Makerere University Business School (MUBS) is Uganda’s leading provider of business and management education in the region. It was officially established in 1997 via the merger of two institutions: the Faculty of Commerce, Makerere University, and the National College of Business Studies (NCBS), Nakawa.
By  year 2000, the law was amended to give financial and administrative autonomy by the Makerere University (Establishment of constituent college) (Amendment) order (MUECCA (A) 2001.  This way, the school council was created  with authority similar to that of Makerere University Council.

By 2001, the enactment of the University and other tertiary institutions Act transformed  MUBS from a constituent college of Makerere to a public tertiary institution affiliated to Makerere University.

Our Vision: To be “the benchmark for Business and Management Education, Research and Training in the region.”

Our Mission: “To enable the future of clients through creation and provision of knowledge.”

Core strategic goals include:

• 1. Providing education and facilitating learning.
  2. Conducting research, promoting scholarship, and publicizing knowledge.
  3. Attracting, developing, and retaining staff of high calibre.
  4. Providing an enabling environment and welfare for students.
  5. Engaging in community outreach and corporate social responsibility.

School Mandate

By the statutory order MUBS was mandated to organize and develop business and commercial training in the country at the different levels.

“The objectives and functions for which the school is established are to strengthen the institute providing commercial and business education in order to provide high quality standards in the commercial sector through an increased intake of students and output of qualified personnel from the various degree, diploma and certificate Programmes in commercial and business education”

The School shall conduct courses leading to the award of degree, diplomas and certificates by makerere University under standards provided by the act and statutes and regulations made under the act or as may be agreed upon by the school and Makerere University and shall in connection with the awards, jointly conduct examinations leading to the awards, with Makerere University.

The Merger Process

The Faculty of commerce was the leading institution in the provision of business and management education in the country and had grown in student’s registration from about 200 in 1991 to over 3000 students in 1997, a period of about 8 years. About 350 were government and the rest private. Of these 1500 were distance education students. The faculty was offering BCOM, BBA, MBA degrees and short term management training for business and government departments. It had a budget of internally generated funds of about UGX 2 billion by year 1998/99. The staff population was about 100 both full time and part time academic and administrative.  

The National college of Business Studies was located at Nakawa, offering business and management diplomas and professional training. It had a population of about 1200 government students and over 2000 private students at the time of the merger. The staffing, both administrative and academic was about 500.  The college offered different diplomas, the flagship of which were the Uganda Diploma in Business Studies (UDBS) and higher diploma in Marketing (HDM). 

The Merger Process
The Process started in January 1998 and was a very difficult one and indeed a learning experience.  The objective of creating the School was stated then challenged the University to create a center of excellence in Business and management education. However, the two institutions, which were merged, had different organizational cultures, practices and goals. The challenge then was to merge the two cultures and create a new direction. A direction to which all stake holders would subscribe so as to realize the vision of the people who conceived the business school. This involved integration of activities, values and systems to create a Unified institution. It required building a new mission and activities that would realize that mission.