The First Steps on a Journey of Promise

Uganda, referred to by Winston Churchill as “the pearl of Africa”, is home to over 40 million people nested along the equator - with lush forests, towering mountains, and the mesmerizing shoreline surrounding the world’s largest tropical lake, Lake Victoria.

Despite the lush beauty of the landscape, Uganda also has a staggering unemployment rate - official sources state anywhere between 2.1-9.4% of the population, while local sources cite 90% unemployment above the age of 25. 10.4M non-utilized workers, with women being the majority unemployed with 65.2% not working.

Uganda is also the country that takes in the most displaced people in Africa, with over 1M people coming from Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Burundi, Eritrea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda.

More displaced people arrived in Uganda than all of Europe received last year.

Through green terrain and bumpy roads, seven hours west of Uganda’s capital city, Kampala is Nakivale, the oldest refugee camp it is a settlement!!! in the world.

150,000 refugees from across Africa make up the settlement of Nakivale, since its opening in 1958. And the number of refugees is still growing - approximately 100 people enter the camp each week, whether via bus, shuttle, or on foot.

The challenge facing people in Nakivale, and the other refugee settlements in Uganda is staggering. With lack of job opportunity, many refugees feel that their best opportunity for success is to await relocation to Europe or the United States - a dream that rarely comes.

Needless to say Nakivale feels like the right place to start our global promise - c 10,000,000 entrepreneurs in the next 30 years.  We believe that creating opportunity where people in need are, rather than requiring them to move is the key to economic empowerment. As one of the oldest refugee settlements, Nakivale is not just the launching point for Promise Hub, but also has the potential to become an innovation lab for the future of humanity.

We’re just getting started providing the necessary tools, resources, and encouragement to help catalyze impoverished communities - and the future is bright.

You can follow our journey here, or learn how you can get involved.

That's why we've chosen to start there, because it's status as the oldest refugee settlement, the need for economic growth, and their desire to improve the lives of displaced communities makes it a prime location to encourage entrepreneurship, and be an innovation lab for humanity.

Providing aid has proven to only help so much. Taking real action on the ground,  impacting the lives of the displaced with the necessary tools, and encouragement that the future is brighter than expected is why Promise Hub is here to help.