The Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation (ICT), Jonard Asiimwe, has urged people in Northern Uganda to embrace the new innovation-technology program.

The program provides a platform for innovators across every district to participate and subsequently be recognised and supported for their best innovations.

The Minister made this statement on Thursday, October 22, 2026, at Bomah Hotel in Gulu while officially launching the Pearl of Africa Innovation Series for Science, Technology, and Innovation.

The series is set to take place in Northern Uganda, a region that has lagged over the years due to the insurgencies it suffered as a result of the LRA war.

He used the forum to thank President Yoweri Museveni Kaguta and the Government of Uganda for launching this historic project.

Addressing the same gathering, Kole North MP Dr Samuel Opio Acuti, who also serves as the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI), called on the people of Northern Uganda to embrace STI.

He said STI’s key benefits lie in the “3Ps”: problem-solving, productivity improvement, and prosperity achievement.

The chairperson highlighted challenges such as drought, flooding, diseases, access to water, and transport and mobility as some of the key regional issues, and emphasised the need to innovate to address them.

Chairperson Acuti also indicated that Uganda’s Vision 2040 targets a ten-fold growth of the GDP to $500 billion. Among the enablers are the ATMS (Agro-industrialisation, Tourism, Mineral development, and Science, Technology, and Innovation).

While the first three (ATM) are already well established in Northern Uganda, the “S”, which stands for STI, remains an emerging area in West Nile, Acholi, Lango, and Karamoja.

Meanwhile, Lango Parliamentary Group chairperson and Oyam South MP, Patrick Ogwang Obura, stated that the government should prioritise establishing an industrial park in Lango, Acholi, West Nile, and Karamoja to help add value to what is being harvested so that everyone can achieve prosperity.

MP Ogwang added that following this launch, they have been directed to identify and move around local communities to pick out talented youth in each district so that the government can come in and promote them.

Ogwang calls for improved agricultural productivity in Northern Uganda through measures such as irrigation systems that farmers will use, especially during the dry season.

On the other hand, Beatrice Akello Akori, Minister of State for Northern Uganda, who also attended the meeting, urged the people of Northern Uganda to continue boosting ICT and new technology so that the region can start competing with other regions.

She appreciated the government under the leadership of President Yoweri Museveni Kaguta for allowing the launch to kick-start the people in the North.