All set as govt rolls out GROW loan facility

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All is set for the rollout of the GROW loan facility, which is expected to empower women entrepreneurs across Uganda.

According to the Minister of Gender Labour and Social Development, Betty Amongi, the Generating Growth Opportunities and Productivity for Women Enterprises (GROW) project is a grant from the World Bank through the Government that seeks to increase access to entrepreneurial services to enable women entrepreneurs to grow their businesses.

She explained that the GROW loan facility was approved by the Cabinet, paving the way for its implementation in 2023.

From the time it was launched, leaders including Women Members of Parliament, women entrepreneurs in different regions of the country, have been trained and sensitised on how to access and utilise the facility.

To access the money, the women have been mobilised into formal and informal platforms as a mechanism to enable them to receive information, training, mentorship and support to apply for Grow loan facility, explained Amongi in a written speech.

She added that a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with government agencies like the Uganda Industrial Research Institute and the Diary Development Authority will be completed next and will also be signing MOUs with the Uganda National Bureau of Standards, Uganda Registration Services Bureau and Uganda Export Promotions Board among others.

The above institutions, according to Among, will offer training and incubation services to some women entrepreneurs on how best to manage and run the selected enterprises profitably.

According to Amongi, the target is to reach out to 5,000 women entrepreneurs in sectors such as agro-processing, leisure and hospitality, the arts and creatives, construction, manufacturing, science and technology. 

To make it easy for the women to access the money, she said that some agreements have been signed with different commercial banks through which the money will be accessed. Participating banks include Centenary, Equity, PostBank, Finance Trust and Stanbic.