Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST), in partnership with HOWEST University of Applied Sciences, hosted the “Learning Uganda from Within” Entrepreneurship Bootcamp from 2nd to 6th February 2026 under MUST/IUC Sub-Project 5. The program brought together 10 HOWEST students and 45 MUST students, along with mentors and lecturers, for five days of practical, community-rooted entrepreneurship training.
Day 1 (2 Feb): Opening, orientation, and intercultural foundations
The bootcamp opened with remarks from Dr. Tumuhimbise Manasseh, who welcomed participants and recognized the MUST–HOWEST partnership, followed by Dr. Medard, who linked the initiative to youth employability, SDG 8, and Uganda Vision 2040. The opening was officiated by Associate Professor Robert Bitariho (Deputy Vice Chancellor), who emphasized experiential learning as a bridge between academia and industry. The day also featured an intercultural communication session led by Lieze Joye using the Hofstede Cultural Onion Model and entrepreneurship grounding sessions by Dr. Prudence Kemigisha and Dr. Sarah on customer problems and opportunity spotting, culminating in preparations for the 50K Challenge.
Day 2 (3 Feb): The 50K Challenge entrepreneurship in action
After a practical session on financial literacy and bookkeeping led by Sarah Akampurira, teams received UGX 50,000 and five hours to execute a business idea and generate profit. The challenge tested creativity, teamwork, resilience, and customer engagement. It produced a range of ventures from souvenir stickers to packaged snacks and pancakes with clear lessons in execution, customer focus, and starting small.
Day 3 (4 Feb): Empathy mapping and community immersion
Teams shifted to design thinking, conducted empathy mapping, and engaged communities across sectors, including agriculture, finance, tourism, security, and trade. Through direct listening, they identified pain points and built problem statements grounded in real community experiences. The day concluded with a learning visit and dinner at Rwenjeru Agro-Tourism Farm, where participants explored integrated farming and reflected on innovation and diversification to build a sustainable enterprise.
Day 4 (5 Feb): Ideation, inspiration, and business modeling
Dr. Rene recapped the key lessons, after which Pieter (CEO of dScribe) delivered an entrepreneurial talk emphasizing resilience, humility, teamwork, and customer-centered problem-solving. Teams then refined their solutions through an ideation session facilitated by Francis. They advanced to structured modelling using the Lean Business Model Canvas, guided by Nuriat, before pitching preliminary concepts for mentor feedback.
Day 5 (6 Feb): Pitching and evaluation
The final day focused on pitching skills and evaluation. Lieze prepared teams using the KFC framework. Know what the audience needs to understand, connect to feelings/fears, and deliver with clarity and conviction before teams pitch to a panel of judges. Judges commended the relevance of the problems identified while emphasizing stronger validation, reliable data, ethical considerations, clear revenue models, and sharper storytelling. The bootcamp concluded with Medit as Grand Winner (hospital caretaker bed solution), The Lifeline as First Runner-Up, and Fiscal Minds as Second Runner-Up.
