Julian Adyeri Omalla

Julian Adyeri Omalla alias "Mama Cheers" (born 1965) is a Ugandan businesswoman and an entrepreneur. She is the founder and managing director of Delight Uganda Limited.

Early life and career

Julian Omalla was born in 1965, and raised in Uganda. She started her career life as businesswoman and entrepreneur in 1996.

Although she didn't know much about running a business, she initiated her career as an employee under her brothers' supervision while simultaneously accumulating savings to establish herself as a small-scale trader. As a female entrepreneur, she aspired to prove her capability in owning and managing a business. Initially successful, her fortunes took a turn when she extended trust to a new business partner.

She traversed long distances on poor roads and dedicating long hours to tending her garden. An unfortunate incident occurred when her business partner absconded with the capital earmarked for stock procurement. Following this setback, she was left with minimal resources—a wheelbarrow for transporting produce to the market and a single red dress. Securing financial support from banks proved challenging due to the lack of collateral, making the task of raising funds for expansion a demanding endeavor. Similar to many women in Uganda, she had to depend on personal savings and reinvest profits into the business to facilitate growth.

After four years, Julian Omalla participated in UNCTAD's entrepreneurship program which help her in formulating and implementing a business expansion strategy such as goal establishment, financial record-keeping, marketing tactics, target setting, and effective task accomplishment.

In 2000, she was again equipped by Empretec with the skills to become a successful entrepreneur which helped her to realize that she was born an entrepreneur and It helped her to develop and execute her business growth plan.

In 2016 Omalla decided her company would no longer do business in South Sudan because of the property loss she incurred due to looting in the area.

Awards and honours

Julian Omalla won a special prize during the seventh edition of UNCTAD's Empretec Women in Business Awards for her dedication to empowering other women through her company.

In February 2021, the Ugandan Government awarded Omalla's company, Delight Uganda Limited, with a $4 million grant to construct a fresh juice factory in northern Uganda, and $6 million to procure equipment, with 50 per cent of the funds repayable by her company in 10 years.

She also received a fellowship to participate in an executive education programme by the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland.