Makerere University, in partnership with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has commissioned the Makerere Innovation Pod, an initiative aimed at fostering innovation in Uganda and across East Africa.
The Makerere Innovation Pod, the first of its kind in Uganda, will see young innovators come together to better their innovations and actualise their ideas. The innovation pod, with equipment worth 1.9 billion, was commissioned on Tuesday, January 9, 2024.
Makerere University Vice Chancellor Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe said he has overtime tried to champion innovation, a commitment he made in his manifesto, and that he was pleased to see that his dream is coming to life.
Nawangwe told delegates from other universities to emulate and do the same for their universities, saying it is only through continuous collaboration that they will be able to make a visible mark on Uganda’s development.
“We pray that what has happened here is spread to other universities. It is only through that collaboration, that energy we all have but underutilise, that we are able to make a visible mark for Uganda and Africa’s development,”he said.
Ms. Elsie Attafuah urged universities to foster innovation and stop being comfortable, noting that there are many jobless graduates on the streets and innovations would create employment opportunities for them.
Makerere University also bid farewell to Ms. Elsie Attafuah, who has been the UNDP resident representative in Uganda for close to five years, a role that she will end this week before she heads to Nigeria where she has been posted.
The Innovation Pod
The Makerere University Innovation Pod is an initiative by Makerere University and UNDP housed at the University’s Yusuf Lule Central Teaching Facility.
The Pod has diverse sections such as tailoring and a state of the art music studio, and room for many other innovations in the pipeline and those ready for use.
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