Under the Presidential Initiative on Skilling Uganda, government has established Zonal Industrial Skilling Hubs to equip young people with practical, employable trades — building self-reliance, stimulating enterprise and reducing youth unemployment. The initiative is led by State House and implemented with the Ministry of Local Government and private sector partners.
Scope and reach
- 19 hubs across Uganda's 15 sub-regions, all operational.
- 600 trainees per hub per year (300 a semester), a national capacity of 12,600 young people a year.
- Six months of training per cohort, supervised by certified instructors under the Ministry of Education and Sports, combining practical work with enterprise skills and financial literacy.
Trades taught
Carpentry, welding, tailoring, hairdressing, building and concrete practice, bakery and confectionery, and leather design — selected for market demand and for their potential to support self-employment or a microenterprise.
Progress
2,523 young people had graduated by the end of 2023. The first cohort's strongest hubs were Ankole (Mbarara) with 235 graduates, Mubende with 226, Bugisu with 215, Acholi (Gulu) and West Nile with 212 each, Tooro with 201, and Karamoja with 178. The hubs sit in areas with high unemployment and little existing access to technical training.
What makes the hubs different
- A working farm on site — each hub has a four-acre plot with a demonstration farm, teaching agribusiness alongside the trade and showing what a small landholding can yield.
- Bank partnerships — Centenary Bank, dfcu and Stanbic provide financial management training to trainees.
- Local mentorship — District Commercial Officers connect hubs with established local entrepreneurs for business coaching.
- Local relevance — trades are matched to each sub-region's economy rather than taught to a single national template.
Opportunity for business
Enterprises can partner with the hubs for skilled labour, apprenticeships and industrial attachments; equipment suppliers and trainers can engage as service providers. Graduates feed into the Parish Development Model, Emyooga, the Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme and Local Economic Development, with integration piloted at the Ankole (Mbarara), Mubende, Acholi (Gulu) and Karamoja (Napak) hubs.
Source: Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development; Private Sector Development Unit and Ministry of Local Government for further detail.