Dear Well-Travelled Political and University Leaders, ‘Don’t Ugandans Deserve the Development You See Abroad?’

We will be publishing a series of articles discussing the proof of the Global University Business Club Limited (GUBCCo) concept. We already began this conversation with two responses to an article by The Pearl Times, which highlighted the plight of Ugandan university graduates resorting to riding bodabodas for survival due to the disheartening issue of graduate unemployment. (You can see the articles at the end of this article.

I studied at the Odessa National University of Economics (ONUE) in Ukraine for both my undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in quantitative economics and econometrics respectively. In my published autobiography, “Destined to Triumph,” I recount my maiden journey to Moscow and on to Ukraine’s Odessa City, when everything I saw was too big for my eyes. In the bewilderment, I draw conclusions, saying: “I wondered what our leaders and people thought, who had been in many corners of the globe with some having seen even bigger wonders. Did they think we didn’t deserve such development back home? I never stopped wondering” (p.111).

Today’s topic, the proof of the GUBCCo concept as an innovation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Boot Camps, draws from above experience. In the backdrop of it, I urge our political and university leaders, who have shown indifference to the calls for GUBCCo, to reconsider their stance heeding to Micah 2:6, which states, “The people preach at me and say, ‘don’t preach at us. Don’t preach about all that’” (Good News Translation [GNT]).

Professor Sergeyevich Kanzirov (RIP), a professor of statistics at ONUE, while introducing the topic of correlation-regression analysis said that a labourer’s productivity does not only depend on quality of education received and or the set of tools at one’s disposal for his/her duties, but on myriad other things, including how nourishing is the [$e*] one gets from the spouse.  Correlation-regression analysis, which examines the associations among phenomena, helps us identify significant relationships. There are many reasons why MIT has consistently ranked among the top five universities globally for several years. And the MIT BootCamps is a significant factor.

I began my PhD journey at Makerere University in 2015, researching “Learning by Doing in Entrepreneurship Clubs and Hubs for Graduates’ Gainful Self-Employment: A Study of Makerere University.” This research led me to founding GUBCCo to serve as a permanent living laboratory for my doctoral work. Drawing from the significance of the MIT BootCamps in explaining MIT’s prestigious world university ranking, I believe that, as Uganda’s premier university, Makerere University could have elevated its global university ranking, which has continued plummeting, if the University had embraced the GUBCCo initiative rather than dismissing it. Applied research is crucial in determining university rankings.

GUBCCo is a student-led initiative that promotes entrepreneurial universities through global interconnectedness and networking. It aims to replicate into community and commercialise university-based students’ business initiatives that intervene in improving societal well-being, and enhance students’ and graduates’ transition to the labour market: entrepreneurship, self-employment and employability.

The Company focuses on three core activities that form a circuit, which fully caters for business development. These are: Entrepreneurship Incubation Programme – for marshaling business initiatives; GUBCCo SACCO Scheme – the portal for financing business initiatives; and a free e-Commerce Portal for marketing the businesses and their products as brands.

MIT BootCamps has emphasized entrepreneurial interconnectedness and networking among top universities worldwide. However, Its BootCamps exist at prestigious institutions such as Harvard, Stanford, and Oxford, among others. On its part, GUBCCo envisages having presence in hordes of universities globally—big and small.

In conclusion, I have come of age preaching and lobbying for GUBCCo’s support! While the U.S. and similar countries may not care, is the bar set too high for Uganda’s political and university leaders to grasp? Many of them have traveled widely, unlike the founder of GUBCCo, who has only journeyed through Moscow, Kiev, and Odessa. In the words of Professor PLO Lumumba, while standing on tall trees from elevated ground, have we failed to see what this saint has perceived from the ground? In the next series, we will explore another component of GUBCCo’s production model, focusing on innovations from HarperCollins Publishing House. Following that, we will delve into GUBCCo’s financial and marketing model innovations. For God and my Country.

Dr. Julius Babyetsiza is the Founder and Managing Director Global University Business Club Limited (GUBCCo)

You can read related articles Here and There.

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