Regional Partnership: YEDIS and URUDO-Uganda Sign Three-Year MoU
YEDIS and URUDO-Uganda Sign Three-Year Strategic MoU to Scale Digital Innovation and Youth Empowerment Across Africa
Osogbo, Nigeria / Mbarara, Uganda — August 2026
The Youths Enterprise Development and Innovation Society (YEDIS), Nigeria, and the Urban Rural Development Organisation Uganda (URUDO-Uganda) have formally entered into a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to advance youth employment, women’s economic inclusion, digital innovation, entrepreneurship, climate-smart agriculture, and sustainable development.
The strategic agreement was signed in August 2026 by Chief Rafiu Akinpelu Olaore, DBA (h.c.), Founder and Executive Director of YEDIS, and Mr. Mucungura Adeodato, Founder and Managing Director of URUDO-Uganda.
The agreement establishes a framework for both organizations to collaborate in designing, implementing, promoting, and scaling grassroots initiatives, while strengthening cross-border knowledge exchange and African-led development solutions.
The partnership reflects a shared commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the African Union Agenda 2063, while promoting South-South cooperation and inclusive socioeconomic development.
Official MoU Ratification and Partnership Launch
Following the signing of the MoU, YEDIS and URUDO-Uganda held an online MoU ratification and official partnership launch meeting on 13 August 2026.
Representatives of both organizations participated in the virtual meeting, which formally inaugurated the partnership and provided an opportunity to discuss the strategic priorities of the agreement, implementation pathways, coordination mechanisms, and areas for immediate collaboration.
Chief Rafiu Akinpelu Olaore, Founder and Executive Director of YEDIS, coordinated the meeting and presented the highlights of the signed three-year MoU, outlining the key areas in which both organizations intend to collaborate.
The five-minute highlights from the meeting are available on the official YEDIS YouTube channel:
YEDIS & URUDO-Uganda MoU Launch | Key Partnership Highlights by Rafiu Olaore
Watch the official MoU launch highlights on YouTube
Meeting Participants
YEDIS Representatives
- Chief Rafiu Akinpelu Olaore — Founder & Executive Director
- Mrs Grace Oluwatosin Alaje — Chairperson, Research and Strategy Committee
- Miss Rafiat Akinwumi Olaore — General Secretary
- Mrs Mary Adebayo — Special Duties Officer
- Mr Opeyemi Waheed Adeoye — Administrative and IT Officer
URUDO-Uganda Representatives
- Mr. Mucungura Adeodato — Founder & Managing Director
- Dr. Asiimwe Enoch (PhD) — Head of Trustees
- Ms. Nomutungi Jane — Public Relations Officer in charge of Local and International Partnerships
Five Core Strategic Pillars
Under the MoU, YEDIS and URUDO-Uganda will collaborate across several strategic areas.
1. Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship
The organizations will collaborate on apprenticeship, mentoring, career development, business incubation, startup development, and MSME mentorship initiatives designed to expand economic opportunities for young people.
2. Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation
The partnership will support AI literacy, coding, software development, foundational ICT education, e-commerce, digital marketing, and emerging technology capacity building for young people and micro-entrepreneurs.
3. Women’s Economic Inclusion
Both organizations will promote programmes aimed at strengthening women’s economic participation, digital and financial inclusion, leadership development, and community-level economic empowerment.
4. Climate-Smart Agriculture and Food Systems
The partnership will explore digital agriculture and AgTech solutions, AI applications for smallholder farmers, sustainable food-value-chain development, food security, and increased participation of women and young people in agribusiness.
5. Education, Research and Advocacy
YEDIS and URUDO-Uganda will collaborate on vocational and technical training, community learning, teacher capacity development, joint research, policy briefs, seminars, exchange visits, and advocacy supporting the SDGs and inclusive socioeconomic growth.
Leveraging Complementary Regional Strengths
The partnership brings together complementary institutional strengths from West and East Africa.
YEDIS will contribute technical expertise in entrepreneurship, innovation and digital transformation; facilitate knowledge transfer relating to artificial intelligence; support project design, concept-note formulation and proposal development; and leverage its international networks, including its Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (UN ECOSOC), to facilitate policy dialogue and global networking opportunities.
URUDO-Uganda will contribute its grassroots and local implementation capacity in Uganda, including project implementation, monitoring and evaluation, stakeholder and beneficiary mobilization, community outreach, and the sharing of localized field insights and implementation lessons.
Joint Resource Mobilization and Knowledge Exchange
A key component of the partnership is the commitment to co-develop joint funding proposals and engage bilateral and multilateral donors, foundations, corporate philanthropies, and other potential partners.
The organizations will also promote cross-border knowledge exchange and explore opportunities to mobilize the financial and technical resources required to scale successful initiatives.
Joint Partnership Coordination
To support effective implementation, the MoU provides for the establishment of a Joint Partnership Coordination Committee (JPCC) comprising designated representatives from both organizations.
The JPCC is expected to meet quarterly, virtually or physically, to review implementation progress, evaluate current initiatives, and address operational challenges.
From Partnership to Impact
The YEDIS–URUDO-Uganda partnership represents an important step in expanding institutional collaboration beyond national borders and strengthening Africa-to-Africa cooperation.
By connecting YEDIS’s experience and international networks in Nigeria with URUDO-Uganda’s grassroots presence and local implementation capacity in Uganda, the partnership creates a platform for innovation, knowledge exchange, resource mobilization, and practical community development.
Both organizations are committed to ensuring that the three-year partnership goes beyond a formal agreement and produces tangible opportunities for young people, women, entrepreneurs, farmers, and underserved communities.
YEDIS × URUDO-Uganda — From Partnership to Impact.