Joan Nalubega: 'Malaria is a brutal disease; I wish it on no one'
Q&A with the social entrepreneur on tapping into your past to empower others, access to capital in Africa, and the importance of educating oneself on the art of fundraising.
Joan Nalubega is the Founder and CEO of Uganics Repellents, a social enterprise fighting malaria by providing a purely organic, mildly scented mosquito repellent soap. Uganics has been recognised as an Africa Business Hero 2020 by the Jack Ma foundation, a Champion of Science by Johnson and Johnson, and a Builder of Africa’s Future by the Africa Diaspora Network.
What fundamental belief system inspired the creation of Uganics?
The fundamental belief system that inspired the creation of Uganics is one of my struggles at its core. I faced a lot of challenges as a child growing up in an orphanage. I had no access to parents and constantly got sick of malaria. As a result, I became a victim of bullying and missed school very often. This experience made me wonder why I kept getting the disease, yet I slept in a mosquito net. I almost gave up on life at some point.
Malaria is a brutal disease; I wish it on no one. The pain experienced as a child gave me the strength to discover an approach to fighting malaria and, in turn, save millions of children who are going through the same experiences as I did.
What’s something you do every day that is non-negotiable for you?
Praying. Prayer is one of the reasons I have come this far with Uganics. That is certainly non-negotiable for me.
What are the formative ingredients in your childhood that came to create your perspective?
There are a couple of things that formed my perspective on life. I have come to realise that because of them, I am who I am today. I do not know who or where I would be if I had not encountered these. The first one, as I mentioned, was my sickly nature. Having malaria for most of my childhood became a formative experience I have learned from and used as my strength.
Secondly, growing up in an orphanage made me an opportunist and open-minded because I always had to look out for myself. I look for opportunities, and I utilise them to improve my community.
What do you consider to be one of the greatest challenges for developing a business on the African continent?
To be completely honest, there isn’t enough capital or ease of access to capital across Africa. Businesses like mine tend to struggle with identifying investment opportunities. This reality trickles down to lack of access or inability to afford top talents who would take the mission to the next level. From my experience, capital has been the biggest challenge however, I am thankful to all Uganics’ partners who have made it possible for us to thrive.
Building a company from scratch takes grit. What drives you on?
I am on a mission to contribute to the ‘Zero Malaria by 2030’ vision in my way. We have nine years to make this happen. I certainly want to play my part by impacting marginalised and vulnerable families with an everyday product they do not need to adjust their lives to benefit. They can easily use our soap. Since we are not changing habits, this makes switching to our product seamless.
There are a tremendous number of opportunities on the African continent. How do you stay focused on your journey?
Until countries like Uganda are declared Malaria Free, I cannot lose focus. If I do, someone who could potentially benefit from our work may end up facing the unknown. Rightfully, I stay focused because there is a grand vision I want to attain.
If you could do it all again, what would you have done differently?
I would have started educating myself about fundraising earlier. We are now five years old and would be so far along in our journey if I had acquired knowledge about fundraising early on in my career.
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Jeph Acheampong leads Blossom Academy; an edtech company that provides world-class data courses and transforms careers.
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