By Guest Writer
On the morning of 7 August 2026, Equity Bank Uganda’s Board Committee, led by Board Chair Henry Rugamba and accompanied by Managing Director Gift Shoko and senior executives, conducted a strategic engagement and guided facility tour at Microhaem Scientifics (MHS). The visit covered both the active production site in Ntinda, Kampala, and the 20-acre Phase II expansion under construction at Namanve Industrial Park.
The engagement reaffirmed Equity Bank Uganda’s role as the primary financier of Microhaem’s growth. To date the bank has committed more than USD 50 million in facilities that have enabled the company to scale manufacturing capacity, strengthen quality systems, and move decisively toward reducing Uganda’s dependence on imported diagnostics and pharmaceuticals.
Microhaem Scientifics was founded by Ugandan Scientist Dr. Cedric Akwesigye with a clear conviction: Africa’s health security cannot rest on supply chains that stretch across oceans. For years the continent’s clinics and hospitals relied almost entirely on imported test kits and medicines, products that frequently arrived late, degraded in tropical heat, or failed to match local disease patterns. Dr. Akwesigye set out to reverse that vulnerability from within.
Operating under the philosophy “Quality Saves Lives,” the company began by designing diagnostic tools specifically engineered for East African realities. Its flagship Pf-Xpat malaria rapid diagnostic test kits are moisture-resistant and remain stable at temperatures up to 40 °C, critical for remote health centres that lack reliable refrigeration. Parallel lines for HIV (Kwiq Test), sickle-cell screening (MicroScreen), and molecular reagents followed.
These products now address some of the region’s heaviest disease burdens: Uganda ranks third globally in malaria cases (5 % of the world total, incidence 60.4 per 1,000), records an estimated 20,000 new sickle-cell births each year (with 70–80 % of affected children dying before age five without early detection), and continues to strengthen its HIV testing algorithm toward the UNAIDS “first 90” target.
From a modest start in Ntinda, Microhaem has grown into one of East Africa’s leading indigenous manufacturers of in-vitro diagnostics. Phase I production continues to supply national programmes and private providers. Phase II at Namanve, a purpose-built complex featuring a four-level manufacturing block (40 m × 160 m), dedicated utility systems, a plastics factory for syringes and consumables, R&D floors, and specialist accommodation, will dramatically expand capacity for both diagnostics and wider pharmaceutical lines. Civil works on the main block are due for completion by December 2026, followed by a year of GMP fit-out, with first validated products expected within approximately 18 months.
In his remarks, Henry Rugamba, Board Chair, Equity Bank Uganda, reflected on the journey Equity Bank Uganda took to support local manufacturers with ambitious Pan-African dreams: “What we saw today is African capability in action. Microhaem is not waiting for solutions to be shipped from elsewhere; it is building them here. Equity Bank is proud to have financed this journey with over USD 50 million to date. Local manufacturers, backed by local capital, are the surest route to health sovereignty and economic resilience.”
On his part, Gift Shoko, Managing Director, Equity Bank Uganda, lent his voice to the banks mandate on the Africa Recovery and Resilience Plan: “Through our Africa Recovery and Resilience Plan we deliberately channel capital into industries that reduce import dependence and create skilled jobs. Supporting Microhaem Scientifics is a clear expression of that strategy. We are not merely lenders; we are partners in building the industrial backbone Uganda and East Africa need.”
Equity Bank Uganda’s support sits within Equity Group’s Africa Recovery and Resilience Plan (ARRP), a USD 6 billion continental strategy that targets private-sector growth, industrialisation, cross-border value chains and financial inclusion for up to 100 million customers by 2030. Manufacturing and logistics form a core pillar of the plan, making projects such as Microhaem a natural fit.
Dr. Cedric Akwesigye, Founder & Managing Director, Microhaem Scientifics, spoke in appreciation of Equity Bank Uganda’s support to their Pan-African vision: “Fourteen years of rigorous development, testing and iteration have brought us to this point. Equity Bank’s confidence and sustained financing have been decisive. Our goal remains simple: to protect and improve the quality of people’s lives through the innovation, manufacture and supply of high-quality medical products made in Uganda, for Uganda, and for export across Africa.”
The visit concluded with a shared understanding that the partnership will continue to deepen as Phase II comes on stream. Together, Equity Bank Uganda and Microhaem Scientifics are converting the long-standing ambition of medical import substitution into concrete capacity, one locally manufactured, life-saving product at a time. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
