Deputy Speaker Tayebwa to Grace Youth & Innovation Expo 2023 at Makerere University

The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Thomas Tayebwa, will grace the Youth and Innovation Expo 2023 that is set to be held at Makerere University on October 6 and 7. The Expo, which will be hosted at the Yusuf Lule Central Teaching Facility -- will be kicking off at 9am and end at 5pm.

Sponsored by the United Nations Development Fund and MTN Uganda, with support from Start Hub Africa -- the Youth and Innovation Expo 2023 will be held under the theme 'Fostering Innovation for Uganda’s Transformational Development'. Organizers eye showcasing outstanding youth innovations and youth enterprise.

In 2020, President Yoweri Museveni launched the Youth4Business Innovation and Entrepreneurship Facility (Y4BF) which was developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with Stanbic Bank Uganda to address the problem of youth unemployment in Uganda. The Facility was designed to respond to the effects of COVID-19 and beyond by driving socioeconomic transformation.

This facility has been implemented through the combination of innovation, creating jobs and fostering entrepreneurship by supporting access to an integrated mix of finance products, business management skills and market access to young women and men entrepreneurs and youth-owned MSMEs. This website understands that, through this program, UNDP has directly supported over 400 youth businesses and indirectly impacted over 6,000 youth through partnerships and outreach programs with partners like BRAC and the National Association of Student Enterprises (NASE Africa).

During the Expo, prestigious organizations like Makerere@100 partners, MTN Uganda, Stanbic Uganda, Bank of Uganda, Absa Bank and Bank of Uganda will roll out activations with a focus on master classes relevant to the youth and students, panel sessions involving regulatory and compliance institutions for innovators, an art exhibition, a fashion show curated by Axarya Trends and the Margret Trowel School of Fine Art, a medical camp, food vendor stalls, exhibitions from all ten colleges of the University and other University institutions.