• In a revealing account, Winnie Nwagi shared how she earned as little as Ugx 700 a day working as an MTN sales agent during the early days of Mobile Money. 
  • Her big break came in 2014 when she emerged as a runner-up in the Coca-Cola Rated Next competition, eventually landing a record deal with Swangz Avenue. 

One of Uganda’s well-known musicians, Nakanwagi Winfred, popularly known as Winnie Nwagi, shared how she once earned only 700 Uganda shillings before she started her singing career. The singer of “Malaika” mentioned that prior to dreaming of becoming a superstar, she was employed by MTN.

At that time, she resided in Namasuba, a suburb of Kampala. During those days, MTN had recently launched the Mobile Money service and needed individuals to encourage others to sign up for it.

Sales agents were compensated 1500/- for each customer they registered, but this money had to be returned to the company. The Swangz Avenue artist noted that they were assigned to various locations throughout the Metropolitan area for work.

As sales representatives, their earnings heavily depended on their level of effort. If one was not diligent, it resulted in no pay at the end of the month.

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Frustratingly, the singer remarked that some individuals preferred to register with MTN agents, disregarding the hard work and time put in by the sales agents to persuade them to join the service.

“Before I rose to stardom, I worked for MTN while living in Namasuba. We were a large team of sales agents and our income was commission-based. To earn enough, it required hard work since we were dropped off in various locations,” she explained.

“The company had just introduced the Mobile Money service, and we needed to convince people to enroll in it. They provided us with 1500/-, which we returned to the company. Thus, it all depended on how dedicated you were to earn some extra money. At times, I even earned just 700/-,” she stated.

Fortunately for Nwagi, her talent led her to sign with Swangz Avenue after she was a runner-up in the Coca-Cola Rated Next Singing competition in 2014. The rest is history, as she has become one of the most influential musicians of our time.