On 16th October 2023, Uganda’s President, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, had two meetings with two prospective investors in Uganda.
One of the investors was Prometheus, a Polish company that builds unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) also known as drones. The meeting was attended by Mr. Mariusz Lwanski, the Chairman and Alex Szkaradek, a Director of the company.
According to a media release by the Uganda Media Centre, in the meeting, Prometheus pitched to the President, their interest in setting up a manufacturing hub for modern technology systems including UAVs.
“The special drones that fly in all conditions can also be used among other things for monitoring and the inspection of forests, critical infrastructure, life rescue, fire services, fishing in the water bodies as well as in agriculture. We want to make Uganda a hub in the region and Africa for the manufacture of this modern high-technology equipment, ” Mr. Lwanski pitched.
President Museveni welcomed the investors to Uganda and pledged to support their plans.
The meeting was attended by the then Chief of Defense Forces (CDF), Gen. Wilson Mbasu Mbadi and then Minister of Defence and Veteran Affairs, Hon. Vincent Ssempijja.
In that meeting, there were other two women, who were neither directors nor employees of Prometheus nor officials of the Government of Uganda. They are Ambassador Rosa Malango, who according to the Uganda Media Centre media release, identified as the Chairperson of Tumaini African Knowledge Centre (TAKC) and Rose Birungi, a Board Member of TAKC.
According to the release, the duo had “accompanied” the Polish investors.
On the same day, Ambassador Rosa Malango and Rose Birungi, attended another investment meeting with the President, this time with officials of Rowad Capital Commercial LLC (RCC), a UAE-based company seeking to acquire 60% of Uganda Telecommunications Corporation Limited (UTCL).
Mr. Chaher Al Taki the Rowad CEO, led his team, which also included their Uganda Chairman, Moses Kantu.
On behalf of the government of Uganda was also the Minister of Finance, Hon. Matia Kasaija, as well as Investment Minister, Hon. Evelyn Anite.
At the end of that meeting, Rowad which had been chasing a deal to acquire 60% of government-owned Uganda Telecommunications Company Limited (UTCL) for two years, but had come under intense deal-breaking scrutiny by the shareholder ministries in the telco, namely the ministry of finance and Ministry of ICT and National Guidance, managed to get the final Presidential blessing.
From that meeting, the President ordered all the ministries to back off and as a result, on 23rd December 2023, the government of Uganda indeed entered into an agreement with Rowad Capital Commercial LLC (RCC) for the acquisition of 60% of UTCL, together with the Government’s digital infrastructure, especially the National Backbone Infrastructure (NBI) and the National Data Centre. The deal is also being sweetened to include an explicit Government Support Agreement that guarantees the new UTCL all government telco and data business.
Again the two ladies do not work for Rowad or if they do, it must be in a third-party capacity, which begs the question who is Tumaini African Knowledge Center (TAKC) and what role does Ambassador Rosa Malango play in TAKC, that got her to these meetings?
On their LinkedIn page, Tumaini African Knowledge Center (TAKC Africa) describes itself as a “Pan-African partnership space for sharing knowledge supporting the holistic development of African societies and helping define the identity for Africans”.
“TAKC is a company focused on rebranding Uganda as a sustainable investment hub, managing high-net-worth individuals interested in substantive investments, and working primarily with youth and women entrepreneurs to help them join the global value chains,” the company adds, smoothening itself as “Your Pan-African Partnership, Knowledge, and Solutions partner”.
Tumaini says their specialities lie in “African knowledge management, strategic engagement, executive leadership development, financing advisory services, Pan-African event management, pan-African philanthropy, incubation of innovation solutions and digital transformation, pan-African branding & communications, and Pan-African audio-visual library”.
Solutions brigade for extremely complex situations
I&M Select Banking Sapphire Club wins “Best Innovation of the Year” at UMEAS 2025But if these too many words are confusing, it is perhaps, her new role as International Development Expert/Executive at TAKC, that can help paint a proper picture of what TAKC is and what the two TAKC women executives, were doing in the Statehouse meetings.
On her LinkedIn page, she aptly describes herself among others, as “a global citizen” and an “experienced manager with extensive experience in international relations, risk management and developing solutions in extremely complex situations around the globe”.
“My UN experience with DCO, UNDP, UNICEF, OCHA, WFP, and Special Envoy in the field and at headquarters included managing complex situations, sustaining strategic partnerships, oversight for country offices, and almost three decades of working with governments, international institutions, and corporations to provide operational, policy, and advocacy advice to senior decision-makers,” she says of her abilities.
“I have successfully led corporate change management processes, mentored a vast network of influencers and supported values-based approaches to challenges in humanitarian, development, peace and security situations. Fluent in four international languages, I have extensive experience in developing impactful mindset change communication campaigns and engaging with the media. I am a firm believer in sustainable and efficient partnerships to translate targets and aspirations into reality.
“I believe that there are unique opportunities to redefine and improve the relationships between investors, citizens and states in emerging economies. I look forward to being part of the solutions brigade,” she professes on her profile.
Rosa Malango spent about 25 years working for various United Nations agencies⏤ the Development Coordination Office (DCO), UNDP, UNICEF, OCHA, and WFP in various countries, including Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia, USA, Cote d’Ivoire and Guatemala. She came to Uganda as the UNDP Resident Representative and later, was appointed as the UN Resident Coordinator. She stayed in Uganda for 5 years, from March 2016 to June 2021.
She later was transferred to New York as the Director, Regional Commissions at the New York Office for almost two years. Beginning in January 2023, she went into private practice as an International Development Expert/Executive at TAKC.
During her time in Uganda, Mrs Malango not only fell in love with Uganda and developed a very close relationship with President Museveni.
During her parting shots in June 2021, Mrs Malango said that Uganda would be her second home since she had adopted a child from Uganda. She also mentioned that she would be returning to Uganda often in an individual capacity.
Indeed, towards the end of her UN Career, Mrs. Malango flew to Uganda for a meeting with President Museveni in November 2022. At that meeting, she also presented a delegation from ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms (ARISE IIP) led by their CEO & Founder Gupta Gagan.
At the meeting at State House Entebbe, ARISE IIP pitched investment ideas in Agro-processing sectors Mineral Development, Transport and Industrial hubs.
ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms (IIP) according to their website, has two shareholders: Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and Equitane (formerly the African Fund for Transformation and Industrialisation (ATIF).
A couple of months later, on 30th March 2023, Shegun Adjadi Bakari, a Beninese businessman and Partner at the African Fund for Transformation and Industrialisation (ATIF), flew into Uganda to meet President Museveni in Kampala, with the help of Mrs. Malango.
During this trip, Shegun Adjadi Bakari, through SPIRO, an investee company of ATIF, signed a partnership agreement with the Ugandan government for the deployment of more than 140,000 electric motorbikes and 3,000 charging and swapping stations over five years.
Gen. Edward Katumba Wamala, the Minister of Works and Transport; Hon.Henry Musasizi, State Minister for Finance (General Duties) and Hon. Jackson Kafuuzi, the Deputy Attorney General signed on behalf of the government of Uganda.
Rosa Malango reminds Ugandans of Rosa Whitaker, the Assistant US Trade Representative for Africa under the Clinton and Bush administrations who used her former position in the US Government to successfully, albeit controversially solicit consulting and lobbying contracts in Uganda for her The Whitaker Group.
We reached out to Mrs. Malango on the role of Tumaini African Knowledge Center (TAKC) in these Statehouse meetings and whether TAKC is retained by the government of Uganda to attract investment or is rather facilitated by these investors to arrange meetings for them with the President, but she hadn’t responded to our inquiry 24 hours later.
