MTN Changemakers: How small community ideas are changing lives

Across Uganda, community solutions often begin with modest needs: a health centre requires beds and reliable power, a women’s group needs equipment to expand a bakery, a school needs safe water, or girls need access to sanitary products to stay in class.

Often, the people closest to these problems already know what needs to be done. What they lack is the support to expand their solutions and make them sustainable.

That is where the MTN Foundation Uganda Changemakers Initiative comes in.

Now in its fourth phase, the programme is inviting individuals, community groups, social enterprises and grassroots organisations to apply for funding before the September 30, 2026 deadline.

Through Phase IV, the MTN Foundation has set aside Shs500 million to support 25 projects in education, health, water and sanitation, environmental sustainability and economic empowerment.

The programme is targeting practical solutions that respond to real community needs and have the potential to reach more people with the right support.

The model requires applicants to identify a problem, present their solution, explain who will benefit and demonstrate how the funding will help the project expand, improve service delivery or become more sustainable.

The impact of the initiative can be seen in communities that have already benefited, from health workers with improved equipment to women turning skills into income and schoolgirls overcoming barriers that can keep them out of class.

At Kyobugombe Health Centre II in Kabale District, the challenge was basic but critical: inadequate beds and unreliable electricity at a rural health facility serving surrounding communities.

The gaps affected safe deliveries, examinations and emergency care, particularly when demand increased or power was interrupted.

Through Changemakers, MTN Uganda provided support worth Shs20 million, including delivery, examination, sick and hospital beds, as well as a solar power system.

The intervention has helped address some of the facility’s service-delivery challenges by providing better equipment for maternity and patient care and a more reliable source of power during outages.

For expectant mothers and other patients, the support means access to proper beds and less disruption to services when the national power supply is unavailable.

“It is about enabling communities to do development for themselves, at scale, with dignity and ownership,” MTN Uganda Chief Executive Officer Sylvia Mulinge said.

Since its launch three years ago, Changemakers has supported 75 projects, reached 274,716 people and invested more than Shs1.5 billion across five regions.

“We are supporting people and institutions that are already making a difference,” MTN Foundation trustee Allen Kagina said. “The idea is to help scale what works locally.”

In Mukono District, Nyenje Voice Saving Association demonstrates how support for a small enterprise can translate into income opportunities for women.

The group was already operating a bakery and training women in baking, but limited equipment restricted production and its ability to reach more beneficiaries.

With confectionery equipment from Changemakers, the association can expand production and train more than 100 members, helping more women turn their skills into income.

In Nakasongola, the Migyera Women Centre of Influence is supporting women who want to work but lack the skills and equipment needed to generate income.