Ikiror Cathy Mbidde

Dr. Cathy Ikiror Mbidde is a lecturer in the department of Marketing and Management, College of Business and Management Sciences at Makerere University- Uganda. Her research is situated in the field sustainable entrepreneurship and innovation, with special focus on youth and female entrepreneurship, commercialization, marketing systems and enterprise development. Cathy teaches several courses on entrepreneurship, business and marketing to business and economics students. Since 2016, Cathy has organized entrepreneurship expos in which over 1,300 students to show case their innovations annually.

Cathy is also the acting Manager at Makerere University Innovation Hub since August 2022. Currently she is managing several projects. She is managing the establishment of a state-of-the-art innovation pod with 10 design labs funded by United Nations Development Programme aimed at skilling students in various sectors with a view to empowering startups and creating jobs. Cathy is a Principal investigator on a project of Operationalization of Makerere University Innovation Hub for sustainable industrialization funded by Mak Research and Innovation Fund. Cathy is also a Principal Investigator on “Innovativeness of Young Persons with disabilities in Uganda project” funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering-UK. Cathy is also a co-applicant on “Mentoring Female Graduates in STEM in Africa” in partnership with University of Plymouth-UK and Addis Ababa Science and Technology University- Ethiopia funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering

Cathy has vast consulting experience in entrepreneurship related training in diverse communities. She has trained, mentored and coached refugees in the Northern region in Uganda. She supported youth along the irrigation schemes in Uganda to add-value and set up enterprises.

Cathy holds a PhD in Commerce from Nelson Mandela University in South Africa and studied the growth of female-owned enterprises. She also has a Msc Marketing degree from Makerere University.