By AMBROSE GAHENE
Uganda Global Business Association (UGBA) recently conducted a five-week digital skills training for the business community at Muyenga, a Kampala suburb, aimed at mitigating the negative effects of Covid-19 in the sector.
Ms Grace Mugonero, the UGBA programs coordinator, said the best investment for any business in the post Covid era is an investment in people, adding that they believe the training for marketing teams can enable businesses to directly reach customers and attain immediate feedback on sales and company products.
Ms Mugonero urged the government to support the organisation to meet the costs of delivering the skills.
“UGBA also aims at mainstreaming business through managerial hands-on skills for member companies and empowering modern business career building in Uganda. We, therefore, call for support from government bodies to enable us to run these programs throughout the country to improve the business skills capacity of Ugandans,” she said.
Mr Jimmy Moses Otim, a facilitator, thanked marketers who attended the training for being positive, saying for every successful marketing team, it always has to seek new knowledge.
“I feel that this is not an initiative that is ordinary and we are not about to stop, I, therefore, urge you to always run up for new information as we all know learning will never stop,” he said.
Mr Robert Bob Okello, another trainer, said its high time businesses got prepared for the new global community where up-skilling will soon be a necessity for any business’s survival.
“It is soon to be a necessity for every business administrator to keep learning a new skill to create a new business value,” he said.
Mr Samuel Nkaka, a participant from Mente Engineering Limited, thanked UGBA for spearheading the initiative, saying it greatly fits into the Covid situation that has since made analog marketing ineffective.
“With the prevailing circumstances, I come to terms with my trainers that a virtual showroom is quite important as there are very many customers out there that wouldn’t risk their lives coming to our congested sales points yet we need to go for their needs,” he said.
“Besides, the new digital marketing knowledge will enable us to reach more people as well as provide a descriptive analysis of one’s market and I think it’s an idea worth implementing by all businesses,” he added.
Ms Fatimah Nandera, a marketer from Shule Cables Limited, also credited UGBA for boosting her confidence in digital marketing.
“I initially thought digital marketing is a hard nut to crack but with completion of this training, I have gained more confidence in using it and I believe it will in addition to other mechanisms help me meet my sales targets,” she said.
Through continuous training, UGBA officials say they can retool staff to embrace traditional as well as digital marketing skills.
UGBA attracts investors who have the potential to invest in Uganda and at the same time build bridges between Ugandans and other nationals to form business partnerships.
The initiative, whose projection is to have more than 100 members by the end of this year, has so far seen 44 member companies join the cause since its inception in 2013.
The participants were also awarded with two certificates; one from Google Digital Skills for Africa and one from UGBA.
