Research Projects - Blueprint Consortium Africa

Factors Associated with Malaria Vaccine Uptake among Caregivers of Children Under Five Years in North‑Western Uganda

Client: Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

Implementing Organisation: Infectious Diseases Institute

Period: July 2025 – July 2026 (Ongoing)

Location: Arua, Uganda

Our Expert on the Project Team: James Natweta Baguma

Merchant Quality Management & Active Base Growth — MTN Mobile Money Uganda

Client: MTN Mobile Money Uganda

Implementing Organisation: Rural Digital Media (RDM) Africa

Period: July 2023 – May 2025

Location: Uganda

Outputs:

End-to-end data lifecycle across last mile field operations: data collection, performance management by channel, KPI tracking, feedback loops, market research, and go-to-market strategy design
Machine learning models for agent performance prediction, product uptake forecasting, and merchant health scoring
Business process optimisation across new merchant acquisition, MoMo Pay merchant retention, and essential field support workflows
Real-time BI dashboards supporting management of ~450 merchant acquirers, 30 key account managers, and 100 trade development representatives
Market research reports and monthly performance review packs for MTN Mobile Money Uganda leadership

Our Expert on the Project Team: Africano Byamugisha

IFC MTN South Sudan Mobile Money Expansion — Technical Assistance Programme

Client: International Finance Corporation (IFC) / MTN South Sudan

Implementing Organisation: Rural Digital Media (RDM) Africa

Period: July 2023 – May 2025

Location: South Sudan

Outputs:

IFC quarterly and milestone reports on programme performance and KPIs — supporting the 2-year IFC partnership to expand mobile money uptake and improve financial access for unbanked populations
Real-time business intelligence trackers for customer registration, dormant customer activation, and use case awareness campaigns
Data process optimisation and digitisation workflows across field and back-office operations
Below-the-Line (BTL) marketing analytics for MTN FinTech covering Khartoum City, Central States, Bahri City, and North-East States

Our Expert on the Project Team: Africano Byamugisha

IFC Vodacom M-Pesa Merchant & Customer Acquisition — Katanga Province, DRC

Client: International Finance Corporation (IFC) / Vodacom M-Pesa DRC

Implementing Organisation: Rural Digital Media (RDM) Africa

Period: 2025 – Present

Location: Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Outputs:

End-to-end data lifecycle across operations: data collection, performance management by channel, client reporting, KPI tracking, feedback loops, market research, and go-to-market strategy design
Development, deployment and management of technology tools for field monitoring and business process optimisation

Our Expert on the Project Team: Africano Byamugisha

Strengthening research regulatory capacity in the East African community: a multi-country training program on emerging and complex study design

Client: Global Health European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership 3 Joint Undertaking (EDCTP3)

Implementing Organisation: Infectious Diseases Institute, Makerere University

Period: August 2023 – Present

Location: Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, South Sudan, Rwanda

Outputs:

Our Expert on the Project Team: Mathius Amperiize

Effectiveness of Development Cooperation in Delivering Uganda's Social Protection Sector Outcomes

Client: Southern Voice

Implementing Organisation: Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC), Uganda

Outputs: Book Chapter: Effectiveness of Development Cooperation in Delivering Uganda’s Social Protection Sector Outcomes

Our Expert on the Project Team: Smartson Ainomugisha

An Assessment of the Small Business Recovery Fund (SBRF) in Uganda

Client: Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (MoFPED)

Implementing Organisation: Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC), Uganda

Period: November 2023 – April 2024

Location: Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area

Outputs:

Our Expert on the Project Team: Smartson Ainomugisha

Capacity Needs and Capacity Building Measures for Agribusiness Incubators, Accelerators and Enterprise Support Organisations in West Africa

Client: Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations – FAO West Africa

Implementing Organisation: African Agribusiness Incubators Network (AAIN)

Period: January 2024 – December 2024

Location: Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire

Outputs: State of Incubators, Accelerators & Enterprise Support Organisations in Africa

Our Expert on the Project Team: James Natweta Baguma

National Capacity Needs Assessment of Cooperative Societies and Unions in Uganda

Client: Uganda Cooperative Alliance (UCA)

Implementing Organisation: Excel Hort Consult Agribusiness Incubator Limited, Uganda

Period: April 2024 – November 2024

Location: Uganda

Outputs: Capacity Needs Assessment Report and Validation Meeting

Our Expert on the Project Team: James Natweta Baguma

Capacitating One Health in Eastern and Southern Africa (COHESA)

Client: International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)

Implementing Organisation: Makerere University College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Biosecurity

Period: January 2022 – December 2024

Location: East and Southern Africa

Outputs: Publication: Impacts of One Health on Education, Research, and Development — A Case of Uganda

Our Expert on the Project Team: James Natweta Baguma

PII Detection in Low-Resource Languages — Explainable Deep Learning Research

Client: Makerere University (self-funded research, published at ACM IC3 2024)

Implementing Organisation: Makerere University, School of Computing and Informatics Technology

Period: 2023 – 2024

Location: Uganda

Outputs: Publication: PII Detection in Low-Resource Languages Using Explainable Deep Learning Techniques. ACM IC3 2024, pp. 94–103

Our Expert on the Project Team: Africano Byamugisha

Nucleosides and Darunavir in Africa (NADIA Trial)

Client: Janssen

Implementing Organisation: Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI)

Period: March 2021 – December 2024

Location: Uganda, Kenya, Zimbabwe

Outputs: Paper: Efficacy and Safety of Dolutegravir or Darunavir for Second-Line Treatment of HIV Infection (NADIA) — Week 96 Results (April 2022)

Our Expert on the Project Team: Mathius Amperiize

Women Count Phase II – Improved Access and Use of Gender Statistics for Delivering Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment

Client: UN Women

Implementing Organisation: Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC), Uganda

Location: Uganda

Outputs: Rising New HIV/AIDS Infections Among Women in Uganda and the Growing HIV Funding Gap

Our Expert on the Project Team: Smartson Ainomugisha

Mitigating Socio-Economic Impacts of COVID-19 and Promoting Post-Pandemic Resilience in Uganda

Client: International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada

Implementing Organisation: Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC), Uganda

Period: August 2020 – December 2023

Location: Uganda

Outputs:

Our Expert on the Project Team: Smartson Ainomugisha

Promoting a COVID-19 Pandemic Recovery: Evidence to Support Managing the Growing Debt Crisis in Uganda

Client: International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada

Implementing Organisation: Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC), Uganda

Period: August 2022 – April 2023

Location: Uganda

Outputs: Research Report: Sustainable, Inclusive and Environmentally Responsive Debt in Uganda — Implication of COVID-19

Our Expert on the Project Team: Smartson Ainomugisha

PERSuADE II — Partnership to Enhance Technical Support for Analytical Capacity and Data Use in Eastern and Southern Africa

Client: Global Fund

Implementing Organisation: Makerere University School of Public Health

Period: August 2021 – December 2023

Location: Kampala

Our Expert on the Project Team: Smartson Ainomugisha

Strategies to Stop Spillover on Human-Animal Interface

Client: Bundibugyo District Local Government

Implementing Organisation: Africa One Health University Network (AFROHUN)

Period: November 2021 – April 2023

Location: Bundibugyo, Uganda

Outputs:

Our Expert on the Project Team: James Natweta Baguma

Understanding and Improving Antimicrobial Stewardship Among Small and Medium Sized Dairy Farmers in Wakiso, Mukono and Kampala Districts, Uganda

Client: Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Kenya

Implementing Organisation: Makerere University College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Biosecurity

Period: November 2022 – November 2023

Location: Uganda

Outputs: Publication: Minding the Knowledge-Action Gap — Results from a Mixed-Methods Study of Antimicrobial Use Among Dairy Farmers in Central Uganda

Our Expert on the Project Team: James Natweta Baguma

AI-Powered Research Classification System — SDGs, NDP & Government Programmes

Client: Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (UNCST)

Implementing Organisation: UNCST (research consultancy)

Period: March 2023 – June 2023

Location: Uganda

Outputs:

Fine-tuned NLP framework (Python, OpenAI API) automating classification of research projects into SDGs, NDP objectives, and Government programmes
Publication: Aligning International Collaborative Research to Global and National Objectives — International Journal on Economics, Finance and Sustainable Development, 5(10) (2023)
Publication: Gender Imperatives of International Research Collaboration in a Small Research System — American Journal of Social and Humanitarian Research, 4(10) (2023)

Our Expert on the Project Team: Africano Byamugisha

Uganda Research Outlook — National Research Landscape Analysis & Policy Insights

Client: Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (UNCST)

Implementing Organisation: UNCST (research consultancy)

Period: March 2023 – June 2023

Location: Uganda

Outputs:

Interactive exploratory data analysis dashboard built in R/R Shiny, HTML, and CSS
National Research Outlook report plus two supplementary analytical reports
Bivariate analysis and causal inference workbooks covering Uganda’s research funding, outputs, and collaboration patterns

Our Expert on the Project Team: Africano Byamugisha

Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture & Environment — Mbarara Region, Uganda

Client: Makerere University — Statistical Computing Consult (competitively funded research)

Implementing Organisation: Makerere University, School of Statistics and Planning

Period: March 2023 – June 2023

Location: Mbarara Region, Uganda

Outputs:

Digitised data collection tools built on ODK, plus enumerator training materials and fieldwork protocols
Diagnostic statistical models (R, SQL, Excel) quantifying climate change effects on household livelihoods

Our Expert on the Project Team: Africano Byamugisha

FINCA MDI Uganda — Training and Migration from SAS to R

Client: FINCA MDI Uganda

Implementing Organisation: FINCA MDI Uganda (consultancy engagement)

Period: April 2023

Location: Uganda

Outputs:

Migration of institutional analytics workflows from legacy SAS to R programming
Training and comprehensive documentation for in-house analysts on the new R-based workflows

Our Expert on the Project Team: Africano Byamugisha