On 4th January 2016, one of Uganda’s most remarkable ladies passed away silently at her home in Zaana. The cause of her death was not clear, yet she’d touched many souls silently, young and old, rich and poor, she’d played her part in many sectors, but above all, she’d kept a certain humility, a grounding and had played her role in society, most of it unpaid.
It’s from Florence Ndagire that we have come to appreciate the idea of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). She exemplified the struggles, pains, but also the highs of micro-business in Uganda. Although she had one biological child, she was a mother to many. Many found hope in her advice, at her home, she hosted everyone. But above all, she deeply cared about micro transformations. If you wanted money from her, you simply had to convince her it was about educating a child. She took education seriously. She’d not had a chance to complete her own education.
Thus, most of her education was life education. When her child was about three years old, she’d separated with the father of the child. From then, she took a vow of chastity, and dedicated her life to making something of her son. She would pass on a few weeks to her son’s University graduation.
Yet, Florence Ndagire lived a successful life. For her life was anchored on values, on certain standards. One of her first businesses was General Enterprise in Ndeeba. Following her breakup in 1996, she would lose interest in the business. Thus, the business collapsed. She then recovered and went into the agricultural industry. She was a ‘musubuzi’ getting matooke from all around Western Uganda and bringing it to various markets such as Kibuye, Kalerwe and Busega to mention but a few. She never lost sense of family, constantly bringing her family members to play a part in every business she started. Yet, many didn’t share her values and thus, the businesses often collapsed due to theft across the chain.
She then ventured into the restaurant business. Her first restaurant was in Kibuye market, she then started another in Katwe, and another once again in Ntinda and Naalya. She was known for her extreme obsession with quality. On the festive days, she often hosted friends and neighbours, and many always spoke in high favour about her midas touch. She cooked like no other. And perhaps till today, no one has cooked local Kiganda food just as well. In the Ntinda and Naalya areas, she was known for her delicious ‘Kigeere.’
Ndagire had also tried a hand at animal-farming. She ran a piggery in Zaana, and then moved into poultry farming. But again, the managerial insufficiencies that kill most small businesses in Uganda didn’t spare her. Finally, she ventured into the safe space of the rentals in Zaana and this would become her last business till her death. We celebrate Ndagire not because her businesses became household names but because she carried the entrepreneurial spirit. She practiced a conscious capitalism. She thought sustainability long before sustainability had a name. She knew business was beyond the profit, there was the people element. This was big for her. It meant paying employees their rightful wages, it meant ensuring a high quality of life for the people that the businesses served.
Today, Ndagire may be no more physically yet her enterprising spirit lives on. It lives on in every single life she touched. It lives on in the values that guided her life. Above all, it lives on in Ian Ortega, the man that called her mother.