kevin kusiima

RefugeeLINK was honoured to participate in the stakeholder engagement and research dissemination workshop organized by ThinkIT Limited in partnership with Athari Foundation under the Agriculture Growth and Innovation for Livelihood Enhancement (AGILE) Project. Held on 11th June at Protea Hotel Kampala Skyz, the workshop brought together government representatives, development partners, private sector actors, researchers, farmer organizations, and refugee-led organizations to explore practical solutions for strengthening livelihoods through agriculture and market systems development. Under the theme, “Advancing Inclusive Horticulture Commercialization, Youth Livelihoods, and Market Systems in Refugee-Hosting Communities in Uganda,” participants examined opportunities and challenges affecting agricultural commercialization, youth employment, and economic inclusion in refugee-hosting districts. The discussions highlighted the importance of collaborative approaches that connect farmers, entrepreneurs, market actors, and development partners to create sustainable pathways for economic growth and resilience. The AGILE Project is making an important contribution to addressing youth unemployment, low agricultural productivity, and food insecurity by equipping women, youth, refugees, and smallholder farmers with market-driven skills, entrepreneurship opportunities, and access to sustainable agricultural value chains in Kyegegwa and Kikuube districts. Through its interventions, the project is helping to strengthen local economies while promoting inclusive participation in agricultural markets. As attendees, the RefugeeLINK team gained valuable insights from the presentations, research findings, and stakeholder discussions on inclusive agricultural development and livelihood opportunities in refugee-hosting communities. The conversations reinforced the importance of strengthening market systems, promoting decent employment opportunities for young people, and creating an enabling environment where both refugees and host communities can thrive. At RefugeeLINK, we believe that meaningful inclusion of refugees in agricultural value chains, entrepreneurship, and market systems is essential for achieving sustainable development, economic resilience, and self-reliance. Initiatives such as the AGILE Project demonstrate how partnerships and collective action can create opportunities that benefit entire communities while ensuring that vulnerable populations are not left behind. We extend our appreciation to ThinkIT Limited, Athari Foundation, War Child, African Women and Youth Action for Development, Private Sector Foundation Uganda, district leaders, researchers, and all participating stakeholders for facilitating this important dialogue. We also acknowledge the support of the European Union and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit(GIZ), whose commitment to inclusive and sustainable development continues to support impactful initiatives that strengthen livelihoods and expand opportunities for refugee and host communities across Uganda.

RefugeeLINK was honoured to participate in the convening on Innovative Financing for Humanitarian Impact in Uganda held at the Golden Tulip Canaan Kampala on 7th May, organized by the Response Innovation Lab and partners. The convening brought together humanitarian actors, innovators, entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem stakeholders to explore sustainable financing solutions for refugee and host communities in Uganda. The discussions emphasized an important reality: traditional humanitarian funding alone is no longer sufficient to address the growing and protracted challenges facing displaced and vulnerable populations. Participants emphasized the need for innovative financing approaches that combine collaboration, private sector engagement, and long-term investment in people and communities. RefugeeLINK was particularly inspired by insights shared by organizations such as Relevant, Kumwe Hub, Living Goods, and TechBuzz Hub, whose experiences highlighted the growing potential of innovative financing models to strengthen entrepreneurship, service delivery, and sustainable impact in displacement-affected communities. Key conversations focused on blended finance, impact investing, revenue-based financing for refugee-led enterprises, stronger private sector participation, and the importance of building local investment ecosystems and enabling policies. A major takeaway from the convening was the recognition that refugees and host communities are not merely aid recipients, but entrepreneurs, innovators, and contributors to economic growth when provided with the right opportunities, partnerships, and financing mechanisms. RefugeeLINK remains committed to advancing inclusion, livelihoods, financial access, and economic empowerment for displaced and vulnerable populations across Uganda through partnerships and innovative, community-driven solutions.

RefugeeLINK was honoured to participate in the convening on Innovative Financing for Humanitarian Impact in Uganda held at the Golden Tulip Canaan Kampala on 7th May, organized by the Response Innovation Lab and partners. The convening brought together humanitarian actors, innovators, entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem stakeholders to explore sustainable financing solutions for refugee and host communities in Uganda. The discussions emphasized an important reality: traditional humanitarian funding alone is no longer sufficient to address the growing and protracted challenges facing displaced and vulnerable populations. Participants emphasized the need for innovative financing approaches that combine collaboration, private sector engagement, and long-term investment in people and communities. RefugeeLINK was particularly inspired by insights shared by organizations such as Relevant, Kumwe Hub, Living Goods, and TechBuzz Hub, whose experiences highlighted the growing potential of innovative financing models to strengthen entrepreneurship, service delivery, and sustainable impact in displacement-affected communities. Key conversations focused on blended finance, impact investing, revenue-based financing for refugee-led enterprises, stronger private sector participation, and the importance of building local investment ecosystems and enabling policies. A major takeaway from the convening was the recognition that refugees and host communities are not merely aid recipients, but entrepreneurs, innovators, and contributors to economic growth when provided with the right opportunities, partnerships, and financing mechanisms. RefugeeLINK remains committed to advancing inclusion, livelihoods, financial access, and economic empowerment for displaced and vulnerable populations across Uganda through partnerships and innovative, community-driven solutions.

On May 5th, the RefugeeLINK team met with the Chairman of all refugees in Uganda at the Congolese Community Centre in Makindye. He was not only supportive of our work but also helped bring together other refugee community chairpersons from Rwanda, Somalia, Burundi, and Sudan. Together, we discussed how to collaborate and strengthen community outreaches across nationalities. In a generous gesture that will significantly accelerate our impact, the Chairman offered RefugeeLINK free use of the community centre space whenever needed. As a result, our Monday outreach will now be held there starting May 12th. These outreach sessions will involve profiling refugee women-led businesses, opening bank accounts with Stanbic Bank, onboarding participants onto FlexiPay one-on-one wallets, and completing URA registrations. With participants expected from multiple nationalities, sufficient manpower is essential to ensure everything runs smoothly. Looking ahead, RefugeeLINK remains hopeful of reaching around 250 people in the upcoming outreach. Digital trainings will also be introduced as part of our capacity-building efforts, starting as early as next week. This aligns directly with expectations from the ACCION pipeline. Beyond Makindye, RefugeeLINK will also be hosting the Somali community soon. Further details, including the event date, will be communicated in due course. Over the next two months, RefugeeLINK aims to reach and surpass 750 refugee women businesses across all nationalities. This is an ambitious goal, but with the partnerships being built and community leaders opening doors, it is absolutely achievable. The outreach scheduled for Monday, May 12th will take place at the Congolese Refugee Community Centre in Makindye, located near Mery Petrol Station opposite Makindye Military Barracks. Activities will include refugee women business profiling, Stanbic Bank account opening, FlexiPay wallet onboarding, and URA registrations. Collaboration is the only path to sustainable economic inclusion. RefugeeLINK is grateful to our volunteers, partners including ACCION and Stanbic Bank, and most of all, the refugee community leaders who are trusting us to walk this journey together.

A partnership-focused meeting was held on 24 April at Motorcare Kitgum House, hosted and facilitated by GreenHub, bringing together Women Rising for Africa, LM International (a Swedish development organization), and RefugeeLINK to explore collaboration on skills development and livelihood opportunities for refugees and host communities. The engagement focused on how different actors within the ecosystem can work together to strengthen access to training, economic inclusion, and employment pathways, particularly through practical and market-linked skilling programmes. Women Rising for Africa presented its work in e-mobility and transport-based empowerment, with a strong emphasis on women and youth. The programme combines technical training, road safety, financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and access to electric mobility assets to support participants in transitioning into income-generating opportunities. A key focus is ensuring that training leads to direct livelihood outcomes rather than standalone learning. GreenHub highlighted its role in facilitating training environments and ecosystem coordination, and expressed openness to working with RefugeeLINK as a referral partner. Through this collaboration, refugees would be able to access free training opportunities under Women Rising for Africa’s programmes, particularly in e-mobility and vocational skills development. RefugeeLINK participated in the discussions, contributing insights on refugee inclusion, community mobilisation, and the importance of connecting vulnerable groups to structured training and livelihood pathways. The organisation emphasized its ongoing work in identifying, profiling, and preparing refugees for access to skills development and employment opportunities through trusted partner networks. LM International expressed strong interest in the discussions and proposed a formal visit to the RefugeeLINK office to further explore areas of collaboration. Their interest aligns with broader efforts to strengthen inclusive livelihoods programming through partnerships that connect training, financial inclusion, and employment systems. A central theme across the discussion was the need for stronger coordination between organisations, ensuring that each partner contributes its core strength—whether in mobilization, training delivery, or employment linkage—to create a more effective and accessible ecosystem for beneficiaries. The meeting concluded with a shared commitment to continued engagement, with plans to explore structured referral pathways, expand access to free training opportunities for refugees, and deepen collaboration across all participating organizations

On 24th April 2026, RefugeeLINK held a partnership exploration meeting at its premises with representatives from the Next Creator Programme to assess potential collaboration in supporting refugee and host community youth through creative, digital, and economic empowerment initiatives. The discussion focused on aligning both organizations’ strengths to better support youth livelihoods, particularly within refugee communities. RefugeeLINK, also registered as Link4Refugee Solutions, was presented as a young social enterprise focused on livelihood inclusion, integration, and knowledge-sharing for refugees and host communities. Despite being only a few months into formal operations, the team highlighted over a decade of experience in refugee-focused programming. Operating from Rubaga, RefugeeLINK emphasized its strong community presence and focus on digital skilling, economic inclusion, and access to finance, with ongoing partnerships including Stanbic Business Incubator and ACCION. The Next Creator Programme was introduced as a large-scale initiative developed with multiple partners, including the International Trade Centre, aimed at leveraging creative and cultural industries to generate income for young people. The programme targets youth, women, persons with disabilities, and refugees, with a structured training model of approximately 300 hours, certification pathways, and a strong focus on content creation and digital distribution. It also outlined ambitions to reach nearly 10,000 beneficiaries over three years, supported by a mix of grant and loan funding. Strong alignment was identified between the two organizations, especially in reaching young refugee women and marginalized groups. RefugeeLINK’s strength in community access, trust, and mobilisation was seen as complementary to the programme’s technical expertise in content development and creative training. Key considerations included accessibility for refugee participants, particularly transport, proximity, and the need for safe learning environments. The importance of safeguarding policies, inclusion frameworks, and child-friendly spaces was emphasized, alongside the need for RefugeeLINK to formalize and strengthen its internal documentation and governance systems. The programme structure was discussed as a hybrid model combining physical and digital training, with centralized curriculum delivery and local outreach support. Content adaptation, including language translation and contextual relevance for refugee communities, was identified as essential for effective participation. A Training of Trainers approach was also proposed, involving a short centralized training to align implementing partners on curriculum delivery and programme expectations. The meeting concluded with agreement that this was an initial assessment phase, with both parties expressing strong interest in progressing towards formal collaboration. RefugeeLINK committed to preparing required documentation and strengthening internal policies, while the Next Creator Programme team would consolidate findings and plan the next stage of engagement, including deeper assessment and potential rollout planning.

On 22nd April 2026, RefugeeLINK held an engagement meeting with the Ministry of ICT at their offices on Parliamentary Avenue to discuss potential collaboration on strengthening ICT access, digital skills development, and livelihood opportunities for refugees and host communities. The discussions focused on the strategic role of ICT in driving employment and enterprise growth, with recognition that the sector is closely linked to other areas such as logistics, training, and small business development. It was noted that digital skills and ICT-enabled services continue to present significant opportunities for youth employment and entrepreneurship. RefugeeLINK presented its work as a social enterprise focused on livelihoods, innovation, networking, and knowledge sharing, with a target group that includes refugees and host communities, particularly urban refugees in Kampala. The organization highlighted its ongoing efforts in business incubation for refugee-led SMEs, community outreach, and onboarding entrepreneurs into structured support systems. A key point of discussion was the development of a digital platform aimed at improving access to employment opportunities, increasing visibility for refugee-led businesses, and connecting entrepreneurs to employers and service providers. The importance of partnerships in enabling access to finance and scaling impact was also emphasized. RefugeeLINK also shared insights on its current ICT hub in Rubaga, which serves as a training and coordination space. However, limitations in ICT equipment such as computers and digital learning tools were noted, alongside a high demand for basic computer training, digital communication skills, and business digitization support among refugee communities. The meeting further explored long-term opportunities such as establishing a refugee-led call centre with multilingual capacity, potentially linked to global outsourcing opportunities as a sustainable income-generating model. Partnership opportunities were discussed with potential alignment to national programs such as the National ICT Innovation Hub and broader skills development initiatives that could support refugee inclusion in digital economy pathways. The Ministry acknowledged ongoing efforts in digital literacy programming, including past initiatives that have reached over 1,200 refugees, and the potential to build on such foundations. The meeting concluded with agreement to explore areas of collaboration further, strengthen alignment with national ICT initiatives, and develop joint approaches to expanding ICT-enabled livelihood opportunities for refugees and host communities.

On Tuesday, 21st April 2026, RefugeeLINK hosted a strategic engagement at its offices on Plot 669 Balintuma Road, Mengo, Kampala, bringing together representatives from ACCION International and Stanbic Business Incubator to discuss financial inclusion and enterprise development for refugee entrepreneurs. The meeting focused on strengthening pathways that support refugee-led businesses from enrolment into structured financial systems and long-term market participation. Key discussions highlighted the importance of clear onboarding processes, proper beneficiary profiling, and readiness assessments to ensure entrepreneurs are well positioned for financial opportunities. Digital tools were a major focus, particularly for onboarding, data collection, and financial tracking. Participants emphasized mobile-based systems that can support registration, build transaction histories, and improve access to credit. The progression from training to digital adoption and financial inclusion was seen as central to sustainable enterprise growth. Each partner’s role was clearly defined: RefugeeLINK leads community mobilization and enrolment, ACCION International provides technical guidance on financial inclusion frameworks, and Stanbic Business Incubator supports enterprise development and incubation. Financial partners were also acknowledged for enabling lending within structured risk models. The need for structured reporting and regular coordination was emphasized, including tracking enrolment, digital activation, and access to financial services, alongside addressing implementation challenges through periodic meetings. Alongside the discussions, a small refugee entrepreneur showcase featured businesses in jewelry, art, and African print fabrics. The showcase enabled real-time engagement, enrolment, verification, and data collection while demonstrating the creativity and resilience of participating entrepreneurs. The engagement concluded with agreement to strengthen collaboration, formalize reporting systems, and establish regular coordination meetings. Partners reaffirmed a shared commitment to a progressive model supporting entrepreneurs from capacity building and digital adoption through to financial access and market integration.

On March 30th, 2026, a powerful moment of transformation unfolded at the RefugeeLINK offices in Mengo, where a Digital Business Incubator Clinic brought together 66 determined refugee women entrepreneurs for a hands-on learning experience centered on digital inclusion, financial empowerment, and business growth. The atmosphere was vibrant and full of purpose, as participants immersed themselves in practical sessions designed to equip them with tools they can immediately apply to strengthen and formalize their businesses. The clinic was made possible through the collaboration of key partners who each played a vital role in delivering impactful knowledge and support. Stanbic Business Incubator led engaging sessions on digital payments, financial access, and the use of the FlexiPay platform, while also guiding participants on how to harness social media as a driver for business visibility and growth. At the same time, Uganda Registration Services Bureau helped demystify the process of business registration, empowering the entrepreneurs with the confidence and clarity needed to formalize their enterprises. Adding to this ecosystem of support, Outbox contributed to the digital entrepreneurship and innovation component through the 10x Program. Throughout the day, participants explored how to effectively engage customers through digital platforms, adopted practical digital payment solutions, and took part in interactive sessions that translated concepts into real-world application. The experience was not just educational—it was deeply empowering. The level of engagement and enthusiasm demonstrated by the women underscored the immense potential that exists when access to the right tools meets determination and resilience. These 66 women stand as a testament to what is possible when inclusive opportunities are created. By investing in digital skills and financial inclusion, initiatives like this are not only strengthening individual businesses but also contributing to broader community development and economic resilience. The success of the clinic reflects the collective effort of partners, facilitators, and participants who believe in the transformative power of digital inclusion. It is a reminder that with the right support systems in place, entrepreneurship can thrive in even the most challenging contexts, unlocking new pathways for sustainable livelihoods.

RefugeeLINK representative Kevin Kusiima and Clinton Murungi, representing Storeguy, a partner of RefugeeLINK, attended the Digital Africa – Refugee & Startup Investment Challenge Networking Event held at the Protea Hotel Kampala Skyz on 10 March 2026. The event, hosted by Digital Africa in partnership with Proparco, UNHCR, and Hive Colab, brought together entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem partners to strengthen support for innovative and refugee-led startups across Africa. The gathering created an opportunity for key actors in the startup and innovation ecosystem to exchange ideas, build partnerships, and explore ways of expanding access to financing and support for emerging ventures. It also highlighted the growing recognition of refugee entrepreneurs as important contributors to local and regional economies. Key remarks were delivered by H.E. Virginie Leroy, Ambassador of France to Uganda, Jean Guyonnet-Dupérat, Regional Director for East Africa at Proparco, and representatives from UNHCR Uganda and Hive Colab. Their contributions emphasized the importance of collaboration between development institutions, investors, and innovation hubs in supporting startups that address real social and economic challenges. Discussions during the event also highlighted the growth of Digital Africa’s investment portfolio, which has supported around 70 startups across the continent. Through early-stage financing and ecosystem support, the initiative is helping entrepreneurs develop innovative solutions, scale their businesses, and access additional capital. A strong focus was placed on refugee entrepreneurship, recognizing refugees not only as beneficiaries of support programs but also as innovators and drivers of economic growth. The partnership between Digital Africa, UNHCR, and Proparco aims to provide mentorship, technical assistance, and access to sustainable financing for refugee-led ventures, helping create pathways for displaced entrepreneurs to build resilient businesses. RefugeeLINK looks forward to continued collaboration with partners across the innovation ecosystem to unlock opportunities for refugee entrepreneurs and support inclusive startup growth across Africa.