____________________

One of the reasons why some women-owned businesses fail to emerge from the microenterprise level to become small medium enterprises (SMEs) is due to the lack of access to training.

However, this has been solved in Uganda under the GROW project, where over 7,000 women across the country will be trained in their various enterprises by the Uganda Industrial Research Institute (UIRI).

This was revealed by the Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Hon. Betty Among, during the launch of the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) partnership with UIRI at their headquarters in Namanve, Wakiso district, on Tuesday.

"Uganda is one of the African countries with the most enterprising women groups who are still challenged with proper management of their businesses," she said.

Among noted that women in business should use the PSFU’s GROW project initiative to access training, including those they employ, to ensure their businesses have the capacity to grow from small enterprises to medium-sized ones.

“With this partnership with UIRI, the Government is saying that women in business, to be successful, need to train their staff so that their businesses are able to grow,” she said, calling on more women to apply for the training.

Hon. Betty Among interacting with women in baking business. (Credit: David Lukiiza)

Among noted that the government is tired of seeing women who start businesses that collapse within a few weeks after starting.

She also said that with the GROW project, the government wants women to tap into the international market by ensuring they produce products that meet international standards.

“We will help women get their businesses certified by the Uganda Registrations Bureau (URSB) and the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) for free to enable them to tap easily into an international market,” she said.

The executive director of UIRI, Dr. Charles Kwesiga, noted that one of the challenges a developing economy like Uganda is facing is dependence on foreign technology.

He, however, says such dependency calls for the development of human capital and the work force if we are to remain relevant.

He, therefore, calls upon women in business to embrace the partnership and use it to grow their businesses through training.

The PSFU vice chairperson, Sarah Kagingo, noted that the GROW project has come to benefit all women if they are in business.

“This partnership with UIRI is for those women who are in businesses such as soap making, weaving, tailoring, mushroom growing, women in the market, fabrication, textiles, and handcrafts, among other enterprises,” she said.

Kagingo noted that with this partnership, women in business will be free to receive any kind of training, accommodation, or feeding courtesy of PSFU for the next five years.