Freelance Summit 2024

Foster Awintiti Akugri is a computer scientist and process engineer by education, an entrepreneur by training, and a volunteer by passion. His 9 years of experience span several fields including technology, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, innovation and policy design, community building, financial inclusion, business development, marketing, leadership, and more.

In 2015 he founded the Hacklab Foundation, an international nonprofit organization headquartered in Ghana with a focus on preparing the youth for future digital jobs through technology education and skills development. Hacklab has also designed and implemented hackathons across 11 countries (Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia, South Africa, Cameroon, Madagascar, Uganda, Kenya, Mali, Malawi, and Ethiopia). The Foundation has directly impacted over 17,000 people.

Foster currently serves as Lead of Africa for the Innovation Village, responsible for its sustainability and expansion across 17 new markets in Africa.

The Keynote Speaker is the state minister for gender, labour and social development Incharge of youth and children in the government of Uganda.

Japheth is building The Innovation Village; Uganda’s launchpad for leading Innovators and entrepreneurs co-creating the future through the smart application of technology to unravel challenges and create unique solutions. He works with mission-oriented entrepreneurs to capture new value from digital—creating products, experiences, and businesses.

He helped set up The CEO Summit; a community of the top 100 captains of business and industry to dialogue and shape trends driving Uganda’s economy with the Ministry of Finance Planning and Economic Development.

Formerly he was Head of Talent at Uganda's largest utility, his mandate was to put the best Talent behind the company's Corporate strategy.

Arthur Mukembo is the Future Lab Studio Lead at The Innovation Village where he is connecting Founders and Corporate Innovation Leaders to Opportunities, Tools & Capital to build and scale Tech and Tech-Enabled Systems, Products and Ventures.

Arthur was a Real Estate Executive for over 8 years, serving as Co-Founder and Regional Director of RE/MAX Uganda, part of the global RE/MAX network of professional services firms with over 120,000 professionals in more than 100 countries. Arthur supported Commercial & Residential Developers, Owners, Occupiers, Investors and Financiers in creating, optimizing, and completing transactions with a cumulative Gross Development Value of over USD 350 Million.

A serial entrepreneur, Arthur has also co-founded, advised, and invested in various tech and tech-enabled startups and SMEs in the Technology, Media and Telecommunications; Financial Services; Transport & Logistics; Professional Services and Real Estate sectors in Uganda and the United Kingdom.

Arthur also co-created and is the Executive Producer of the NBS Housing Baraza – an annual town hall meeting providing solutions to various challenges across Uganda’s housing value chain, and Area Code, a leading Real Estate Television Show on NBS TV exploring issues and opportunities across the broader Real Estate sector.

Arthur is a Board Member at the Association of Real Estate Agents of Uganda (AREA) – the professional membership association advancing the interests of Real Estate Agents, Property Managers and Landlords in Uganda since 2008. At AREA, Arthur chairs the ICT, Research, and Innovation Committee, and previously served as Chair of the Education Committee.