I have come of age writing and publishing, offering a rigorous solution to Uganda’s graduates’ unemployment problem. However, as William Butler Yeats famously observed in his poem “The Second Coming,” “The falcon cannot hear the falconer; … The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.”
My recent efforts to present my solution to President Museveni’s government included attending the Trade Show in Kapeeka on September 27th and 28th, 2024.
A member of the Inclusive Policy Dialogue (IPD) forum, which comprises many educated Ugandans—including figures like Prof. Ezra Suruma, Prof. Augustus Nuwagaba, and Makerere University VC Prof. Nawangwe—encouraged me to attend the Trade Show. They believed I could introduce Global University Business Club Limited (GUBCCo) to General Salim Saleh, the Chief Coordinator of Operation Wealth Creation. Unfortunately, while I attended on the 28th, General Saleh was present on the 27th when President Museveni inaugurated the event.
I did manage to obtain the General’s office contact information and I have submitted to him GUBCCo’s business plan, but I have yet to receive any feedback. I have previously reached out to President Museveni through the online “Contact the President” facility, but received no responses. I also submitted the GUBCCo business plan to Makerere University, only to be met with indifference.
The university responded that GUBCCo’s objectives do not align with its mandate of teaching, research, and knowledge transfer, leaving me questioning how much ignorant of our trade we are. GUBCCo’s vision is to promote entrepreneurial universities in Uganda and globally.
Our mission is to transform students’ business ideas into actionable initiatives by facilitating community engagement and commercializing student university-based business projects. Our objective is to enhance the transition of students and graduates into the labor market through entrepreneurship, self-employment, and improved employability. Our goal is to ensure universities contribute meaningfully to their communities and national development.
GUBCCo offers a unique solution to the issue of graduate unemployment, as I have emphasized in my numerous publications on the subject. We advocate that every student should be encouraged to identify a business idea during their university studies and receive support to turn it into a viable business initiative.
This way, graduates can have alternatives should they struggle to find formal employment, reducing the likelihood of resorting to bodaboda (motorcycle taxi) jobs. Our company engages students at higher education institutions to develop business ideas, equipping them with the entrepreneurial skills necessary to transition to a productive labor market.
GUBCCo establishes Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with universities to set up GUBCCo Clubs on their campuses. These clubs encourage students to brainstorm business ideas and projects, with GUBCCo providing mentorship and resources. Entrepreneurs upload their Value Proposition Canvases (VPCs), Business Model Canvases (BMCs), Elevator Pitches, and Business Plans to our digital platform, www.gubcco.ug. Through this platform, business initiators can engage visitors and attract investment, as well as making them eligible for financing through the GUBCCo SACCO Scheme.
Our digital platform is designed so that each subscriber’s page can showcase up to five initiatives from other subscribers. The more visibility an initiative gains on others’ shelves, the higher it ranks. At the end of each month, GUBCCo identifies the top five initiatives and supports them with up to 75% of their technical development financing needs, provided that the businesses have saved at least 25% of these needs through the SACCO Scheme. GUBCCo also offers loans to entrepreneurs.
To secure a loan, an entity must provide three guarantors who are GUBCCo savers, each with an account holding at least 25% of the loan amount requested. Guarantors must sign a consent form agreeing to the following: they cannot withdraw funds from their accounts below the 25% threshold of the guaranteed loan; they will cover any loan defaults; and any saved funds will automatically go toward loan repayment if necessary.
These conditions ensure that each loan request is 75% guaranteed, with no entity allowed to guarantee more than one loan. The interest rate on loans is 24% per annum (2% per month), while savings—including funds earmarked for guaranteeing loans—earn interest at a rate of 21.6% per annum (1.8% per month).
In summary, GUBCCo’s unique approach encompasses three core activities that foster business development: Entrepreneurship Incubation (mentoring students to turn ideas into initiatives), the GUBCCo SACCO Scheme (financing portal for initiatives), and the E-Commerce Portal (marketing and attracting investors).
I founded GUBCCo as a permanent living laboratory for my PhD research and incorporated it as a public limited company in 2021.
In October 2022, we received feedback from the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) regarding our Private Placement application, where we aimed to offer 1,000,000 shares at UGX 25,000 each to university communities and professional investors, seeking to raise approximately UGX 25 billion to capitalize the GUBCCo SACCO.
For the Private Placement application, CMA directed us to invite a maximum of 100 investors, each investing a minimum of UGX 10,000,000. To meet our target, we’ve structured our Private Placement shares into two categories, inviting: 50 non-professional investors at a minimum of UGX 10,000,000 each, and 50 professional investors at a minimum of UGX 500,000,000 each. We eagerly await feedback from Operation Wealth Creation.
The writer is the Founder and Managing Director of Global University Business Club Limited (GUBCCo)
This article was a response to the story published HERE.
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