Even though the pandemic, we worked and thrived.
Putting Plastic Waste to use | Founders Lab
What better time to speak of protecting the earth, than now? At the end of April we hosted the dynamic duo founders of the award-winning enterprise that recycles plastic waste to make construction material like floor tiles. At the last Founders Lab Peter Okokwo and Paige Balcom shared with entrepreneurs their work with Takataka plastics, the reason why we must be attentive to plastic waste and their contribution to the Covid19 pandemic where they are making protective gear for frontline workers of the Covid19 Pandemic.
Jinja and Gulu Entrepreneurs meet
Using Digital platforms, Gulu and Jinja entrepreneurs met with the Innovation Village Team to share about their experience during the current lockdown. They discussed the missing links brought about by the pandemic, to raw materials, transportation, trading platforms and transport services. They crowned the discussion with the opportunities for collaboration while leveraging the opportunities at hand.
Role of Financial Health in Building Resilient SMEs
On the 23rd of April, A four people panel consisting of, the Country Manager of Jumo, Founder of Swipe2Pay, Digital Financial Services and Value Chain Consultant working with UNCDF and the Partner and Chief Investment Officer at Ortus Africa discussed the Role of Financial health in building resilient SMEs. From the discussion, there was an emphasis on the importance of digitalizing markets and that every SME should have an online strategy fitted into how they operate.
A Soiree about Mental Health
We had a quarterly soiree to celebrate our resilience and achieve achievements through the first month of the year. At our Soiree, we hosted Ritah Auma to speak to the entrepreneurs about Mental Health Hygiene during COVID19.
Stories and How To Tell Them with Zara Kassim
In April, we also hosted Zara Kassim for a workshop where she took the entrepreneurs through the ropes of telling compelling stories, something that is important during this time when the Digital culture is strong.
MOTIV in Conversation with Entrepreneurs
Lastly in April, MoTIV had a meetup targeting makers, designers, engineers, hardware entrepreneurs and other innovative minds who convened for a discussion around how COVID-19 has impacted the maker community in Kampala and how MoTIV can support makers in this difficult time. Out of the Meetup. We were able to discover, the main challenges the participants were facing during COVID. The most notable response was access to resources and clients and how they stayed motivated.
That was it for April
But before we go…
OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS – ZAYED SUSTAINABILITY PRIZE
You have more time to work on your groundbreaking solution in Health, Food, Energy and Water before submitting it for the Zayed Sustainability prize! The Zayed Sustainability Prize has extended the deadline of its submission to 11 June 2020. To submit click here: www.ZayedSustainabilityPrize.com Best of luck.
We continue to keep the community spirit during this time even though we are apart from each other.
Connect with us in real-time, here.
Twitter: @TheVillageUG
Facebook: @The Innovation Village
