Phiona Katushabe is currently the lead on Skilling and Community Engagement at the African Agribusiness Incubators Network (AAIN). She holds a Master’s degree in Monitoring and Evaluation and a Postgraduate Diploma in International Gender Equality Studies from the University of Iceland. With over five years of experience in Business Incubation Management, she has designed and implemented youth and women empowerment strategies across several African countries. Through her work at AAIN and partner institutions at both national and international levels, she has led and supported the Monitoring & Evaluation function, and the implementation of transformative projects in business incubation aimed at promoting employment, entrepreneurship, and economic self-reliance.

Phiona also serves as an Advisory Board Member – Governance and Compliance at BNP Holdings Africa and the Managing Director of Leefy Ventures Ltd.

Her leadership and governance roles reinforce her commitment to fostering sustainable development, economic resilience, and compliance excellence.

An expert in business incubation management, sustainable agribusiness, and youth employment creation, with a strong background in data management and investment decision-making, she has developed numerous training programs for international and national partner institutions including but not limited to; WFP, FAO, World Bank, AfDB, AUC, APDC and IITA to design and implement transformative projects focused on business development, entrepreneurship skilling, and job creation. She has played a pivotal role on economic development initiatives, including serving as Project Coordinator for SYMUF – Creating Sustainable Youth MSMEs through Urban Farming, a program implemented in Nigeria, DRC, and Uganda. Additionally, Phiona has been a M&E consultant on the Development Response to Displacement Impacts Project (DRDIP) under the Office of the Prime Minister, focusing on crop production and management with sustainability and entrepreneurship skilling. 

She holds a Master’s Degree in International Development Studies, a Postgraduate Diploma in Monitoring and Evaluation from the Uganda Management Institute and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Statistics from Makerere University. Proficient in BIM, data analysis, business modeling, and project management, utilizing tools such as Excel, SPSS, Power BI, Tableau, and R to deliver data-driven solutions that address the current socio-economic challenges.

With over 10 years of experience, Phiona has been instrumental in development and implementation of national, regional and continental business incubation models and programs creating tangible economic opportunities across Africa.