Ugandan strategist Kakurah Ninsiima builds systems to protect family wealth

• Kakurah Ninsiima advises African families on generational wealth, succession planning, trusts and family governance.

• Her mission grew from the collapse of her father’s business empire due to weak succession structures.

• She co-founded HOREKA, an offline-first hospitality and retail platform that will first operate in Uganda.

• Her Zawadi brand promotes African value addition through finished coffee and natural health products.

By Nicholas Akasula

Ugandan-born wealth strategist Kakurah Ninsiima is helping African families and business owners build structures that can preserve wealth across generations.

Ninsiima, who lives in Alberta, Canada, founded Diamonds Consulting Inc. She also hosts the From Ancestors to Assets podcast and was a finalist for the MAIA Global Financial Inclusion Award.

Her work covers finance, technology, consumer products and family governance.

She advises families on succession, trusts and cross-border estate planning. She also helps entrepreneurs turn informal businesses into structured and investible companies.

Ninsiima says her mission grew from a personal loss.

She watched her father’s business empire collapse because the family lacked a clear succession and wealth management plan.

“I realised that without a system, wealth is just temporary comfort,” she said.

“Brilliant people make incredible money, but without governance, it vanishes. That realisation launched my advisory work, my books, and eventually the drive to build digital tools like Horeka.”

Her experience also exposed the pressure placed on successful African professionals who become the main source of financial support for extended families.

This role, often described as becoming the “Family ATM”, can leave high earners carrying obligations without a plan for long-term wealth creation.

Ninsiima addresses the problem in her books, A Guide to Building Generational Wealth in East African Families and The Woman Who Carries Too Much.

The books examine asset protection, family expectations and the financial burden placed on successful relatives.

Through Diamonds Consulting Inc., she helps families replace informal financial support with clear structures.

“We sit down with families to design actual blueprints for their wealth, focusing on succession plans, family governance, and trust structures,” she said.

“On the commercial side, we help local entrepreneurs turn informal operations into bankable enterprises.”

Ninsiima has also moved into business technology.

She co-founded HOREKA, an offline-first platform for hospitality and retail businesses in East Africa and other emerging markets.

The system targets hotels, restaurants, safari lodges, guesthouses and shops.

It seeks to solve problems caused by poor internet access, paper records, fragmented payment systems and complex tax requirements.

Ninsiima said Uganda would serve as the platform’s first testing market before expansion into other countries.

“Uganda serves as our initial validation market,” she said.

“The broader strategy is rapid expansion across East Africa and into parallel emerging markets that face identical infrastructure and compliance hurdles.”

She said digital records could help small businesses improve accountability and build value.

“Moving business owners away from paper records to digitised, audit-ready systems is how you build enterprise value,” she said.

Ninsiima also runs Zawadi, a consumer brand project that seeks to increase the value earned from African products.

The initiative develops finished products instead of exporting raw materials.

Its portfolio includes Ugandan coffee under Zawadi Eats and natural health products under Zawadi WellVista.

The company says WellVista’s main product has received regulatory licensing from Health Canada.

“The goal is to move beyond exporting low-margin raw commodities,” Ninsiima said.

“We are building African-owned brands that retain maximum value through in-house product development, packaging, intellectual property, and direct customer relationships.”

Her work earned her recognition as a finalist for the 2024 MAIA Global Financial Inclusion Award.

She also works with Chris Moorcroft, a partner at London law firm Harbottle & Lewis, on international legal and wealth planning matters.

Ninsiima said her aim remains to help African families and businesses replace short-term financial support with lasting structures.

“I’m an author, a wealth strategist, and the founder of Diamonds Consulting Inc. But at my core, I’m just someone obsessed with helping families and founders build things that actually last,” she said.