Kampala, Uganda — Over 600 students from Makerere University’s College of Business and Management Sciences are set to showcase 300 innovations, with a particular focus on Uganda’s coffee sector, at the Uganda Entrepreneurship Congress and Youth Expo 2025. The two-day event, organized by the Makerere University Entrepreneurship and Outreach Centre, aims to transform these innovations into scalable businesses. This year’s theme is “Brewing Prosperity: Youth Entrepreneurship in Uganda’s Coffee Value Chain.”
Uganda exported 667,037 kilograms of coffee worth $162.36 million by June 2024, highlighting the crop’s importance to the economy. Yet, most Ugandan youth remain on the periphery of the coffee value chain, often limited to low-income farm labor with little involvement in processing, branding, or export where the highest profits are realized. With 78% of Uganda’s population under 30, officials describe this gap as both a challenge and an opportunity.
Professor Barnabas Nawangwe, Makerere University Vice Chancellor, noted that the university hosts one of the country’s largest concentrations of youth. Each year, over 10,000 graduates enter the labor market, facing an unemployment rate of 16.1% among those aged 18 to 30. To address this, Makerere, in partnership with the government, industry, and private sector, has been implementing programs to unlock students’ entrepreneurial potential.
Through the Makerere University Entrepreneurship and Outreach Centre, the university brings together youth, investors, policymakers, and private sector leaders to discuss and advance entrepreneurship in Uganda. The Congress and Expo will serve as a national platform to showcase youth-driven innovation across the coffee value chain, from climate-smart farming and agritech to processing, branding, and access to global markets. Odrek Rwabwogo, Chairperson of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development (PACEID), will serve as the event’s chief guest.
“By moving beyond subsistence farming toward ownership, innovation, and high-value enterprises, Uganda’s youth can secure a greater share of the global coffee market while creating jobs and promoting sustainable development,” an official said.
Dr. Sarah Bimbona, Lecturer at the College of Business and Management Sciences and Director of the Entrepreneurship and Outreach Centre, highlighted that participants will gain practical skills to innovate and thrive in the coffee industry. Among the featured presentations is one by Justice Alfonse Chigamony Owiny-Dollo, Chief Justice of Uganda, titled “Youth Entrepreneurship in Uganda’s Coffee Value Chain: A Case of the Acholi Region.”