Andy Agaba – Ugandan Entrepreneur And Social Innovator – Diaspora Innovate Award Recipient 2015 Edition
Andy Agaba is a Ugandan social entrepreneur or social innovator, currently based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is the founder of two social ventures, both focused on farmers. Hiinga, Inc is a financial inclusion organization that provides funding to cooperatives and rural credit unions, currently working in over 8 districts in Uganda.
Bantu Coffee is a coffee social venture that sells coffee via the SAAS based model of subscription and invests a significant portion of profits in coffee farming communities. Hiinga has deployed over 1 billion shillings in its Ugandan activities, and is currently the leading innovator in the credit union marketplace in the country.
Bantu is a Specialty Coffee service, selling the greatest quality coffee sourced from Uganda and beyond to USA consumers. Through its SAAS (software as a service) based subscription model, Bantu is infusing both tech and user experience to create a legitimate niche in a cutthroat coffee environment in the west. Bantu Coffee is the only African coffee brand competing in the crowded coffee retail marketplace in the USA.
Andy, Bantu Coffee, and Hiinga have had press mentions in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, The Harvard Gazette, The Huffington Post, Boston Innovation, Lancaster News,The New Vision, The Daily Monitor, The Observer, and the Coffee Daily News. Bantu Coffee is currently one of the select few startups being incubated at the Harvard University Innovation Lab.
Andy is a graduate of BA (Political Science) form Makerere University, and a Masters Degree in Psychology from LBC. He is graduate student at Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, and is a Mason Fellow of Public Policy and Management. Andy is also a Gleitsman Leadership Fellow for Social Innovation at the Harvard Center For Public Leadership.
Andy is married to wife Sonya, and together they have two boys, CJ (4) and LJ (<1). He enjoys photography (to which he’s won multiple professional awards), and loves playing tennis, and is a die-hard Arsenal FC fan. Andy will be an award recipient for our Diaspora Innovate Award 2015 edition at the Kampala Serena Hotel when we host our 5th annual Ugandan Diaspora Gala. He will also share some best business practices at the Ugandan Diaspora Business Breakfast.
To learn more about this year’s gala see link below.
