Ugandan Social Enterprise Produces Preventative-Health Solutions, Reducing the Risk of Malaria

In Uganda, Uganics Repellents is transforming everyday household essentials into an affordable tool for preventing mosquito bites and reducing the risk of malaria.

Founded in 2016 by CEO Joan Rukundo Nalubega, the social enterprise produces mosquito-repellent soaps, lotions and creams using locally sourced natural oils. Its innovation is simple but powerful: embed protection into products families already use, making malaria prevention easier to adopt without requiring a major change in daily habits.

Uganics pairs that product innovation with an equally distinctive business model. It sells higher-margin repellents to tourists, resorts and hotels, then uses the proceeds to offer subsidised soap to rural families at a price comparable to ordinary soap.

The company also sources from and employs women within its supply chain; its three oil-extraction centres employ 28 women. By 2024, Uganics reported reaching one million people locally and subsidising 300,000 soaps, while more recent figures indicate that its preventive-health solutions have reached over 4.5 million people across eight African countries.

From a locally developed soap to a growing African public-health venture, Uganics has built momentum through product expansion, community distribution and partnerships with hospitality businesses and manufacturers. It won the Entrepreneurship World Cup Uganda 2024, following earlier recognition as second runner-up in the 2018 Anzisha Prize and a Top 10 finalist in the 2020 Africa’s Business Heroes competition.

Nalubega also received the 2024 Bayer Foundation Women Empowerment Award and was named to the Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 Class of 2026—recognition of a business proving that an affordable consumer product can deliver both commercial value and life-changing social impact.