Business mogul Ntake gears up for Pakasa Forum, advises on family business
Since a survey on the 2025 Pakasa Forum ranked Ntake number one among speakers the event participants were most interested in listening to, the organisers decided to call him back this year, and offer more experiences and ideas for success in business.
Ntake Group managing director and co-founder Gaster Lule inspects machinery in the flour milling section at the company’s premises in Nalukolongo, Lubaga Division, Kampala, after an interview. (Photo by Ronnie Kijjambu).
__________________ Ntake Group managing director and co-founder Gaster Lule (left) shows New Vision Business Editor Moses Mulundo machinery in the flour milling section during an interview at the company’s offices in Nalukolongo, Lubaga Division, Kampala. (Photo by Ronnie Kijjambu)
The 2026 Pakasa Forum, set for November 21st, is set to attract some of the biggest entrepreneurs in the land, one of which is Dr Canon Gaster Lule Ntake, the Managing Director and co-founder of Ntake Bakery and Company Ltd.
Since a survey on the 2025 Pakasa Forum ranked Ntake number one among speakers the event participants were most interested in listening to, the organisers decided to call him back this year, and offer more experiences and ideas for success in business.
Ntake offered lessons grounded in real business journeys, offering audiences both inspiration and practical guidance for their own entrepreneurial ambitions.
“We are here to let you know that the 2025 Pakasa Forum participants were according to our survey most interested in listening to your fascinating success story. That is why our CEO Don Wanyama wrote you a letter requesting you to come back as one of the speakers during the 2026 Pakasa Forum, which will take place on November 21, 2026, at the Enterprise Uganda Training Centre opposite Butabika Hospital,” said Moses Mulondo, Vision Group Senior Editor and Pakasa Forum Project Manager.
Mulondo made the remarks today (Wednesday, 28th October) when he and a team of managers and journalists from Vision Group had visited Ntake at his factory in Nalukolongo to implore him to accept to be a speaker and to share with him findings from the survey on the 2025 Pakasa Forum.
Vision Group research manager Patrick Uma said, “The survey established that Ntake’s session attracted significant attendance, while participants also rated it highly for its usefulness and practical business lessons.”
Uma said they usually conduct such surveys to get feedback from participants, which they base on to improve future events.
Mulondo noted that the forum seeks to bring successful entrepreneurs together to share their experiences, especially with young businesspeople navigating the challenges of starting and growing enterprises.
“With business failure rates remaining high in Uganda and across Africa, platforms such as Pakasa Forum provide opportunities for entrepreneurs to be equipped with business success ideas from experts and progressive entrepreneurs,” Mulondo stated.
In his submission, Ntake emphasised the importance of involving spouses in business, arguing that working with one’s wife and children can strengthen family relationships while improving business performance.
He pointed to his own family as an example, describing how his wife and children contribute to their respective enterprises which supply his factories.
He explained that his wife runs a substantial poultry enterprise, while their daughter serves as a general manager and operates a successful poultry business that supplies chicken to the market.
For Ntake, such ventures demonstrate that spouses should not be treated merely as dependants but as partners whose ideas, skills and commitment can contribute to a family’s economic progress.
“I tell them, respect your wife. Hear her ideas. Give her good ideas. She will copy them, and she will work,” he said.
Ntake also recalled the couple’s early struggles, when resources were limited, and they had to work together, share what they earned and make decisions based on what they could afford.
Ntake implored Ugandans to plan to attend the Global Entrepreneurship Week events, including the Pakasa Forum, to network and learn from experts as well as progressive entrepreneurs.
Vision Group continues to use the forum to connect established entrepreneurs with aspiring businesspeople.
Who is Ntake?
Dr Canon Gaster Lule is a distinguished Ugandan entrepreneur, industrialist, and philanthropist, best known as the Managing Director and Co-founder of Ntake Bakery and Company Limited.
Since establishing the company in 1978 with his wife Edith Lule, he has transformed it from a small family bakery into a dynamic industrial conglomerate with a strong presence across East Africa.
His visionary leadership has positioned Ntake as a model of resilience, innovation, and sustainable growth.
Under Dr Lule’s stewardship, Ntake has diversified its operations to include bakery production, flour milling, edible oil refining, paper recycling, concrete batching, and real estate development. Out of all his investments in various parts of the country, Ntake told the Vision Group team that he employs over 2500 Ugandans.
During the 2026 Pakasa Forum, Ntake will be speaking alongside many other progressive speakers, including Barbara Ofwono of Victorious Education Services, Dr Benon Luggya of Maganjo Grain Millers, Yasin Katwe of Success Motors, trade minister Sanjay Tanna, who is also a successful entrepreneur, the state minister for investment Amina Mukalazi, Makerere University Entrepreneurship and Outreach Centre Director Dr Sarah Bimbona, Enterprise Uganda Director General Charles Ocici, and Global Entrepreneurship Network Uganda Managing Director Mary Odongo.
Sponsored by Vision Group, Enterprise Uganda, the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Centenary Bank, and Pearl Africa, the 2026 Pakasa Forum will be the climax event of the Global Entrepreneurship Week conferences, which will start on 19th November and end on 21st November at Enterprise Uganda.