Katwe
| Katwe | |
|---|---|
 Katwe
|
|
| Coordinates: 00°17′48″N 32°34′32″E / 0.29667°N 32.57556°E | |
| Country |
 Uganda
|
| Region | Central Uganda |
| District | Kampala Capital City Authority |
| Division | Makindye Division |
| Elevation | 1,190 m (3,900 ft) |
| Time zone | EAT (UTC+3) |
Katwe is an area in the city of Kampala, Uganda's capital.
Katwe, located in Makindye Division, is bordered by Nakasero to the north, Nsambya to the east, Kibuye and Makindye to the southeast, Ndeeba to the south and Mengo to the west. The road distance between Kampala's central business district and Katwe is approximately 3 kilometres (1.9 mi). The coordinates of Ndeeba are:0°17'48.0"N, 32°34'32.0"E (Latitude:0.296667; Longitude:32.575556).
At the time of Uganda's Independence from Britain in 1962, Katwe was a center of African ingenuity, where artisans, craftsmen and technicians repaired imported electronics, automobiles, televisions, refrigerators and all kinds of appliances. The more ingenious of these craftsmen would improvise and "manufacture" imitations of the original articles. The Baganda, an ethnic group in Uganda call such improvised articles Magezi ga Baganda (Wisdom of Baganda). Over the next half a century, that ingenuity has sharpened, the industry has thrived and taken in more apprentices and the range of articles locally manufactured has increased. In 2007, it was estimated that Katwe employed over 3,000 artisans and metal fabricators in over 800 individual small enterprises. The Katwe artisans now collaborate with Makerere University's Faculty of Technology, to take their industry to the next level. Another group that has been traditionally attracted to Katwe are entrepreneurs and independent businesspeople, starting from meager beginnings, who have been viewed as "risky" by Uganda's conservative banking industry. These have included cooked food vendors, wholesalers of local foodstuffs, herbalists and owners of small transportation companies. One such an entrepreneur is Namutebi, a herbalist and owner of a transportation company. Despite her lack of formal education and young age (33 years in 2007), her estimated net worth was in the seven-figure range (in US$). Other businesspeople who have come to Katwe include vendors of second-hand electronics, and sellers of scrap goods and previously-owned merchandise.
...
Wikipedia