Join African Leadership University & H2i on
June 3rd for a Fireside at FemSTEM with Fiona Nuwamanya!
Fireside at FemSTEM is an engaging conversation series within the broader FemSTEM Africa event lineup.
Each session features an intimate, interactive dialogue with a remarkable woman leader in Africa’s health entrepreneurship space. These inspiring speakers share personal career journeys, key lessons learned, practical advice for aspiring founders, and more, offering a unique window into the realities of leading in health innovation across the continent.
Meet the Speaker | Fiona Nuwamanya Co-Founder, Rocket Health Africa

Ms. Fiona Nuwamanya is a co-founder of Rocket Health Africa, the pioneer Telemedicine company in Uganda offering convenient doctor consultations through chat /voice /video calls coupled with last-mile lab sample collection, testing, and pharmacy prescription delivery. Since its inception, Rocket Health has successfully delivered services to over 1M patients country-wide, served 15+ insurers, employed over 600 staff, and developed leading technology solutions in Health Care. During her tenure, Rocket Health completed a $5M series A fundraising round.
The company was recently acquired by MyDawa Group, a Kenyan e-healthcare firm. As the CFO, she participated in leading the company successfully into a seamless transition into the group.
She is also a co-founder at Africa Centre for Applied Digital Health (CADH), an enterprise building digital health solutions that leverage AI, Global Data Science standards, and other emerging technologies for practical operational, research, and commercial applications in Africa.
Ms. Fiona is a Fellow of The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) and holds an MBA from Edinburgh Business School.
Fiona was awarded the Medium, Small, and Micro Entreprises CFO Award and the overall ACCA Africa CFO of the year 2023.
FemSTEM Africa 2025 Program
Kickoff Event & Panel | April 1, 2025 | 8:00 – 9:30 AM EDT / 2:00 – 3:30 PM CAT (Virtual)
Pitch Applications Open | April 2, 2025 to April 29, 2025
Fireside at FemSTEM | April 22, 2025 | 8:00 – 9:00 AM ET / 2:00 – 3:00 PM CAT (Virtual)
Fireside at FemSTEM | May 13, 2025 | 8:00 – 9:00 AM ET / 2:00 – 3:00 PM CAT (Virtual)
Fireside at FemSTEM | June 3, 2025 | 8:00 – 9:00 AM ET / 2:00 – 3:00 PM CAT (Virtual)
FemSTEM Workshop & Hackathon (open to all) & Mentor Day (finalists) | June 23 & 24, 2025 (In-Person, Kigali)
FemSTEM Pitch Competition | June 24, 2025 (In-Person, Kigali)
What is FemSTEM Africa?
FemSTEM looks to inspire, engage and celebrate women entrepreneurs in the health space. This year’s FemSTEM Africa program is hosted by African Leadership University (ALU) and Health Innovation Hub (H2i), in partnership with Sustineri Attorneys and the Mastercard Foundation. The program is run as part of the broader Africa Health Collaborative’s Health Entrepreneurship (HENT) Pillar.
Female health entrepreneurs and aspiring founders are invited to join the 2025 FemSTEM Africa event series, held virtually with select in-person sessions at ALU’s Kigali campus in Rwanda.
Women-led ventures will also have the opportunity to apply to be a part of the culminating pitch competition, with a chance to win $25,000 CAD in cash prizes and $15,000 CAD in in-kind legal services.
This program is brought to you by African Leadership University, Health Innovation Hub (H2i) at the University of Toronto, and Sustineri Attorneys, as part of the Africa Health Collaborative with support from the Mastercard Foundation.
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