlight will be the Ministerial Round Table, bringing together ministers and senior government representatives from across the continent to discuss policy approaches to digital learning, workforce development and educational transformation.

The programme will feature more than 80 sessions, over 250 speakers, practical workshops, masterclasses and exhibitions showcasing emerging education technologies from Africa and beyond.

The emphasis on digital learning comes at a time when employers across multiple sectors are increasingly prioritising digital literacy, data skills, problem-solving capabilities and adaptability. As businesses adopt new technologies, the demand for workers equipped with future-ready skills is expected to accelerate.

Experts argue that Africa’s demographic advantage—its young and rapidly growing population—can only translate into economic gains if education and training systems evolve to meet changing market needs.

Professor Opoku-Agyemang’s participation carries particular significance given her longstanding involvement in educational leadership. Before becoming Vice President, she served as Ghana’s Minister for Education and was the first woman to lead the University of Cape Coast as Vice Chancellor. She has also played prominent roles in advancing women’s education and leadership across the continent.

Her presence reflects the increasing attention governments are paying to education as a strategic economic priority rather than solely a social sector concern.

The choice of Accra as host city is equally symbolic. Long recognised as a centre of Pan-African thought and collaboration, the city provides an apt setting for discussions about Africa’s ability to shape its own digital future.

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Environmental conservation organisation Environmental Conservation Trust of Uganda (ECOTRUST) has launched celebrations to mark 27 years of conservation financing and community-led environmental restoration, highlighting its growing role in climate resilience and sustainable livelihoods across Uganda.

The anniversary celebrations were officially launched Tuesday at the Golden Tulip Canaan Kampala, bringing together development partners, conservation stakeholders, board members and international partners to reflect on the organisation’s journey since its establishment in 1999.

Speaking during the event, ECOTRUST Executive Director Pauline Nantongo Kalunda described the institution’s evolution as a story of resilience, innovation and transformation within Uganda’s conservation sector.

“Twenty-seven years is a significant milestone for any institution, especially in a sector where many organisations struggle to survive beyond their early years,” Nantongo said.

“Our work has always focused on ensuring that conservation is not only environmentally important, but also economically meaningful for local communities,” she added.

Founded following the transformation of a former environmental grants management unit supported by United States Agency for International Development (USAID), ECOTRUST was established to conserve biological diversity while improving social welfare through sustainable environmental management.

Over the years, the organisation has developed into one of Uganda’s leading conservation finance institutions, creating models that channel financial resources into conservation initiatives implemented by rural communities.

Central to that transformation has been ECOTRUST’s flagship Trees for Global Benefits programme, launched in 2003 and widely regarded as one of Africa’s earliest cooperative carbon offsetting schemes.

The programme links Ugandan smallholder farmers to voluntary carbon markets while supporting land restoration and alternative income generation.

According to Nantongo, the organisation’s strategy has been to make conservation commercially viable for ordinary households.

“We want farmers to grow trees because it makes economic sense for them, not simply because they are saving the environment,” she noted.

“When environmental services such as carbon storage, watershed protection and climate regulation are properly valued, conservation becomes a profitable and sustainable land-use option.”

Through its landscape restoration model, ECOTRUST supports enterprises ranging from timber production, coffee and cocoa growing to fruit farming, fish farming, honey production and medicinal plant extraction, while also helping communities access carbon credits and biodiversity financing.

What began in the Queen Elizabeth conservation landscape has since expanded into the Rwenzori Mountains, Mount Elgon, Murchison Falls, Northern Uganda and the Mpologoma landscape.

Today, the organisation says it works with more than 54,000 households and supports restoration and management of over 70,000 hectares across five major landscapes.

ECOTRUST also revealed that it has significantly reduced dependence on traditional donor funding, with about 80 percent of its financing now generated through private philanthropy, conservation service agreements and its Endowment Fund, compared to 20 percent from conventional donor support.

ECOTRUST Board Chairperson Isaac Kapalaga said the organisation’s expansion into regions such as Northern Uganda demonstrates the growing demand for community-centred conservation models despite operational challenges.

“Our commitment remains focused on reaching more communities and ensuring that conservation delivers real social and economic value to ordinary Ugandans,” Kapalaga said.

The launch event concluded with stakeholders signing the ECOTRUST Impact Report, symbolising nearly three decades of conservation finance and environmental restoration efforts.

The organisation now plans to scale its programmes further, targeting improved livelihoods and climate resilience for more than 16.5 million people across 33 districts over the next five years, while restoring at least 60,000 additional hectares of degraded land.

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As stakeholders gathered in Kampala on May 22 to launch the fifth edition of the Uganda Parliamentary Nutrition Week 2026, civil society organisations warned that millions of Ugandan children continue to suffer the lifelong consequences of poor nutrition despite the country’s reputation as one of East Africa’s food baskets.

The week-long campaign, organised by the Participatory Ecological Land Use Management network (PELUM Uganda) together with the Uganda Parliamentary Alliance on Food and Nutrition Security, is being held under the theme “Nourishing Minds, Empowering the Future.” The initiative will culminate in World Nutrition Day celebrations on May 28.

At the centre of this year’s campaign is the Busoga sub-region, which continues to register alarming levels of stunting, micronutrient deficiencies and food insecurity despite its agricultural potential.

According to PELUM Uganda, chronic malnutrition remains one of the biggest barriers to human capital development in the region. Children suffering from stunting and poor diets are more likely to perform poorly in school, miss classes and struggle with cognitive development, ultimately affecting productivity later in life.

The concern is particularly acute among school-going children.

Stakeholders say thousands of learners across Uganda attend classes daily without adequate meals, severely affecting concentration, retention and academic performance. Nationally, about 67 percent of children in Universal Primary Education schools reportedly study on empty stomachs.

“Out of more than 8.2 million learners enrolled in UPE schools, only about 48,000 benefit from government-supported feeding programmes, most of which rely heavily on donor support,” said Apio Mercy, an advocacy officer with PELUM Uganda.

Nutrition advocates argue that Uganda can no longer afford to treat school feeding as an optional social intervention.

Agnes Kirabo, the executive director of the Food Rights Alliance, observed that while stakeholders had successfully pushed for “Food Security for All” to be included as a strategic output in the fourth National Development Plan (NDP IV), implementation remains slow, with about 26 percent of Ugandan children still stunted.

Stakeholders under the Parliamentary Alliance on Food and Nutrition Security are now pushing for an expansion of school feeding programmes beyond the current 48,000 learners benefiting. Besides improving nutrition, they argue, the programmes would also improve learning outcomes through more consistent attendance and better concentration in class.

Global studies show that every dollar invested in school feeding programmes can generate up to nine dollars in economic returns through improved health outcomes, educational attainment and future productivity.

For a country with one of the world’s youngest populations, experts warn that failing to adequately nourish children could undermine Uganda’s demographic dividend.

The challenge, however, goes beyond simply providing meals.

Civil society organisations are increasingly pushing for a shift toward home-grown school feeding programmes powered by agroecology — an agricultural model that promotes environmentally sustainable farming while improving dietary diversity and food security.

Under this approach, schools source food directly from local smallholder farmers using agroecological farming methods. This creates stable local markets while ensuring children receive fresher and more nutritious meals.

PELUM Uganda argues that agroecology presents an opportunity to simultaneously tackle hunger, climate vulnerability, rural poverty and declining soil fertility.

Unlike conventional farming systems that rely heavily on monoculture farming and synthetic chemical inputs, agroecology encourages biodiversity, organic soil improvement, water conservation and the use of indigenous farming knowledge.

Supporters say this model is particularly relevant for regions like Busoga, where indigenous foods such as millet, sorghum, pumpkins, cowpeas and traditional vegetables remain underutilised despite their high nutritional value and resilience to changing climate conditions.

“Food security does not automatically mean nutrition security,” nutrition campaigners noted during the launch.

Uganda may produce large quantities of food, but many households still lack access to balanced and nutrient-rich diets.

The consequences are already visible.

Children and mothers continue to suffer from micronutrient deficiencies, particularly anaemia, while cases of acute malnutrition remain prevalent in vulnerable regions.

Nutrition experts also warn that poor diets are contributing to rising non-communicable diseases associated with unhealthy food consumption patterns.

Meanwhile, concerns over food safety in schools have added another layer to the debate.

Recent incidents of food poisoning in schools across Uganda have exposed weaknesses in food handling and storage systems within educational institutions.

In 2023, more than 100 pupils at Golden Learning Centre in Mityana were hospitalised following suspected food poisoning, while Nakanyonyi Secondary School in Mukono temporarily closed after an outbreak linked to contaminated food.

Similar incidents have also been reported in Karamoja.

These cases have reinforced calls for stronger nutrition and food safety frameworks as Uganda expands school feeding programmes.

Still, some initiatives are already demonstrating what is possible.

In Karamoja, the World Food Programme’s “Karamoja Feeds Karamoja” initiative has partnered with the government to support school feeding programmes benefiting more than 250,000 children across 320 schools.

The programme has also boosted local procurement from smallholder farmers, injecting millions of dollars into local economies while improving access to meals for learners.

Stakeholders say such models should now be expanded nationwide.

PELUM Uganda and its partners are urging the government to prioritise financing for a national home-grown school feeding programme and fast-track the long-awaited Food and Nutrition Bill alongside the National Agroecology Strategy.

Advocates argue that Uganda’s nutrition crisis requires a more coordinated response linking agriculture, health, education and local governance.

Part of the proposed solution includes promoting school gardens, agroecology clubs and nutrition education programmes that equip children and communities with practical knowledge about sustainable farming and healthy diets.

There are also growing calls for parents to contribute agroecologically produced food items rather than ultra-processed foods to support school feeding initiatives.

For Busoga, campaigners believe the answer may partly lie in rediscovering traditional foods that have long sustained communities but have gradually been abandoned in favour of less nutritious alternatives.

Promoting indigenous foods, they argue, would not only improve dietary diversity but also preserve cultural heritage while strengthening resilience against climate and economic shocks.

As Uganda marks another Parliamentary Nutrition Week, stakeholders insist that the country stands at a critical crossroads.

The debate is no longer simply about feeding children. It is about protecting Uganda’s future workforce, strengthening education outcomes and building resilient food systems capable of supporting future generations.

Without decisive action, nutrition experts warn, the country risks raising millions of children whose potential is permanently diminished long before they reach adulthood.

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Every year on May 22, the world commemorates the United Nations International Day for Biological Diversity, a moment dedicated to raising awareness about the accelerating loss of species and ecosystems across the planet.

The day serves as a global call to action, reminding humanity that protecting biodiversity is not simply an environmental concern, but a necessity for food security, clean water, public health, and climate stability.

This year’s theme, “Acting locally for global impact,” underscores a powerful reality: ambitious global conservation frameworks such as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework will only succeed if they are implemented at the grassroots level. Lasting environmental change is not forged in conference halls alone; it is achieved in communities where people actively restore and protect the ecosystems around them.

For the last 27 years, the Environmental Conservation Trust of Uganda (ECOTRUST) has embodied this principle. By channeling international climate finance directly to Ugandan smallholder farmers, the organization has demonstrated that empowering local communities remains one of the most effective pathways to protecting biodiversity while improving livelihoods.

At the heart of this effort is ECOTRUST’s Trees for Global Benefits (TGB) program, which operationalizes the core message of this year’s biodiversity theme. By aggregating thousands of small-scale restoration efforts undertaken by individual households, the program transforms localized action into measurable landscape-level impact.

Through its performance-based payment model, conservation financing has been decentralized, enabling rural families to directly benefit from restoring degraded ecosystems while strengthening household incomes.

To date, more than 51,000 households across 26 districts in Uganda have benefited from the initiative. By integrating indigenous trees into family farming systems, participating farmers have restored over 34,000 hectares of land, creating a growing woodland network projected to sequester approximately 7.518 million tonnes of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Yet biodiversity protection cannot be sustained without socioeconomic resilience. Communities struggling with poverty, food insecurity, and water scarcity are unlikely to prioritize conservation unless environmental protection is directly linked to economic opportunity.

Recognizing this reality, ECOTRUST supports communities to establish sustainable enterprises such as beekeeping and shea nut production, allowing households to generate reliable incomes while conserving fragile ecosystems.

These interventions provide tangible evidence of how local action delivers global environmental outcomes.

In the Murchison-Semliki landscape, for example, ECOTRUST works with private landowners to restore fragmented forest corridors, reconnecting isolated habitats and securing migratory pathways for endangered chimpanzees while reducing human-wildlife conflict along agricultural frontiers.

Further north, the organization’s newly launched Transformative Approach to Sustainable Landscapes and Livelihoods (TASLL) project is extending this community-centered conservation model into the climate-vulnerable Agoro-Agu region.

Supported by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the initiative seeks to conserve 65,000 hectares of natural forest through the planting of six million mixed native trees. Importantly, the project integrates marginalized groups within the Palabek Refugee Settlement, ensuring that biodiversity conservation also advances social inclusion and community resilience.

To sustain and scale these efforts, ECOTRUST is also helping reshape environmental markets beyond traditional carbon financing.

During this year’s Uganda Water and Environment Week, the organization unveiled its Nature Credit Solutions framework, an innovative model designed to reward communities for safeguarding watersheds, restoring ecosystems, and developing nature-positive enterprises such as sustainable wild beekeeping.

ECOTRUST’s 27-year journey offers an important lesson for governments, financiers, conservation actors, and development partners alike: when local communities are trusted, empowered, and economically included in environmental stewardship, the benefits extend far beyond national borders.

Ultimately, global biodiversity restoration will not be achieved through policy declarations alone. It will be secured through millions of localized actions led by communities whose daily lives remain deeply connected to the health of nature itself.

Dr. Diana Nalwanga is the Head of Biodiversity at the Environmental Conservation Trust of Uganda (ECOTRUST)

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Uganda’s agricultural sector is intensifying calls for coordinated action among financiers, regulators, manufacturers and farmers to curb the spread of counterfeit agricultural inputs, amid growing concerns over food safety and long-term regional food security.

The appeal emerged during the second edition of the CropLife Uganda Symposium held at Sheraton Kampala Hotel, which convened policymakers, agribusiness leaders, regulators, researchers, development partners and farmers under the theme: “Emerging trends in seeds, crop protection and fertiliser industry: Embracing change and sustainability to ensure food security, health and safety.”

Discussions centred on regulatory enforcement, agricultural innovation, market integrity and the financing systems required to support a more resilient and productive farming ecosystem across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr. Paul Mwambu, Commissioner for Crop Inspection and Certification at the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), said Uganda has made measurable progress in tackling counterfeit agricultural inputs but warned that enforcement gaps remain a major risk.

“We have made strides in fighting counterfeits in the country. The ministry is actively involved in crackdowns, but as an industry, we need punitive action,” Mwambu said.

He proposed stricter sanctions, including deregistration of agro-input dealers found culpable.

“Every two years, dealers receive certificates for their premises and dealership operations. Those caught counterfeiting should be deregistered so they understand that endangering farmers carries serious consequences.”

Agnes Mbabazi, Chairperson of CropLife Uganda, said the agro-input sector must adopt stronger self-regulation mechanisms, stressing that counterfeit products pose a direct threat to national food systems.

“This industry is not an ordinary business, but an ecosystem about feeding the nation. Poison in food could endanger Uganda’s 47 million people, which is why counterfeiting must be treated seriously,” she said.

She noted that CropLife Uganda is working closely with regulators and stakeholders to improve compliance and strengthen oversight across the value chain.

“As an umbrella body, we understand the importance of whistleblowing and dialogue so that all stakeholders can work towards a common agenda. Through engagement with MAAIF, CropLife helped achieve clarity on products that are banned and those that are restricted.”

Melissa Nyakwe, Head of Commercial Banking at Stanbic Bank Uganda, said the bank’s involvement in the symposium reflects its broader strategy to support Uganda’s economic transformation through agriculture.

“Uganda is our home; we drive her growth,” Nyakwe said.

She said the bank’s Positive Impact Agenda prioritises financial inclusion, climate resilience, enterprise development, infrastructure financing and social investment.

According to Nyakwe, Stanbic is deliberately working to de-risk agriculture by expanding structured financing across the entire value chain—from multinational input suppliers and distributors to cooperatives and smallholder farmers.

“We are intentionally building climate-smart financing frameworks to help agribusinesses adapt, protect the environment and survive seasonal shocks,” she said.

She also highlighted programmes such as the Stanbic Business Incubator and Stanbic For Her, which support youth- and women-led enterprises through financial literacy, mentorship and access to agricultural technologies.

Nyakwe warned that financing alone cannot resolve structural weaknesses in the sector.

“Capital alone cannot solve the counterfeit crisis, nor can it fix regulatory bottlenecks. We need strong policy direction, ethical stewardship and quality assurance across the agricultural ecosystem.”

Regulators urged to accelerate innovation readiness

Stella Simiyu, Team Lead at CropLife Middle East (CLAME), called for faster, more science-driven regulatory systems capable of keeping pace with agricultural innovation.

She argued that farmers remain central to economic stability and food security, but regulatory delays continue to slow access to critical technologies.

“Farmers are central to our economies, food security and trade. We cannot achieve food security, sustainability or increased agricultural investment unless regulatory systems enable timely, science-based and risk-proportionate decisions.”

Simiyu pointed to emerging tools such as biological crop protection products, precision agriculture, drones and artificial intelligence, noting that their impact depends on regulatory efficiency and regional harmonisation.

“We must accelerate harmonisation, invest in expertise and digital systems, strengthen science-based risk assessment and improve anti-counterfeiting efforts. Regulatory readiness is not only a policy issue—it is a food security, trade and livelihoods priority.”

Given Mudenda, Managing Director for East and Southern Africa at Syngenta, warned that Sub-Saharan Africa faces mounting pressure to expand food production amid rapid population growth.

He noted that the region’s population is projected to nearly double from about 1.3 billion today to 2.6 billion by 2050, intensifying demand for food systems transformation.

“If our population is expected to double, then food production must also increase significantly. Yet many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are already struggling to feed their populations,” Mudenda said.

He highlighted persistently low yields among smallholder farmers, with maize productivity in many countries still below one tonne per hectare, compared to up to 12 tonnes in commercial farming systems.

Mudenda called for expanded investment in farmer training, climate-resilient technologies, post-harvest systems and quality input distribution networks.

He also pointed to external trade barriers, including stringent food safety requirements in key export markets, as ongoing challenges for African producers.

“The goal should be a balance between ensuring food safety and sustainability while also protecting food security, farmer livelihoods and economic growth across the region.”

Participants at the symposium converged on a central conclusion: tackling counterfeit inputs, improving access to affordable financing and strengthening regulatory systems are interdependent priorities.

They warned that without coordinated reform, counterfeit products will continue to undermine productivity gains, erode farmer confidence and weaken efforts to achieve food security across Uganda and the wider region.

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Uganda’s drive to build a homegrown automotive industry has reached a significant milestone after the Kiira Vehicle Plant secured Integrated Management System (IMS) certification, a development being hailed as a breakthrough for African manufacturing and electric mobility.

The certification, attained on April 29, 2026, confirms that the Jinja-based facility complies with three internationally recognised operational standards covering quality management, environmental sustainability and occupational safety.

The certification was granted by LMS Assessments Limited and covers ISO 9001:2015 for quality management systems, ISO 14001:2015 for environmental management systems, and ISO 45001:2018 for occupational health and safety management systems.

For Uganda’s emerging automotive sector, the achievement represents more than a technical compliance exercise with analysts saying, it strengthens Kiira Motors Corporation’s credibility as a fully-fledged vehicle manufacturer rather than a simple vehicle assembler.

The certification scope authorises the corporation to “develop, make and sell sustainable mobility solutions, including vehicles, charging infrastructure and mobility services,” effectively recognising the company as an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) with the capacity to engineer, manufacture and commercialise mobility technologies.

“Achieving IMS Certification marks Kiira Motors Corporation’s readiness for world class production and industrialisation,” said Kiira Motors Corporation Founding CEO, Paul Isaac Musasizi. “It affirms our commitment to value addition, technological sovereignty, and sustainable African green mobility, reflecting our resolve to build Africa’s future through collaboration, collective growth, and shared innovation powered by vision and partnership,”

The development comes as African governments increasingly seek to reduce dependence on imported second-hand internal combustion engine vehicles while accelerating the transition toward electric mobility and industrial value addition.

Located in the Jinja Industrial and Business Park, the Kiira Vehicle Plant occupies approximately 100 acres and has been positioned as Africa’s largest specialised bus manufacturing facility.

The plant currently operates more than 139 production stations covering body fabrication and assembly, paint systems, chassis integration, trim installation, quality inspection and vehicle testing.

Its initial installed production capacity stands at 2,500 vehicles annually, although Kiira Motors says the facility can scale to 10,000 units a year without major structural expansion. Long-term plans target production of as many as 150,000 vehicles annually to meet regional demand.

The company’s production strategy has focused heavily on commercial mass transit vehicles, particularly the Kayoola EVS electric city bus and the Kayoola Coach platform for long-distance transport.

Under ISO 9001:2015 certification, the company is required to maintain tightly documented quality control procedures across procurement, production, logistics and vehicle integration processes.

Industry observers say this certification is especially important within the framework of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), where compliance with internationally recognised manufacturing standards could determine export competitiveness.

The certification is expected to help reassure institutional buyers, municipalities and transport fleet operators across Africa that vehicles manufactured in Uganda meet internationally accepted production and safety benchmarks.

The environmental management certification under ISO 14001:2015 also places emphasis on reducing the ecological footprint of vehicle manufacturing, an increasingly sensitive issue globally as electric vehicle production expands.

Kiira Motors says the Jinja facility integrates sustainability measures directly into its infrastructure, including a 1.5-megawatt rooftop solar installation that supplies part of the plant’s operational electricity demand.

According to company data, the solar system accounted for about seven percent of the plant’s energy consumption during the second half of 2025 and helped avoid nearly 13 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions.

The plant also operates a wastewater treatment facility capable of processing one million litres per day, aimed at ensuring compliance with environmental regulations and protecting ecosystems around Jinja and the River Nile basin.

The ISO 45001:2018 certification addresses workplace safety in an industry characterised by heavy machinery, automated systems and high-voltage battery technologies.

Kiira Motors says the certification strengthens safeguards for its workforce of more than 400 employees, many of them young Ugandan engineers and technicians.

The certification arrives at a time when Uganda is attempting to deepen domestic industrial capacity by linking automotive production with broader supply chain localisation.

Kiira Motors has previously stated ambitions to source as much as 65 percent of vehicle components locally by 2030, a strategy expected to stimulate demand in Uganda’s steel, fabrication, battery and engineering industries.

President Yoweri Museveni has repeatedly linked the country’s automotive ambitions to Uganda’s mineral and metallurgical resources, particularly iron ore deposits in western Uganda that could support domestic steel production.

The company’s broader electric mobility ambitions have also gained momentum through the rollout of E-Bus Xpress, an electric mass transit service launched in Kampala in May 2026 after earlier pilot operations in Jinja, eastern Uganda.

The service currently operates using Kayoola EVS buses on the Ntinda–City Square route and features cashless fare payments integrated through mobile platforms.

Kiira Motors says the buses are designed for African urban conditions, with passenger capacity of up to 90 people and a driving range of approximately 300 kilometres on a single charge.

The company is simultaneously expanding electric vehicle charging infrastructure, including deployment of fast-charging stations and collaboration with government plans to establish a nationwide e-mobility ecosystem.

Uganda aims to deploy approximately 1,500 electric buses across 14 urban centres by 2030, supported by hundreds of charging stations.

Kiira Motors’ growing visibility was further amplified by the “Pearl to Cape Electric Expedition 2025,” during which a Kayoola E-Coach completed a 13,784-kilometre transcontinental journey across six African countries.

The expedition was intended to demonstrate the endurance and viability of African-engineered electric mobility systems under varied climatic and infrastructural conditions.

The bus completed the route while avoiding more than six tonnes of carbon emissions compared to a conventional diesel-powered coach.

Another major institutional breakthrough came in 2023 when Uganda received the World Manufacturers’ Identifier code “BU” from the Society of Automotive Engineers International.

The designation allows Uganda-issued Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) to be globally recognised, an important requirement for participation in international automotive trade and regulatory systems.

For Kiira Motors, the latest certification now provides an internationally audited operational framework as it prepares to ramp-up production and position Uganda as a regional electric mobility hub.

The milestone also signals a broader shift in Africa’s perennial narrative of industrial dependence on imported automotive technology toward locally engineered manufacturing ecosystems anchored in sustainability, quality assurance and technological sovereignty.

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Uganda’s electric mobility sector attracted an additional USD 15.6 million in investment in 2025, pushing cumulative investment in the industry to more than USD 175 million since 2018, according to the newly released E-Mobility Outlook Report 2025 prepared by the Mobility Bureau under the Science, Technology and Innovation Secretariat in the Office of the President.

The report paints a picture of a sector transitioning from experimentation to industrial scale, driven by heavy public investment, expanding local manufacturing and a rapidly growing battery-swapping network.

Government investment accounted for 68.6 percent of cumulative capital injected into the sector between 2018 and 2025, underlining the state’s central role in building foundational infrastructure and de-risking the industry for private investors.

The report noted that public funding has been critical in establishing industrial capacity, supporting innovation and creating conditions for commercial participation in Uganda’s emerging electric mobility ecosystem.

One of the sector’s biggest milestones in 2025 was the commissioning of the Kiira Vehicle Plant, which significantly boosted Uganda’s electric vehicle manufacturing capability.

According to the report, Uganda’s combined EV production capacity has now risen to approximately 79,000 units annually, marking a major leap in the country’s industrial ambitions.

More than 20,000 electric vehicles were produced locally during 2025, representing roughly 25 percent utilisation of installed manufacturing capacity.

Analysts say the figures indicate substantial room for growth as demand for electric mobility solutions expands across Uganda and the wider East African region.

The report also highlighted major progress in charging and battery-swapping infrastructure, particularly for electric motorcycles, which are increasingly becoming central to Uganda’s urban transport transition.

Uganda quadrupled its battery-swapping network during the year to more than 540 stations nationwide, achieving approximately 80 percent district coverage by the end of 2025.

The rapid rollout is expected to ease range anxiety, reduce charging downtime and accelerate adoption of electric boda bodas and commercial fleets.

The report further positioned Uganda as an emerging regional exporter of electric mobility technology following the successful completion of the “Made in Uganda Trans-Africa Electric Expedition.”

The expedition tested Ugandan-built electric vehicles across multiple African countries and validated the technology for continental deployment.

According to the report, the expedition directly contributed to securing a commercial order for 450 electric buses, strengthening Uganda’s positioning as a regional supplier of e-mobility solutions.

Employment within the sector also expanded sharply during the year.

Direct jobs in Uganda’s e-mobility industry surpassed 2,100 by the end of 2025, while indirect employment linked to manufacturing, logistics, charging infrastructure and maintenance exceeded 20,000 jobs.

The report said the sector’s growth is increasingly contributing to industrial skills development, technology transfer and youth employment.

Financial performance among leading players in the ecosystem also strengthened significantly.

Combined revenues generated by key e-mobility companies increased nearly six-fold from USD 5 million in 2024 to USD 29.7 million in 2025.

Tax remittances by major industry players more than doubled over the same period, rising from UGX 11.7 billion to UGX 24.2 billion.

Officials say the figures demonstrate the growing commercial viability of Uganda’s electric mobility ecosystem and its potential contribution to domestic revenue mobilisation.

The report comes as governments across Africa intensify efforts to reduce fuel import dependence, cut urban pollution and transition toward cleaner transport systems.

Uganda has increasingly positioned electric mobility as part of a broader industrialisation and energy transition strategy anchored around local manufacturing, renewable energy and technology innovation.

Industry observers say the next phase of growth will likely depend on scaling private investment, expanding consumer financing options and strengthening regional export markets for locally manufactured electric vehicles and components.

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Uganda has concluded a high-profile participation at COFFEX Istanbul 2026, which ended today, using the international coffee exhibition to showcase its expanding coffee industry, attract investment and deepen efforts to diversify export markets beyond its traditional European buyers.

At the event in Türkiye, government officials presented Uganda as both a major coffee origin and an emerging investment destination, positioning the sector at the centre of the country’s export growth and industrialisation strategy.

Officials said Uganda currently produces about 9.3 million 60-kilogram bags of coffee annually and expects output to rise to 9.6 million bags in the 2025/26 financial year, as implementation of the National Coffee Roadmap gathers momentum.

The government is targeting annual production of more than 20 million bags by 2030 through expanded planting, farmer mobilisation and investment in value addition.

Speaking at the exhibition, Fred Kyakulaga Bwino said Uganda’s competitive advantage lies in its favourable climate, fertile soils and predominantly smallholder production system, where farmers largely handpick ripe coffee cherries to preserve quality.

“We want the world not only to taste Uganda’s coffee, but also to appreciate the enormous investment opportunities available across the entire coffee value chain,” Kyakulaga said.

Uganda’s coffee exports reached 8.2 million bags in the 2024/25 financial year, generating approximately $2.2 billion in export earnings, according to officials. Export volumes for calendar year 2025 are projected to rise further to 8.7 million bags worth an estimated $2.5 billion.

Coffee remains Uganda’s leading export commodity and contributes roughly 22 percent of the country’s foreign exchange earnings.

Gerald Kyalo said the sector’s recent growth reflects rising international demand for Ugandan coffee and continued efforts to strengthen quality assurance and traceability systems.

“This growth demonstrates the resilience, competitiveness and increasing global demand for Uganda’s coffee,” Kyalo said.

Officials noted that coffee is currently grown in 126 districts by an estimated 2.5 million farming households, with the broader value chain supporting the livelihoods of more than 12.5 million Ugandans.

While the European Union still accounts for nearly 68 percent of Uganda’s coffee exports, authorities say the country is actively seeking to diversify markets and build stronger commercial relationships in regions such as the Middle East and Asia.

The Istanbul engagement included coffee tasting sessions, bilateral business meetings and discussions with investors, roasters and importers interested in sourcing Ugandan Arabica and Robusta varieties.

Government representatives also used the platform to market investment opportunities in coffee processing, roasting, logistics and export infrastructure.

Officials said Uganda continues to offer incentives to qualifying investors, including tax concessions, infrastructure support and investment facilitation measures aimed at strengthening value addition and export competitiveness.

The participation at COFFEX Istanbul comes amid a broader diplomatic and trade push by Uganda to expand direct market access for its agricultural exports and reduce dependence on traditional commodity trading channels.

Analysts say growing global demand for speciality and origin-based coffees is creating fresh opportunities for Uganda, particularly as buyers increasingly seek traceable and sustainably produced coffee.

The government said follow-up trade missions, investor matchmaking and technical engagements will continue after the exhibition to convert business interest into long-term sourcing agreements and investment partnerships.

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Uganda is deepening its coffee trade ambitions in Türkiye through a new partnership aimed at expanding exports, strengthening market access and positioning Ugandan coffee within the growing specialty coffee market.

Uganda is stepping up efforts to expand its global coffee footprint after launching a strategic partnership with Turkish coffee company Kafe Kavil aimed at boosting exports and strengthening trade links with Türkiye.

The partnership was unveiled during a coffee cupping and trade engagement hosted by the Embassy of Uganda in Ankara and Kafe Kavil in Ankara, bringing together importers, speciality roasters, investors and coffee professionals to sample Ugandan Arabica and Robusta varieties.

The initiative forms part of Uganda’s broader push to deepen direct market access and position itself as a competitive origin in the global speciality coffee industry.

Officials say Türkiye is emerging as an increasingly important non-traditional market for Ugandan coffee, with exports rising sharply from about 2,304 bags in 2024 to nearly 15,037 bags in 2025 amid growing demand for origin-focused and speciality coffees.

Representing the Minister of State for Agriculture, Aacha Mary Orikiriza, the Undersecretary at Uganda’s mission to Turkey, described coffee as one of Uganda’s most strategic export commodities and a key driver of economic growth.

“Uganda is strengthening its presence in emerging coffee markets through partnerships that create direct engagement between producers, buyers and consumers,” she said.

Uganda currently produces about 558 million kilograms of coffee annually and is targeting production of more than 1.2 billion killograms by 2030 under the National Coffee Planting Programme.

Gordon Katwirenabo, Assistant Commissioner for Quality Assurance and Value Addition, said Uganda’s ability to supply both Arabica and Robusta coffee throughout the year gives it a competitive advantage in international markets.

He said coffees from the Mount Elgon and Rwenzori Mountains regions continue to attract interest because of their distinctive flavour profiles and quality consistency.

Uganda’s Ambassador to Türkiye, Nusura Tiperu, said the partnership represents a broader effort to strengthen economic and commercial cooperation between the two countries.

“This partnership creates a direct platform to showcase Uganda’s coffee, culture and investment potential to Turkish consumers and businesses,” she said.

Officials say the collaboration could also create opportunities across the coffee value chain, including roasting, certification, hospitality, retail distribution and value addition.

According to Kafe Kavil Managing Director Akif Atli, demand within Türkiye’s coffee sector is increasingly shifting toward traceable, high-quality and sustainably sourced coffees.

“We see strong potential for long-term collaboration between Turkish and Ugandan coffee communities,” he said.

The initiative comes as Uganda intensifies efforts to diversify export markets and increase value addition within its coffee sector, which remains the country’s leading foreign exchange earner.

Analysts say partnerships that connect Ugandan producers directly to speciality coffee buyers could help the country capture higher export value while strengthening its position in emerging global coffee markets.

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Ugandan businesses are coming under growing pressure to strengthen cyber security and fraud prevention systems as artificial intelligence-driven scams and deepfake-enabled identity fraud become more sophisticated across Africa’s digital economy.

New findings by Sumsub show that Uganda is among the African markets experiencing rising levels of digital identity fraud, underscoring the growing risks facing the country’s expanding fintech, mobile money and online business ecosystem.

According to Sumsub’s Identity Fraud Report 2025–2026, Uganda recorded a fraud rate of 4.7 percent in 2025, placing it among the continent’s most exposed markets to digital fraud.

Tanzania recorded the highest fraud rate in Africa at 5.0 percent, while Côte d’Ivoire saw fraud rise 51 percent year-on-year to 4.5 percent.

In Kenya, despite an overall decline in fraud levels, deepfakes already account for nearly 10 percent of fraud attempts, highlighting the rapid emergence of AI-enabled scams even in markets where traditional fraud is being reduced.

A similar shift is unfolding in South Africa, where overall fraud declined by 31 percent year-on-year to 1.4 percent in 2025, but deepfake-related incidents surged more than 269 percent over the same period.

Analysts say the data reflects a broader evolution in cybercrime tactics, with fraudsters increasingly deploying artificial intelligence tools capable of generating convincing fake videos, voices and digital identities that can evade conventional verification systems.

The findings come at a time when Uganda’s digital economy is expanding rapidly through mobile banking, fintech innovation, e-commerce and digital lending platforms, creating new opportunities but also widening exposure to sophisticated cyber threats.

Industry experts warn that many traditional fraud detection systems are struggling to keep pace because they rely on periodic software updates that can leave institutions exposed for weeks or even months before new threats are identified.

In response to the changing threat landscape, Sumsub has launched an Adaptive Deepfake Detector, a machine learning-driven fraud prevention system designed to identify emerging scam patterns in real time through continuous self-learning updates.

The technology analyses multiple layers of user activity simultaneously, including device intelligence, geolocation, IP addresses, biometric verification data and document authenticity checks, to detect suspicious behaviour beyond visual inspection alone.

According to the company, modern deepfakes have become so advanced that human review is no longer sufficient as a standalone defence mechanism.

“In 2026, the threat landscape has evolved, demanding risk management teams to respond with next-generation fraud prevention models,” said Nikita Marshalkin, Head of Machine Learning at Sumsub.

“Modern deepfakes can no longer be detected by the human eye, and decision-making should be based on multiple signal analysis in real time,” he added.

Marshalkin said the upgraded system combines advanced document verification, device intelligence and fraudulent network analysis to strengthen detection capabilities against increasingly sophisticated AI-driven attacks.

“That’s why we launched our upgraded Deepfake Detector, offering clients not just a tool, but rather an online learning system that combines advanced document checks, device intelligence, and fraudulent networks analysis to complement deepfake detection capabilities,” he said.

“When the price of failure is too high, a comprehensive approach to the increasing AI-driven fraud challenge is the answer we need.”

Cyber security analysts say the rise of adaptive fraud prevention tools reflects a wider industry shift toward real-time defence systems capable of evolving alongside increasingly dynamic threats.

For Uganda’s financial sector, the implications are that banks, fintech firms, payment platforms and online marketplaces need to rack up investment in stronger digital identity verification systems as AI-generated impersonation attacks become more scalable and difficult to detect.

Analysts warn that if businesses fail to strengthen cyber resilience, the growing prevalence of AI-enabled fraud could undermine consumer trust in digital services, increase operational costs and expose firms to regulatory and reputational risks.

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