The Makerere University Innovation Pod (unipod) has in a groundbreaking partnership between Makerere University, Lwera Electronics and Semiconductors Limited, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched the Industry 4.0 Enterprise Development Programme.
The program is crafted to build a dynamic ecosystem for electronics manufacturing, additive manufacturing, and innovation-driven entrepreneurship within Makerere University and beyond. As Uganda positions itself for technological self-sufficiency and industrial growth, this programme will serve as a critical pipeline for skilling, product development, and startup creation in emerging Industry 4.0 sectors.
A cohort of 15 students will participate in the initial programme iteration. Then, five graduates will be trained as trainers and upskilled in specialized Industry 4.0 domains to support the programme going forward.
Speaking during the launch, Professor Buyinza Mukadasi, the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Research, who represented the Vice Chancellor Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe said the new program will greatly benefit the country’s youths in acquiring necessary skills for the fourth industrial revolution.
“Uganda’s largest population are youths and this means they need skills. The demographics say we must engage in skills and human capital development if our country is to develop. The youths need to be skilled and empowered so they can join the job market, other than throwing them to the job market and we continue to say they lack the skills,”Prof Nawangwe said.
“This is more than a training program but a strategic collaboration at the intersection of the academia, the industry and the development partners. That is the way to go to work on initiatives to equip our professionals and youths with the critical skills needed to thrive in a very fast evolving world of today.”
He said the fourth industrial revolution should never leave anyone behind, as the current labour market is looking for different sets of skills.
“Gone are the days when we had professional pride and you could move around boasting of being a forester, an engineer or mathematician. Beyond that, what are you able to do?”
He applauded Lwera Electronics and UNDP for collaborating with the university on the new program.
The Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr.Monica Musenero said such initiatives are meant to ensure Uganda and Africa at large are not left behind by the new industrial revolution.
“Right now we stand at the dawn of this fourth industrial revolution. It is the one that is our revolution. It is our first industrial revolution. And we need to take on that mindset that here will come the world. This industry, 4.0 plus, is built on the convergence of digital, physical and biological technologies. There is artificial intelligence, robotics, IoT and the quantum computing and many new technologies are going to emerge and train it to this race of the national revolution. This revolution has already started, and it is sad that for a while, for the beginning, Africa has still been lagging behind, sitting there, waiting for somebody to do something for us, because this revolution is already shaping the global economy. It is built on the backbone of these emerging technologies, which are universal and which, fortunately, we have access to, artificial intelligence we can all jump in Smart Manufacturing, additive manufacturing, robotics, cloudy commuting and the Internet of Things,” Dr.Musenero said.
She said such programs like the Industry 4.0 Enterprise will ensure Uganda and Africa catch up with the rest of the world.
Dr.Musenero said to ensure it catches up, Uganda cant sit behind as things fold elsewhere.
As of 2021 this market, this industry, was valued at 20 trillion US dollars, and it is estimated that by 2030 it is going to be worth 7.6 trillion US dollars. Uganda is aspiring to build our economy to only USD 550 billion. Why can't we take a chance of this? So Uganda cannot afford to sit on the sidelines on this economic transformation? Above all, we refuse to look at industry 4.0 plus as something where we are subjects of pity and subjects of it happening to us,” she said.
“We are not here to replicate Silicon Valleys. We are here to create unique ecosystems – the Silicon Kampalas, the Silicon Gulus, the Silicon Mbararas. Our innovation must reflect our realities, solve our problems, and uplift our people.”
David Miner, who represented the UNDP Resident Representative Ms. Nwanne Vwede-Obahor said program will help transition participants “from learners to makers.”
“Uganda faces a staggering challenge: over 1 million young people enter the job market annually, yet formal employment opportunities are few,” Miner said.
He said if such programs were scaled up and replicated across public universities, they could empower over 5,000 young innovators annually, potentially creating thousands of new jobs and enterprises.
Dr. Cathy Mbidde, Manager of Makerere University UniPod said the initiative focuses on commercializing research and innovations.