Mabel Kebirungi

Today, we at @UCC_Official, under #UCUSAF, were honoured to convene a landmark Stakeholder Dialogue on Strengthening Uganda’s Digital Skills Ecosystem, in partnership with the British Council @BritishCouncil, the British High Commission, and UK International Development. As we celebrate 25 years of extending communications to underserved communities, our focus is evolving. While infrastructure remains crucial, Uganda’s primary bottleneck today is the usage gap. We have vast network capacity across the nation, but we must ensure every Ugandan has the skills and confidence to use it productively. Through deliberate digital skilling interventions, #UCUSAF has directly impacted thousands of lives across Uganda. Targeted digital skills training has empowered over 13,000 women, and grassroots digital skilling initiatives have reached over 11,000 rural community members, including farmers, older persons, and persons with disabilities. Again, we have equipped over 6,000 young people with ICT and multimedia skills for the modern economy, and trained 5,000+ micro, small, and medium enterprises across 20 districts to use digital tools to manage records, expand market reach, and access digital financial services. ICT skilling for teachers and the establishment of ICT clubs in schools have also fostered a culture of innovation and learning. Moving beyond basic digital literacy (navigating apps and search engines), our goal is to build digital skills for employability and enterprise development. Connective infrastructure fulfils its promise only when teachers can deliver richer lessons, farmers can access market prices, and young people secure job opportunities. No single institution can bridge this gap alone. By pooling our strengths across government, telecom operators, tech companies, and civil society, we can make digital literacy more inclusive, practical, and sustainable for all Ugandans. We were particularly privileged to be joined by Hon. Joyce Nabbosa Ssebugwawo @Hon_Ssebugwawo, Minister of State for ICT, and by partners from NITA-Uganda @NITAUganda1, academia, the private sector, civil society, and our regulatory peers from Kenya. Thank you to all stakeholders for joining us in building a digitally empowered Uganda.