If there were awards for New Company of the year at URSB, CG Engineering Consults would without doubt be crowned winners for this year. For those who may not be well versed with this “new kid on the block”, CG is an engineering company that was born exactly one year ago, started operations on 4th September 2019 but had to wait for 9th October 2019 to receive its first contract; we could say that’s when they got independence.
Well, we’re always told to see the good in every bad or just like the old metaphor, you could call it looking beyond the curve once a girl rejects you. This is exactly what a young thoughtful Charles Gavamukulya did a year ago. If I may give you some intel about this young man, he is still a student at Makerere University doing a Bachelor of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering and he’s currently in his final year.
As an academic requirement, he had to do his Industrial Training (internship), but if you have ever done internship, you must be well conversant with the struggle that is; having to look for a placement. The thought that some individuals have normalized this struggle is what is even more stressing. That’s exactly what this young man went through only that it did not crush him but rather ignite his creative and enterprising side.
After getting served a series of disappointments from the Human Resource Manager of a company he chose to keep secret, Gavamukulya conceived an idea that would later be born and be called CG Engineering Consults. He felt it was necessary to give this world, that has normalized struggling, a reality check. He felt he needed to create more opportunities for the future generations of aspiring engineers. He had just felt a tip of the real struggle but it was just enough to open his eyes. “I felt it was really upon me to start something that would save future students the struggle of finding an internship placement or even employment”, Gavamukulya said.
It was not really hard for Gavamukulya as he already had a social network in Muwata Richard Trevor, a UCU alumnus, Atuhaire Henry Kasangaki and Derrick Waiswa. All these are his childhood friends. What’s even more interesting is that even their fathers were very good friends. Talk about passing on good relations to the next generations through blood; that’s what their fathers did. Since Muwata had already finished school, he had already gained some experience in the field of employment and also made a few connections here and there. It was only logical for Muwata to take center stage and trigger the existence of CG. This young company has since gone on to make new innovations in the engineering field as well as inspiring many more professionals.
Currently, besides contracts the company gets from various clients, CG has also ventured in manufacture of concrete products such as blocks, pavers and culverts. Just a few weeks ago, they were launching their online platform.
Trust me, if there is anything COVID19 has made clear to us, it’s the fact that this world should embrace the value digital platforms add to any functioning company/enterprise and CG was not lost to this fact. “We want to change the face of engineering in this country. Engineering and especially construction should appreciate and embrace what this digital shift brings to us.” Charles Gavamukulya, the CEO said. On their online platform, a customer can be availed with all the information they need from CG, the products, the services provided by the company and many others. One other important thing this online platform does is enabling one to order for the products they need.
These range from concrete blocks, concrete pavers, plumbing equipment, cement, sand and many other building materials. All these are delivered by CG at entirely no cost in areas of Kampala and Wakiso. One other thing CG Engineering consults has embraced is gender balance.
The manager at the yard is a lady called Josephine Mbabazi. “All my colleagues were male but we decided to have a female manager so as to have a gender balanced company”, Gavamukulya said. In early March this year, CG presented its research proposal about the use of plastic waste in making flexible pavements (tarmac roads) to KCCA. According to their research, crushed and melted plastic, when added to aggregates yields more durable, cheaper and more environmental friendly materials to construct flexible pavements. However, due to the lockdown, communication has been slowed down between CG and KCCA.
Like any other company, CG has had its fair share of difficulties. Most of these are financially related because the company is still young. Buying of equipment, hiring of equipment and productivity among others are some of the challenges the company faced so much in its early stages but they have gone on to reduce in magnitude. Some clients still under look these men because they are still young.
They think they lack the experience to do some tasks. However, on the hand, some clients like them because of being young. They think, which is true, that these young men are still energetic and can handle even heavier tasks without giving excuses. When asked about logistics, the CEO said all that is still work in progress as he hinted on the company being in advanced stages of securing its own truck.
This company has been a big revelation in as far as emphasizing that anything can be done as long as one puts their mind to it. CG is what it is because of belief, confidence and persistence.
