KAMPALA—Uganda’s senior technology leaders signed a collaboration roadmap this week intended to transform the country from a consumer of digital services into an economic producer of technology.
The agreement between the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance aims to ensure that digital connectivity translates into local wealth and job creation.
“A country can be digitally connected but still economically disconnected if it doesn’t produce, capture and retain digital value,” said Monica Musenero, minister for science, technology and innovation.
While mobile and internet penetration in Uganda continue to rise, officials noted that much of the economic value currently leaves the country through imported hardware and foreign-owned software platforms. The new roadmap seeks to close this gap by developing domestic productive capacity.
The timing of the agreement coincides with Women’s Month. Aminah Zawedde, permanent secretary of the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance, and Musenero are currently two of the most influential figures in Uganda’s technology sector.
“Digital skills are not a welfare program. They are a value creation engine,” Zawedde said. She added that training young Ugandans creates economic units capable of building products and running enterprises that keep capital circulating within the local economy.
The roadmap is already operational, with focal persons designated in both institutions and joint projects identified.
Historically, various government agencies have operated in isolation. The new framework acts as a coupling mechanism for the Fourth National Development Plan (NDP4). It specifically links the “ATMs” of the national strategy: agro-industrialization, tourism, mineral-based industrialization, and science, technology and innovation.
The strategy outlines a shift across five key stages:
- Knowledge: Universities and research institutions.
- Skills: Bootcamps and startup incubation at the National ICT Innovation Hub.
- Application: Internet of Things labs and innovation highways.
- Manufacturing: Smart electronics plants and sovereign cloud infrastructure.
- Enterprise: Private sector integration.
Musenero compared the tech shift to the coffee industry.
“For too long, Uganda grew the coffee but someone else sold the jar,” Musenero said. “We are applying that same lesson to technology. This time, we are building the factory, training the workforce and keeping the profit inside Uganda.”
Flavia Opio, head of the National ICT Innovation Hub in Kampala, said the collaboration provides a structural future for women in the field.
“The girls in our STEM classrooms do not need more inspiration. They need institutions that are ready for them when they graduate,” Opio said.
