Uganda: A Beacon Of Hope For Refugees With East Africa Hafeshawi Medical Center

By Samuel Ouma

For the millions of refugees with acute healthcare and other related challenges in Uganda, there is fresh hope in the horizon with the East Africa Hafeshawi Medical Center. Launched with only five bed capacity, the medical center has now reached a 25-bed capacity with two more branches inside Kampala. The Center now employs forty people providing opportunities for Eritrean, Ugandan, and Somalian medical personal providing vital health services to refugees and local Ugandans. At the helm of this vision and project is Founder & CEO Helen Keleta whose efforts recently  received strong recognition with a top 50 presence at the ongoing 2023 Africa’s Business Heroes(ABH) Prize Competition.  In a Q& A with PAV, Helen Keleta sheds light on the medical centre, and perspectives on entrepreneurship in Africa.

 Can you tell us about East Africa Hafeshawi Medical Centre?

 Language barrier is one of the major problems that refugees in Uganda face, making communication a big hurdle for them. This gets even worse when it comes to seeking for health services. Refugees pay a lot of money to get the right treatment, follow-ups and the right prescriptions when faced with illness. After realizing this, I decided to establish the East Africa Hafeshawi Medical Centre. Launched with only five bed capacity, the medical center has now reached a 25-bed capacity with two more branches inside Kampala. Among notable major achievements since inception in 2018, the medical centre has created 40 jobs opportunities for Eritrean, Ugandan and Somalian doctors plus nurses, and serves refugees and local Ugandans.

Here's to summarize key things you need to know about East Africa Hafeshawi Medical Centre:

• East Africa Hafeshawi Medical Centre is a well-established health centre started in January 2018 in a convenient and highly accessible location in Kampala.
• We deliver information from government health centres and give them a space to use it freely like vaccination and health awareness.
• We provide different types of health education to refugees and create awareness through social media and through different religious institutions.
• Through our marketing department, we distribute flyers with educational and health awareness information to refugees in places where they can easily access them.
• We lead the refugee society to interact with Ugandans through blood donation and some other activities like environmental hygiene.
• The company has now expanded and opened different departments and increased the number of beds in order to avoid multiple referrals.
• We’ve opened two branches to minimize transport costs incurred by refugees while seeking for our services when need arises.
• We ensure exposure to international laboratory systems in order to get highly qualified professionals and meet the right standard. This increases the trust and revenue of our company.

  What are the unique challenges faced by entrepreneurs in Africa, particularly women entrepreneurs?

 Despite their potential, African women entrepreneurs often face major obstacles when it comes to launching or developing their businesses. Women entrepreneurs in Africa often struggle due to lack of access to finance, limited access to information, or societal and cultural norms.  Majority of women who pursue entrepreneurship in Africa face financial challenges which really affects their confidence, competence, and competitiveness.  There is also a lack of trust and funding from investors. Poor communication skills and internet access also closes the door between investors and many African entrepreneurs. This hampers the productivity, efficiency, and innovation of their businesses.

In the case of women entrepreneurs, the other major challenge is total dedication to entrepreneurship because many women have domestic duties, which limits their potential. Many women start their business at a small scale and mostly at home and pass through many hardships to reach their goal. With the right interventions from all stakeholders, there is a huge opportunity to unleash women entrepreneurs across Africa, boosting economic growth and lifting millions of people out of poverty in the process.

A research from OECD (The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), Africa has the highest proportion of women entrepreneurs in the world with more than a quarter of all businesses either started or run by women. However, African women receive so much less investment. What can be done to ensure that more African women receive the funding they need to fulfil their entrepreneurial potential?

 The Jack Ma Foundation is a great model for investors and fundraisers globally. Organizing competitions like the Africa’s Business Heroes Prize Competition helps both the investors and women entrepreneurs to fulfil their entrepreneurial potential, maximize opportunities and build their businesses. Women entrepreneurs are fundamental key drivers of sustainable growth. Promoting women entrepreneurship therefore should be a priority for all.  Concerned stakeholders need to design initiatives like the Africa’s Business Heroes Prize Competition or create engagements that enable a conducive environment for women entrepreneurs to showcase their innovations and unleash their potential, which I believe will create further opportunities for them to be known and supported. All concerned stakeholders, from both the private and public sectors as well as non-profit sectors, need to work in collaboration to support the empowerment of women entrepreneurs in Africa and enable them to fully take part in the economic growth of their communities.

What made you focus on the refugee society in Uganda in delivering health services?

Uganda has over 1.5 million refugees and almost all the refugees have a language barrier problem as they come from different countries, tribes and backgrounds. When it comes to health services, the language barrier becomes worse. Mothers and children are more vulnerable especially given the communication barriers. Additionally, the lack of adequate employment opportunities in Uganda for professional doctors and nurses is another critical issue that I gave attention to. The existing reality prompted me to start a medical service which benefits not only refugees but also local Ugandans.

You have created job opportunities for Eritrean, Ugandan and Somalian doctors and nurses to serve refugees and local Ugandans. Where do you see yourself in five years in terms of creating decent jobs?

We initially had few professional employees, but we have managed to get more and have expanded our team to 40 doctors and nurses of different nationalities. We are excited to have created an opportunity for them to earn a living and grow economically. The East Africa Hafeshawi Medical Centre has grown over the last five years and has become a bridge between refugees and health professionals, and we see ourselves grow even bigger in the coming years.

What are the most important lessons that you acquired from the Africa's Business Heroes (ABH) Prize Competition?

The first lesson I acquired from the ABH competition is that if we Africans get great exposure and grow others’ awareness of us, we can make a big difference in Africa. I have learned how critical it is for entrepreneurs to stick to the mission, vision and strategy of their company. Additionally, I have also learned how entrepreneurs can understand all aspects of their business from where they started and where they are heading.

Tell us about your experience participating in the Africa's Business Heroes (ABH) 2023 edition. What are the most important aspects of the competition that you can share? 

I am really incredibly happy to have participated in the Africa's Business Heroes (ABH) 2023 edition, which has really been inspiring for me and my future journey. Apart from creating immense opportunities for entrepreneurs in Africa, the ABH Prize Competition is also revolutionizing the entrepreneurship ecosystem in general and introducing African businesses to the world.

The most important aspects of the competition are bringing initial ideas to the forefront along with ways of implementation on the ground. Mostly, women entrepreneurs in Africa face financial barriers in growing their businesses and competitions like Africa's Business Heroes bridges these financial gaps. I have also realized that, in order to compete well in the market, entrepreneurs need to align various business elements like company structure with critical aspects such as mission and vision, market tracking, teamwork, organization, finance, and business plan. I have also realized the power of utilizing media opportunities to bring visibility and opportunities for entrepreneurs.

Any advice to other women who would want to advance and succeed in your career path?

With proper planning and implementation, every idea can grow and bring entrepreneurial success. Women entrepreneurs, just like their male counterparts, need to stick to their vision and keep learning throughout their journey. They also need to expose their business and gain more opportunities by engaging with different media.