The Uganda Media Centre has said it will back nationwide digital skills initiatives targeting young people, as concerns grow over youth unemployment and unequal access to technology training between urban and rural areas.
Executive Director of the Uganda Media Centre Allan Kasujja said the institution will focus on providing visibility and platform support to coding and innovation programmes, rather than direct financial assistance.
“We as the Media Centre are excited to support anything that has an impact, anything that seeks to show young people where the opportunities are,” Kasujja said.
He was speaking while highlighting the Centre’s involvement in a national coding competition aimed at identifying and showcasing digital talent from across the country.
Kasujja said the Media Centre’s intervention will focus on amplifying youth-led innovations and helping innovators gain public exposure.
“We don’t have money to give them, but importantly, we are giving them the visibility, the platform,” he said.
He added that many promising innovations fail to scale due to limited exposure, a gap he said the Media Centre intends to address.
“This is what we are going to do with everybody who approaches us and tells us that this is what we’re doing. We give them strategic support,” he said.
Kasujja emphasized that coding and digital literacy are increasingly important skills in the global job market, saying they can significantly improve youth employability.
“Teaching them how to code is important. It makes them marketable globally. It gives them life skills. It also ensures collaboration and teamwork,” he said.
He added that digital skills have broader economic implications beyond individual career growth.
“These are things that will be transformative professionally, but also will have an impact on the economy,” he said.
Kasujja also pointed to disparities in access to digital training, noting that many initiatives remain concentrated in urban areas while rural communities are left behind.
“We concentrate on these urban areas… but when you go deep, like in my own village in Luweero, you find that some of these people have skills but lack support,” he said.
He said the coding competition supported by the Media Centre is intended to bridge that gap by reaching schools in remote parts of the country.
“This particular project is reaching people all over the country, including schools in very remote parts of Uganda,” he said.
He cited strong performance from schools in rural regions such as Kigezi as evidence that talent exists across the country but requires support to be fully developed.
Kasujja called on young people to take advantage of emerging digital opportunities, saying coding skills can enhance both local and international employment prospects.
“Come learn how to code. It’s important. Add value to yourself, make yourself more marketable not just in Uganda but all over the world,” he said.
He said the Media Centre will prioritize partnerships with initiatives that have national reach, rather than those focused only on urban centres.
“We would like to associate ourselves with more projects that have a national character, that bring in people from all over the country and not just concentrate on urban areas,” he said.