Cavendish University Uganda Holds Employability Festival: The First of Its Kind in the Country

Organised by the Careers & Employability Office, the blended festival run from 04^th – 11^th November 2022 at the University’s main campus and the Acacia Law school. The main objective of the festival was to bring together key stakeholders of graduate employability to speak to the learners, and help them improve on their employability skills, as well as, to help instructors rethink their approaches to teaching.

Held under the theme, “Employability through Enterprise & Job Creation,” students and recent graduates were offered the opportunity to gain valuable industry insights from prominent industry experts, guest speakers, employers and staff. Hundreds of students and alumni attended the event dubbed “CUU EmpFest 2022,” both physically and online.

In his opening remarks, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. John Mugisha explained to the attendees the difference between being employable and simply being employed.” He urged that there is need to develop skills and work ethic among students to make them market-worthy.

Prof. John Mugisha, Vice Chancellor, Cavendish University Uganda

Among the notable industry experts and key guest speakers featured were;

• Mr. Tony Otoa, the Chief Executive Officer of Stanbic Business Incubation Ltd in Uganda.
• Mr. Douglas Opio, the Executive Director, Federation of Uganda Employers.
• Mr. Bernard Oundo, President Uganda Law Society.
• Dr. Anthony CK. Kakooza, IP, Law Expert, Partner, Byenkya Kihika and Co. Advocates.
• Ass. Prof. Lenny Baer, Ashesi University, Ghana.
• Dr. William Murithi, Consultant & Business Coach, Ashesi University, Ghana.
• Mr. Andrew Bwiza Byabagambi, Business Start Ups and Development Specialist, Prudential Insurance-Uganda.
• Mr. Henry Katongole, Investment Advisor & Managing Director, RYRA Investment Ltd, among others.

The Guest of Honour at the festival was Dr Maggie Kigozi, a Ugandan Medical Doctor, Business Consultant and Motivational Speaker. Dr Kigozi addressed the students on how to build an entrepreneurial mind-set and took them through some strategies on how to overcome challenges of youth unemployment.

Dr Maggie Kigozi, Guest of Honour at CUUEmpFest 2022

During the event, students were able to interact and engage in transformative discussions with employers and industry partners in attendance including; HRLeverage Uganda, BrighterMonday Uganda (BMUG), Rounding Up the Edges (ROUTE) and Goldstone Enterprise Ltd.

Topics discussed at the festival ranged from career exploration to the role of students in enterprise development and employability, giving voice to values to the concept of intellectual property, among others.

The festival was closed by CUU’s Executive Director, Mr. David Mutabanura and the University received a certificate from the Federation of Uganda Employers to solidify their Memorandum of Understanding and collaborative partnership.

Pictorial Highlights