Govt calls for gender financing gap closure to grow women businesses

KAMPALA - Uganda’s long-standing gender financing gap remains one of the biggest barriers to women’s economic empowerment, and the government says the time for slow, polite efforts is over.

At the 12th Annual Women in Business Gala, technocrats, bankers and women entrepreneurs converged around one hard truth: Women are still struggling to access capital, markets and supportive systems, despite a decade of projects and celebrations.

The gala on November 25, 2025, at Innovation Village in Kampala city's suburb of Bugolobi, celebrated excellence and resilience among Uganda’s women entrepreneurs.

Government data shows that women dominate Uganda’s micro and small-sized enterprises but remain the least financed group in the formal credit system.

This remains the primary reason thousands of women-owned businesses stagnate or collapse before scaling.

Gender ministry permanent secretary Aggrey David Kibenge did not hide his frustration.

He issued a blunt reminder that women do not need “another wave of feel-good interventions”, instead, they need fast, functional systems.

“Women must be able to sustain their businesses long after the project ends,” Kibenge said, urging the GROW Project and its partners to prioritise urgency, accountability and sustainability.

Kibenge also noted that the Government recently launched a Women Entrepreneurship Financing Hall, a mechanism intended to guarantee long-term financing for women-led enterprises even after donor-funded projects close.

The idea of this, he said, is to create a fund that outlives the project cycle, pool resources from the Government, Bank of Uganda and commercial banks and give women predictable access to credit.

Elizabeth Mwerinde, Head of Commercial Banking Eco Bank.

Unlocking finance for women

Commercial banks have traditionally been called out for treating women, especially informal traders, as “high-risk.”

At the gala, Ecobank attempted to flip that image.

The bank’s head of commercial banking, Elizabeth Mwerinde, insisted women are not high-risk, only unsupported.

She revealed new products allowing women to borrow up to sh180m without collateral, backed by shared risk arrangements.

She also emphasised women’s entrepreneurial creativity, which she said should be immensely recognised.

“Put a woman in a corner, and she will innovate her way out,” she said.

Mwerinde also pointed to an online marketplace linking Ugandan businesses to buyers and suppliers across the continent, a massive opportunity for women to scale.

“This is the best time to access markets. Information is everywhere. The world is at our feet,” she noted.

Call to remove barriers facing women

UWEAL board chairperson Elizabeth Kasenene said the Women Entrepreneurs Month, first established in 2006, has grown from a strategic advocacy initiative into a national movement highlighting women’s contribution to the economy while challenging structural barriers that limit them.

She honoured the organisation’s founders and elders for shaping a legacy that continues to inspire new generations of women in business.

Kasenene said this year’s theme, Accelerate Action: Unlocking Finance and Market Access, echoes the urgency to remove persistent structural barriers.

She noted that UWEAL spent the past year engaging deeply in capacity-building, cooperative formation, and enterprise retention, all aimed at transforming women’s businesses and strengthening resilience.

“We celebrate women who have risen above the barriers,” she said. “You are the reason we gather, to honour your journey and amplify your impact.”

For UWEAL, this year's theme, “Accelerate Action: Unlocking Finance and Market Access”, was less of a celebration and more of a challenge to government and the private sector to stop applauding women’s resilience and start reducing the obstacles that force them to be so “resilient” in the first place.