Entrepreneurs' bus comes to Uganda and East Africa

By Billy Rwothungeyo

The AMPION Venture Bus this year makes its debut in Uganda and the other East African countries of Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania.

The venture bus brings together budding young African entrepreneurs and tech experts from all over the world whose aim is to turn business ideas into real projects.

During a five-day competition and road trip, the groups have shots at creating start-ups and developing innovative solutions to local challenges.

The inaugural bus journey last year went through Zimbabwe and South Africa.

 From that trip, three standout start-ups successfully launched their operations: Sterio.me, an e-learning system; Workforce, a platform through which job seekers and potential employers interface and Bribed, an application designed to battle corruption via crowd-sourcing.

AMPION’s Rowan Emslie urged young Ugandans to use Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) to spur their entrepreneurial dreams.

“ICT technology can expand the impact and reach of small businesses all over the world. For young entrepreneurs in particular, the ability to utilize newer technology can be what makes them stand out - often, older people do not have the ICT skills that younger people have,” he told New Vision.

Between September and November, four buses will travel through fifteen African countries, covering all the regions of the continent. Throughout the trip, teams are formed and products built.

This year, the bus journeys will focus on solutions to Africa’s challenges in healthcare, energy and education. The top three startups in each bus will get the chance to be incubated for free by leading African startup incubators during a period from 6 to 12 months.

Interested Ugandan entrepreneurs have up to September 30 to register for the road trip.
 

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Entrepreneurs’ bus comes to Uganda and East Africa