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HiPipo awarded Best Financial Inclusion Organisation in East Africa- FinTech Awards 2022

Nicholas L Ntulume
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HiPipo awarded Best Financial Inclusion Organisation in East Africa- FinTech Awards 2022

We are proud to announce that HiPipo has been awarded the Best Financial Inclusion Organization in East Africa by FinTech Awards 2022 hosted by Wealth & Finance International.

Wealth and Finance identifies organisations that are deserving of recognition for the works they perform, giving the aforementioned organisations a boost to their profiles, and enlarging their professional networks. Theirs is an esteemed platform, and offers fantastic opportunities for HiPipo to enhance and improve its initiatives while impacting millions of lives and livelihoods.

They thus recognise organisations committed to advancing financial inclusion, gender equality and financial equity as core foundation principles for ensuring that we together build a world that is inclusive for everyone, not less. And it is for that reason that the jury chose HiPipo.

On behalf of the fantastic HiPipo team, Innocent Kawooya expressed his appreciation for the accolade. ‘I find it pleasing that the efforts of the HiPipo team are being recognised,’ he said, ‘this award was only given to HiPipo because I work with an incredible team’. He added, ‘It should also never be forgotten that we have been blessed with extraordinarily supportive partners. What we have done and achieved would not have been possible without the generous sponsorship of the Gates Foundation, and the technical input of Modusbox, Crosslake Technologies, Ideation Corner, the Mojaloop Foundation, MET Images, NG Films, and Decent Africa among others. This accolade is for all of us, and will spur us at HiPipo onwards to do even more’. Together we shall continue to grow.

HiPipo continues plays a vital role in advocating for the creation of a sound, secure, competitive, and universal financial system that is essential for sustainable and inclusive growth.

2022 has so far been another fruitful and progressive year for HiPipo. With Innocent Kawooya at the helm, the organisation once again made significant inroads in its advocacy for the adoption and dissemination of financial technology (FinTech), specifically as an avenue to increase Financial Inclusion amongst the underserved and unserved.

In this vein, HiPipo successfully carried out all its Financial Inclusion and FinTech initiatives, including the 40 Days 40 FinTechs & FinTech Landscape Exhibition, the Women-in-FinTech Hackathon & Summit, the Digital and Financial Inclusion Summit and the Digital Impact Awards Africa. And added to this was the Women-in-FinTech Incubator. ‘The Incubator is HiPipo maintaining a strong commitment to empowering women in the digital technology space’, Innocent commented, adding, ‘they must be prioritised for the knowledge and tools to build successful tech initiatives, for what they do shall ultimately serve communities better’.

There was also a landmark moment in HiPipo’s entertainment programs, as the 10th HiPipo Music Awards were successfully held at Mestil Hotel on the 10th of December, 2021, further cementing those honours as one of the most auspicious and longest running on the continent.

We say thank you, and promise that there is more to come going forward.

Our ultimate hope is to guarantee that Africa reaps dividends from its young population, starting now and ultimately in the future.

Damali Ssali Joins the HiPipo Foundation Board

Nicholas L Ntulume
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Damali Ssali Joins the HiPipo Foundation Board

It is with great pleasure that we announce that Damali Ssali has honoured the invitation we extended to her and agreed to become a Board Member of the HiPipo Foundation. Damali joins Hon. Eng. David Karubanga, Rose Busingye and Innocent Kawooya, with a worthy mention being made of Prof. Maggie Kigozi and Dr. Frederick Wamala – Ph.D, SABSA, CCSP, CISSP who regularly serve in an advisory role for the Board.

Damali is a business & finance expert with a passion for ideas, innovation and technology that fosters Financial Inclusion. She is the Founder and CEO of the Ideation Corner, a platform on which she has profiled a number of individuals whose expertise and initiatives are a cause for optimism that Ugandans can take the lead in their development and march to prosperity. She recently ascended to Uganda’s Ambassador for the United Nations Women’s Entrepreneurship Day Organization.

And it is mainly through her irrepressible advocacy for the financial empowerment of women that Damali has found a shared passion and common cause with HiPipo. She has thus been a partner, mentor, facilitator, keynote speaker and Chief Guest in a number of our activities. She also, at a moment’s notice, eagerly extends a hand of friendship and words of advice to those we entreat her to engage.

We are greatly excited that as part of the HiPipo Foundation Board, Damali shall take the lead in our Women-in-FinTech initiative, guiding us through existing activities like the Hackathon, Summit and Incubator, as well exploring more avenues to improve and increase our efforts towards a future where women have unencumbered access to the digital financial services they need.

Echoing this, Board Chairman Hon. Eng. David Karubanga said, ’At HiPipo we have been honoured to engage a number of extraordinary ladies, like our dear advisor Professor Maggie Kigozi. Ambassador Damali Ssali fits in that formidable mold, and we are supremely glad she has joined us. With her, and with the continued support of the Gates Foundation, HiPipo should positively change even more lives’.

Overall, it remains the HiPipo Foundation’s objective to continually include those who are passionate to ‘Include Everyone’.

Welcome, Damali!

UNBS Testing Capacity Boosted with Equipment worth UGX 6.9 Bn donated by the Danish Government through TradeMark East Africa.

HiPipoNico
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The Danish Government through TradeMark East Africa (TMEA) has donated testing equipment worth USD 93,594 (about UGX 300 million) to Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) for testing and ensuring that quality COVID-19 prevention safety products are sold on the Uganda market.

In addition to this equipment, the Government of Denmark through TMEA is facilitating the decentralisation of the UNBS testing centres in three major cities of Mbarara, Gulu and Mbale by purchasing laboratory equipment worth USD 1.8 million ( about UGX 6.3 billion). 

According to David Livingstone Ebiru, the UNBS executive director, well as this testing equipment was procured to test COVID-19 prevention products such as face masks, surgical gowns, liquid detergents and sanitizers, it can also test Alcohol and Energy Drinks to ensure that they conform to consumption standards before they are introduced on to the market.

“I wish to thank the government of Denmark and TradeMark East Africa for this equipment and all their other investments in UNBS over the years. We are glad that we continue to be considered by development partners. Together with my team, we are committed to ensuring Quality Everywhere and this equipment comes in handy.”   

Even though this equipment was delivered last year, it was officially handed over, yesterday 22nd March, 2022 by H.E Nicolaj A.H. Petersen, the Ambassador of Denmark in Uganda. Also in attendance were Zackey Kalega  – the Ministry of Trade Commissioner Internal Trade and Anna Nambooze, the country director for TMEA Uganda and South Sudan

“Denmark is pleased that one of the interventions in this facility has been fulfilled and has been in use since last year. This equipment is used to test both locally produced and imported goods such as face masks, surgical gowns, clean air suits, respirators, sanitizers, and liquid detergents to monitor quality and performance for certification and consumer protection,” H.E Nicolaj A.H. Petersen said, adding;

“We have also learnt from UNBS that other than the COVID-19 prevention products, this equipment is also being used to test general textile products, paper products, toilet products and liquor. This is a very good thing as it shows the relevance of this equipment post COVID-19.”

The equipment received includes; Rapid Alcohol Analyser used for determination of alcohol content, pH meters used for determination of the pH levels; Differential Pressure tester for determination of breathability; Splash Resistance tester for determination of resistance to penetration and Bursting Strength Tester for determination of bursting pressure strength.

The above equipment are being used to test both locally manufactured and imported face masks (both medical and non-medical), surgical gowns, drapers, clean air suits, respirators, sanitisers, liquid detergents and other products such as alcoholic beverages which include spirits, vodka, gin, rum, beer, Kombucha and juices, soft drinks and textile materials, for conformity assessment which is in line with the UNBS mandate of consumer protection and strengthening the economy of Uganda by assuring the quality of locally manufactured products to enhance their competitiveness in regional and international markets.

Anna Nambooze, the TMEA country director for Uganda and South Sudan noted that ‘with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, TMEA realised the need to ensure continued safe trade. TradeMark East Africa designed the Safe Trade Emergency Facility (STEF) to ensure that, despite the pandemic, trade in essential goods continues with minimal interruption.

“Together with partners, we defined essential goods as priority food value chains, medicaments, personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks, and hygiene products such as sanitizers and soaps. Through STEF, TMEA initially facilitated safe Trade-Supply of PPEs to border crossings in Uganda and across East Africa.” Anna Nambooze said.

“Upon the realisation that local companies were manufacturing masks and sanitiser among other PPEs, TMEA with DANIDA funding worked with UNBS to increase its capacity through procurement of the necessary equipment and consumables to undertake rapid assessments and tests.” Anna Nambooze said.

“The equipment supports the Government of Uganda’s efforts towards curbing the spread of Covid-19, other respiratory and communicable diseases through the availability of PPEs that comply with international standards.” Anna Nambooze said.

Zackey Kalega  – the Ministry of Trade Commissioner Internal Trade applauded the Government of Denmark and TradeMark East Africa for equipping UNBS with latest technology equipment for curbing the sell and consumption of sub-standard goods.

“As the ministry of Trade, we thank our development partners for this equipment and all their other trade facilitation contribution over the years. This equipment not only ensures that we have quality goods on the market but also helps our manufacturers to improve their production standards and compete internationally.” Zackey Kalega noted.

Commencement Of The We Will Win Initiative

Nicholas L Ntulume
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Commencement Of The We Will Win Initiative

HiPipo and the Ideation Corner, with great pleasure, announce the start of the We Will Win initiative, a project that is set to make extraordinary inroads into the development and growth of Uganda’s film industry.

The We Will Win initiative is the brainchild of and a collaboration between a number of like-minded influential players in the finance and entertainment industry. Together, we are The Consortium, and include HiPipo itself, The Ideation Corner, NG Films, MET Images, Koncepts & Sakyas, and Decent Africa.

Innocent Kawooya, the HiPipo CEO, is serving as the President, Technical Services, and Damali Ssali, the Ideation Corner Founder, is serving as President, Financial Services: they are the powerhouse duo spearheading the project.

We Will Win is a revolutionary and multi-pronged approach to steer to audiences and markets alike a high volume of quality films, all conceptualised, directed, and produced in Uganda, and all telling our stories our way. We Will Win is to offer technical and financial support at all levels of these productions, from the script to the shoot to the editing room, and then go even further to secure market for these visual stories.

This approach should see Uganda’s film industry move forward in leaps and bounds, not only by improving quality both in front of and behind the camera, but also by introducing Ugandan film to vast new interest and markets, both internally and externally, thus letting the industry emerge as the creative and empowering force it doubtless has the potential to be. HiPipo will call on its extensive experience in the same, having been the first Ugandan enterprise to produce and then place a local production onto an international streaming platform and the Ideation Corner will leverage its vast experience in social impact funding.

Be it action, drama, comedy or horror, be it mind-bending science-fiction or slapstick animation, experimental film or mythological fantasy, Uganda is a place of countless stories yet to be told and multitudes of voices ready to unfold and enthrall the world. Through our music and culture, we have shown we can hold the world’s attention. We Will Win is the springboard on which to make this vast creative leap forward, going even further in our storytelling and our entertaining. Yes, the time has come for us to stop looking for versions of our stories in those already told by others, but to finally go all out and tell our very own, and in our own way.

The wider picture of the We Will Win initiative speaks to how the creative industries are critical to the Sustainable Development agenda. They are the bedrock of innovation, and are an important factor in the ever evolving services sector. They support entrepreneurship and contribute to job creation, cultural diversity and gender diversity. As such the United National General Assembly declared 2021 the International Year of the Creative Economy of Sustainable Development.

#WeWillWin #IdeationCorner!

HiPipo & IDEATION CORNER ANNOUNCE WOMEN’S DAY CELEBRATION, & CONCLUSION OF INAUGURAL WOMEN IN FINTECH INCUBATOR

Nicholas L Ntulume
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HiPipo & IDEATION CORNER ANNOUNCE WOMEN’S DAY CELEBRATION, & CONCLUSION OF INAUGURAL WOMEN IN FINTECH INCUBATOR

As part of our continuous efforts to not only improve the quality and variety of digital financial services, with a special emphasis on those that cater for the unbanked and underserved, but also to ensure that the delivery of these services offers rewards to the innovators, HiPipo sought to build on the gains made from the 2nd Women-in-FinTech Hackathon & Summit. And this we have successfully done by engaging the Hackathon’s top teams in the inaugural Women-in-FinTech Incubator. 

The essence of the Incubator is to empower the innovators with entrepreneurial and operational skills to complement their already formidable technical acumen. Thus, over the course of 90 days, the Incubator participants have been part of multiple online sessions and face-to-face group consultations, with even a cocktail thrown in for good measure. The facilitators, who included HiPipo CEO Innocent Kawooya and Ideation Corner Founder Damali Ssali, covered a vast range of topics to ready the participants for the business journey ahead. Core to the Incubator was to create linkages between the Level One Project principles and how they can be the firm foundation on which a successful FinTech vehicle is built.

We at HiPipo are glad that March 8th, the International Women’s Day, has served up a fantastic opportunity. In conjunction with the Ideation Corner, we intend to also use that day as the conclusion of the Incubator. It was Damali Ssali, who recently ascended to the Ambassadorial role for Uganda at the United Nations Women’s Entrepreneurship Day Organisation (WEDO), and is now also an Advisory Board Member of the Africa Continental Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who helped us shape the idea.

It is greatly symbolic for all of us that the day set aside to remind all that women must be given the opportunities to fulfill their potential, that all forms of discrimination and sexism that have been placed in their path need to end, and that the world will only truly bridge its development gaps if women are fully brought into the innovation space, syncs perfectly with what the Women-in-FinTech Hackathon & Summit in particular and indeed the HiPipo Include Everyone program in general, stands for- to break all biases that hinder the acquisition and adoption of life changing digital financial technology.

And to all those that have successfully taken part, we can assure you that this is just the beginning. HiPipo will continue to be there for you as you set forth to conquer the world with your innovations. Our promise of service is the least you deserve for choosing to make the world a better place through the power of digital financial technology. So handing you your certificates on March 8th is just another landmark in our shared journey. Congratulations, dear friends!

Of mood boards, apertures and universal values: #WomenInFinTech #LevelOneProject Incubator

Nicholas L Ntulume
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Of mood boards, apertures and universal values: #WomenInFinTech #LevelOneProject Incubator

Arthur expounded on what he referred to the ‘values desirable as social beings’. He explained these as the values that are common and constant to every human being, regardless of their background or status. These include integrity, respect, loyalty and responsibility. They work as uniting factors for any team and/or organisation. In fact, it is nigh impossible for productive working relationships to be built without them inculcated into a team.

Emmanuel Kintu continued on the Fundamentals of Photography, detailing what camera modes there are (automatic and manual), and also touched on speed and aperture priority. He alerted the participants to the fact that henceforth they will need to take time to ‘plan’ for what kind of image/photo they want, especially as they communicate about their products/services. Will it look better in black & white? Should the background be blurry in order for the focus to be on the subject in the foreground? Such are the questions they needed to get used to asking themselves.

Steven Kimuli brought in the aspect of a mood board: it being a collection of textures, images and text related to your company, and thus being essential to the creative process so that efforts directed towards design are not haphazard, and are indeed aligned with your desired creative direction. He also gave pointers on what to look out for in order to hire the right team for a design job, alerting all to the fact that design has its own specialisations, and knowing who to approach reduces on the portfolios you would end up sifting through.

For Innocent Kawooya, the Tiered KYC angle he tackled today was to explain how The Level One Project advises financial players to be innovative and flexible about gathering KYC data. The process should not be overly complicated for the targets i.e. the onus is on the innovators to find fitting ways to onboard those they are interested in, ensuring at the very least they now have a transactional account. He also contributed to the values discussion, as part of a response to a participant who talked of an unfortunate time when she went unpaid for services she had provided. His warning to the participants was for them to endeavour to pay their debts, warning of instances to come when the temptation might come to delay a payment instead settling it immediately.

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