On Friday, 5th May 2023, Kampala International University (KIU) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with StartHub Africa, a hybrid-social venture with the vision to unlock the potential of local social change makers in a bid to create innovative and scalable businesses across Africa.  

The KIU Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Mouhamad Mpezamihigo received the team from StartHub Africa which was represented by Mr. Matthias Moebius, StartHub Africa Co-Founder, and Ms. Joy Akatukunda, StartHub Africa’s Communication Lead.

The MoU will aim to leverage the wealth of experience of both parties, for mutual benefits both in the short and long term. Specifically, KIU will be looking forward to tapping into the various opportunities within the National and Regional Innovation Ecosystems, to the benefit of her diverse academic community of students and staff.

To this effect, StartHub Africa will play a crucial role in aiding KIU to realize the various upcoming activities within its Directorate of Research Innovation Consultancy and Extension (RICE). These include: - Conducting annual competitions and hackathons aimed at unpacking the innovation potential within KIU, workshops, and continuous training aimed at transferring the necessary technology and knowledge between the Industry and KIU, as well as incubation of ideas to enable the continuous translation of ideas from the academic-level to business formation. Furthermore, the Hub shall be working closely with KIU’s Centre of Excellence for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CoEEI), a new fully-fledged Centre under the Directorate of RICE.

“I wish to assure you, that as KIU we shall do all that is possible to ensure that we realize the aspirations of this MoU. We appreciate the fact that StartHub Africa has been working with KIU for a while now even without an MoU in place. But with this MoU signed today, we shall surely explore even more areas of partnership for mutual benefit”, said the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Mpezamihigo.

The StartHub Africa Co-founder also highlighted how they value KIU and hence a timely decision.  “KIU is in so many aspects well positioned to excel at many fronts, and we hope to leverage our strengths for mutual benefit”, said Mr. Moebius.

On behalf of KIU, the MoU was signed by the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Mpezamihigo Mouhamad, and the Acting DVC-RICE, Professor Durraiz Rehman as a witness. While on the part of StartHub Africa, Mr. Matthias Moebius and Ms. Joy Akatukunda signed on behalf of StartHub Africa. Also, present during the ceremony were, Dr. Hashim Ibrahim Bisallah, the Director of RICE; Dr. Ademola Olatide Olaniyan, the Deputy Director of RICE; and Dr. Umar Yahya from CoEEI. 

StartHub Africa (an NGO) and SHA Consulting Group Limited together form StartHub Africa. They currently have active engagements and operations in Uganda and Tanzania, and KIU is now the 9th University in Uganda to partner with StartHub Africa at this MoU level.