Why all roads lead to 2025 Pakasa Forum this Saturday

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The 2025 Pakasa Forum is set to offer networking opportunities, practical knowledge on achieving business success, and access to potential funding.

This year’s forum will take place this Saturday, November 22, at the Enterprise Uganda business development centre located at Butabika, opposite Butabika Hospital. Participants will have the opportunity to learn from investors, industry leaders, and fellow entrepreneurs.

The conference, which will feature many successful entrepreneurs and business experts, will run from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm under the theme of Opportunities and Ideas for Growing Businesses. Entrance is free.

Don Wanyama, the Vision Group CEO, said they organise the Pakasa Forum on an annual basis with an aim to empower Uganda’s business community, especially the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMES), through sharing with them valuable information, opportunities, and ideas which can enable their businesses to grow.

He said the 2025 Pakasa Forum will be the climax of the celebrations for the Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW), which usually takes place in the third week of November every year.

“It will also involve sharing of vital information on the Government’s key priority sectors and interventions in the tenfold growth strategy, what successful entrepreneurs share in common, importance of formalising businesses, how to run a successful family business, financing opportunities for SMEs, and inspiring stories from successful entrepreneurs,” Wanyama explained.

Mathias Mobius, the co-founder of StartHub Africa (SHA) and one of the key Pakasa Forum speakers, says he will share information on how his organisation creates opportunities for Uganda.

His organisation has so far equipped nearly 5,000 entrepreneurs and students with business skills and supported over 1,000 ventures to access funding.

“My team and I are ready to share our catalyzer programme where we have supported 18 startups that collectively raised more than $300,000 in follow-on funding, and disbursement of over $200,000 in grants,” Mobius said.

Participants will, for instance, have an encounter with Charles Ocici, the director general of Enterprise Uganda. Ocici has over 30 years of experience offering professional business development services in Uganda and the rest of Africa.

Charles Ocici, the director general of Enterprise Uganda, will be one of the key Pakasa Forum speakers. (Courtesy photo)

He says that Enterprise Uganda has built capacity for more than 220,000 micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises across Uganda.

“This year’s Pakasa Forum is unique because it’s the climax event for the Global Entrepreneurship Week, which has been celebrated in over 200 countries all over the world,” he said.

Sponsors for the Pakasa Forum

The key sponsors for the 2025 Pakasa Forum include Enterprise Uganda, Centenary Bank, Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development, National Social Security Fund (NSSF), Pearl Bank (Formerly PostBank), Pepsi,  and Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB).

Dorothy Kyomuhangi, an Investment Associate at Pearl Capital Partners, said they will front some opportunities in agriculture during the forum.

“Since we specialise in providing risk capital to small and medium-sized agribusinesses, we will make these opportunities available to the participants,” she said in an interview.

She said that they will count the forum a success if they are able to create profitable agribusinesses out of the Saturday encounter.

Laura Bahemuka, Head of SME Banking at Pearl Bank, who will be leading their team to the forum, said that the bank's participation perfectly aligns with their commitment to walk this journey with entrepreneurs in Uganda.

“By inspiring and identifying areas of growth as well as supporting them with financial solutions like payment services, money transfers, credit-related services, business education, business growth tools and systems, and value chain financing,” she said.

Laura Bahemuka, Head of SME Banking at Pearl Bank, will lead the team to from the bank. (Photo by Miriam Namutebi)

She said that, as Pearl Bank, which is one of the sponsors of the 2025 Pakasa Forum, they will be able to deliver and break down the possibilities and opportunities of growth and expansion for the SMEs across the various sectors and value chains.

Daniel Kisekka, the manager for Export firm support, at the Investment for Industrial Transformation and Employment (INVITE) project, said, “The project has a total of sh800b to give out to firms that aspire to join the export market. A significant portion of this, amounting to about $642 billion, is channelled through the INVITE Trust for lending, while Shs158 billion is for grants managed by the PSFU.”

Kisekka, who will be giving the Pakasa Forum participants details about INVITE, said the World Bank-supported project aims at boosting the country's manufacturing and export sectors by creating private sector jobs and increasing incomes.

He revealed that Ugandans can apply for the INVITE financing products, which include working capital, receivables financing, credit guarantees, and patient capital in local currency through the INVITE Trust, ranging from $10,000 to $1 million.

Dr Ruth Aisha Biyinzika Kasolo, the project coordinator at the Generating Growth Opportunities and Productivity for Women Enterprises (GROW), said that they will be training women in areas like financial literacy and business growth strategies, and how to access GROW grants and loans for qualified enterprises.

“My team and I will provide participants with skills in financial literacy, ICT and business growth, and sustainability strategies,” she said in an interview.

The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) is another sponsor of Pakasa 2025, which has vowed to relay information to the participants on how to grow and harness their pension.

Victor Karamagi, NSSF’s publicist, said that they will share information on social security benefits like age, withdrawal, invalidity, survivor, and emigration benefits. He said that they will also educate participants on voluntary and flexible savings options, like Smartlife Flexi, for those not covered by the mandatory scheme.