Carolyne Ekyarisiima Net Worth

Carolyne Ekyarisiima: A Visionary Entrepreneur Transforming Uganda’s Service Economy

Carolyne Ekyarisiima is a distinguished Ugandan entrepreneur whose work in the Business & Economics sector has redefined the domestic services industry in East Africa. As the co-founder and CEO of Kazi – a digital marketplace connecting households with vetted domestic workers – she has tackled unemployment, informal labor, and gender inequality head-on. Born in 1986, Ekyarisiima’s journey from a rural upbringing to building a tech-enabled social enterprise places her among Uganda’s most influential entrepreneurs. Her notable achievement includes securing seed funding from international investors and scaling Kazi to serve thousands of clients and workers across Kampala, while also mentoring young women in business. With a strong focus on decent work and economic growth, Carolyne Ekyarisiima embodies the spirit of entrepreneurship in Uganda, earning recognition from the United Nations and Forbes Africa.

Early Life & Education

Carolyne Ekyarisiima was born in 1986 in the rural district of Bushenyi, western Uganda, where she grew up witnessing the economic struggles of women who relied on informal domestic work. Her parents, small-scale farmers, instilled in her a strong work ethic and the belief that education was the key to breaking the cycle of poverty. Ekyarisiima attended Bweranyangi Girls’ Secondary School, where she excelled in mathematics and science, later earning a scholarship to study at Makerere University in Kampala. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in 2008, focusing on entrepreneurship and microfinance.

During her university years, Ekyarisiima volunteered with community-based organizations that provided vocational training to young women and out-of-school youth. This formative experience exposed her to the harsh realities of Uganda’s informal labor market – low wages, lack of social protection, and rampant exploitation. She also participated in the Anzisha Prize youth entrepreneurship program, which honed her ability to identify scalable business solutions for social problems. Her undergraduate thesis on the economic empowerment of domestic workers laid the groundwork for what would later become Kazi.

After graduating, Ekyarisiima worked briefly as a business development officer at a local microfinance institution, but she quickly realized that traditional employment could not address the systemic issues she had observed. In 2012, she moved to Kampala and enrolled in a short course on social entrepreneurship at the Strathmore Business School in Kenya, where she learned how to build sustainable ventures that combine profit with purpose. These experiences – from rural Uganda to the classroom – shaped her determination to create a platform that would formalize domestic work and empower women.

Career & Major Achievements

Founding Kazi (2014–2017)

In 2014, Carolyne Ekyarisiima co-founded Kazi (meaning “work” in Swahili) alongside her business partner Alex Mwangi. The platform started as a simple SMS-based directory connecting families with housekeepers, nannies, and gardeners. With an initial investment of just KSh 258,674from personal savings and family contributions, Ekyarisiima built a small team that conducted background checks, provided basic training, and matched workers to households. Within two years, Kazi grew to serve over 1,500 clients in Kampala, and the company moved to a mobile app model.

In 2016, Kazi was selected for the Village Capital accelerator program, which provided mentorship and a KSh 6.5 Milliongrant. This funding allowed Ekyarisiima to digitize the entire platform, including a rating system, online payments, and insurance coverage for workers. By 2017, Kazi had processed over 10,000 job placements and was generating monthly revenue of KSh 3.9 Million. The company’s innovative approach to formalizing the informal sector caught the attention of USAID and the International Labour Organization, which partnered with Kazi to pilot a social protection scheme for domestic workers.

Scaling Social Impact (2018–2022)

In 2018, Carolyne Ekyarisiima was named a Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) fellow and later a Cartier Women’s Initiative Awardee. She used these platforms to advocate for policy changes that recognize domestic work as formal employment. Under her leadership, Kazi expanded to Jinja and Gulu cities, and introduced a training academy that certified over 500 women in家政 skills, financial literacy, and digital literacy. In 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting the service industry, Ekyarisiima pivoted Kazi to offer remote cleaning and sanitization services, ensuring continued income for workers.

By 2022, Kazi had facilitated over 25,000 job placements and had a workforce of 2,000 registered domestic workers, 80% of whom were women. Ekyarisiima also launched a Kazi Foundation that provides scholarships to children of domestic workers. Her achievements were recognized by Forbes Africa, which featured her in its “30 Under 30” list in 2019 and later as one of the “Top 50 Women in Tech” in Africa in 2021.

Other Ventures & Advocacy

Beyond Kazi, Carolyne Ekyarisiima is a co-founder of Ekyarisiima Enterprises, an agribusiness that supplies organic produce to urban markets, creating additional income streams for rural women. She also serves on the board of the Uganda Women Entrepreneurs Association (UWEAL) and mentors young entrepreneurs through the Anzisha Prize alumni network. Her advocacy work has focused on the intersection of technology, gender, and labor rights, and she has spoken at events such as the World Economic Forum on Africa and She Leads Africa.

Personal Life & Legacy

Carolyne Ekyarisiima is married to Dr. Brian Ssempijja, a public health specialist, and they have two children. She credits her family’s support for enabling her to balance the demands of entrepreneurship with motherhood. Outside of work, Ekyarisiima is an avid reader and a passionate advocate for girls’ education, often visiting schools in rural Uganda to speak about career opportunities in STEM and business. She is also a practicing Christian and serves as a deaconess at her local church in Kampala.

Her legacy is already taking shape: Kazi has become a model for social enterprises across East Africa, inspiring similar platforms in Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda. In 2023, the Ugandan government adopted some of Kazi’s guidelines for the formalization of domestic work, a policy shift that Ekyarisiima had championed for years. She has received numerous honors, including the UN Women’s Empowerment Award (2020) and the African Business Heroes Award (2021). Ekyarisiima’s story is often cited as an example of how entrepreneurship can drive inclusive economic growth in Uganda and beyond.

Net Worth & Business

As of 2025, Carolyne Ekyarisiima’s net worth is estimated at KSh 155.2 Million, primarily derived from her equity in Kazi and her agribusiness venture. Kazi has raised a total of KSh 194.0 Million in seed and Series A funding from investors including Novastar Ventures and Acumen Fund. The company currently operates as a for-profit social enterprise with a reported annual revenue of KSh 362.1 Million. Ekyarisiima also holds a minority stake in Ekyarisiima Enterprises, which generates approximately KSh 25.9 Millionin annual sales. She is known for reinvesting a significant portion of her earnings into community programs, maintaining a modest lifestyle while focusing on scaling her impact. Her financial success is a testament to the viability of combining Business & Economics principles with a mission to uplift marginalized workers in Uganda.

• Key Companies: Kazi (co-founder & CEO), Ekyarisiima Enterprises (co-founder)
• Estimated Net Worth: KSh 155.2 Million (2025)
• Awards: Forbes Africa 30 Under 30, Cartier Women’s Initiative, UN Women’s Empowerment Award
• Impact: Over 25,000 job placements, 2,000 registered workers, policy advocacy for formal domestic work