Bangladesh helps Uganda start-up to mark 50 years of independence

This is the first UNESCO-Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International Prize for the Creative Economy. By contributing to global development this way, Prime Minister Hasina acknowledges the help the international community provided to her country.


Paris (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday presented the first UNESCO-Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International Prize for the Creative Economy to MoTIV Creations Limited, a Ugandan-based integrated creative studio.

Noel Collin Kaijabwango, head of business and operations at MoTIV, received the award on behalf of the company. The prize is one of the initiatives undertaken by Bangladesh to mark its first 50 years of independence. UNESCO Director-General, Audrey Azoulay was present at the ceremony.

The award includes of a check for US$ 50,000 to encourage individual and collective initiatives that foster youth entrepreneurship projects and programmes in the area of ​​economic innovation.

MoTIV, which was chosen from among 69 applicants, is located in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. It runs a centre that promotes collaboration and sustainability, providing training and tools to young entrepreneurs active in various sectors.

Speaking at the ceremony, Prime Minister Hasina explained that UNESCO's choice to support this initiative is “the most befitting tribute" to the memory of her late father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

“What Bangladesh is today is so different from what it was during the early years of independence,” Hasina said. This “is due to his visionary leadership and legacy.”

For the Bangladeshi leader, despite its limited financial possibilities, Bangladesh, after receiving help from the international community in recent decades, now wants to contribute to the socio-economic development and technological advancement of the global community.