West Nile women struggling to fulfil GROW fund access requirements

By Robert Adiga 

ARUA - West Nile region-based women entrepreneurs say their quest for financial empowerment is in jeopardy. The women say they are failing to access GROW loans because of stringent guidelines for accessing GROW loans.

The Generating Growth Opportunities and Productivity for Women Enterprises (GROW) project, a World Bank-funded initiative designed to support women-owned businesses. 

However, many aspiring businesswomen have found themselves locked out of the programme, unable to meet the tough requirements imposed by participating financial institutions.

The guidelines, which include stringent collateral demands, business registration certificates and bank statements among others have raised concern among business entrepreneurs and local leaders.

Critics argue that the requirements are overly restrictive, effectively excluding the very women the programme aims to support. 

As a result, many women entrepreneurs are being forced to seek alternative, often predatory, lending options that put their businesses and livelihoods at risk.

While some of the women also blame the banks for taking advantage of the GROW restrictions to sell their own loan products.

The uphill battle 

For a woman like Beatrice Avako, 35, a budding entrepreneur from Arua City, the GROW fund was once a beacon of hope.

Owning Avex’s Agribusiness Ltd, Avako who deals in honey, groundnut and simsim paste as well as first-class posho had high hopes of securing funding of at least shillings 10 million from GROW to take her venture to the next level.

However, the stringent requirements from Centenary Bank to access the GROW fund now make her dream hang in the balance.

“When I visited the bank, they told me to first present a land title, which I did and then they said they will first send a valuer to revalue my land at a cost of over shillings one million and that the cost will be paid by me. I wondered because I already have the genuine land title and yet they may not give me the money I want, so I suspended the process because it became very expensive for me and I don’t know what to do next, now if I with a land title cannot succeed, how about many other women who only have land sale agreement”, wondered Avako.

Likewise for Patricia Adania, the proprietor of T &F Holdings Uganda Ltd, who are dealers in poultry and textiles in Arua district, though she got a GROW training at Corner Kamdini in Nwoya district, she has not been able to receive the money several months after.

“In the process of trying to apply for the money, I could not even take a move to go to the bank due to the experience of my colleagues and the need for land titles, registered business or at least four years of operation because I have just registered by business a few months ago and I have a land sale agreement without titles. So, this has limited me from accessing the money since all my colleagues have failed,” Adania said.

Joan Onen Prudence, a dealer in agricultural produce value addition in Arua city has a different story after she was told that she qualified for the loan.

Onen, who applied for a shillings four million GROW loan, said she has not been given the money since September 2024 after completing the processes.

“I followed all the requirements they want and I was told that I qualified to get the money that was September last year but they are telling me that money is not there. So, up to now I do not know what is taking place,” Onen says.

Winifred Adakuru, a dealer in honey processing, groundnut and simsim paste in Arua city also made a move to the bank to access the loan before being turned away due to lack of substantial collateral like a land title.

“I have the land agreement and registered business but that was not enough to get the loan and instead the banks are trying to convince us to apply for other loans instead of GROW loan and yet you would see that the businesses have the potential to pay back the loan, so it is a big challenge for us,” Adakuru says.

Beatrice Avako, a business entrepreneur in Arua. (Credit: Robert Adiga)

Leaders raise red flags over guidelines

Equally, some leaders in Arua and across West Nile have decried the stringent measures and guidelines set by the commercial banks to access the funds.

According to them, the project will not be beneficial for the majority of women who engage in petty businesses for their livelihood as opposed to the elite and well-to-do business entrepreneurs in urban areas and cities.

Jimmy Alli, the senior assistant secretary Arua district local government, says the stringent guidelines will eliminate many interested business women in the district.

“I see that the rural women will not benefit from this program beaceue of the stringent measures in the banks and  also the banks have their own products that they need to market and this will be a disadvantage for the desperate women in need of the money”, Said Alli.

Likewise, Arua district chairperson Alfred Okuonzi called for review of the guidelines on accessing the loans lest it will not be beneficial to the majority of their women.

There is need to improve the policy of GROW Project and the policy needs to be reviewed to favour the small and medium business women many of whom have not registered their businesses and are not having the land titles,” Okuonzi says.

Madi-Okollo Deputy Resident District Commissioner Isha Ntumwa says a deliberate effort needs to be put to address the stringent measure imposed on the banks on accessing the funds.

Adopt refugee-friendly policies

The GROW project is expected to benefit over 900 refugee women entrepreneurs across the host districts in the country.

However, the stringent guidelines in the banks like business registration and land titles are likely to sideline most of them.

Arua refugee Desk Officer Solomon Osakan emphasized the need for refugee inclusion.

“The information about the GROW project in refugee camps is missing and my commandants who attended the meeting a few times just said forget about the project, it is not for refugees. So, you need to clarify this otherwise there will be no value added if refugees are not benefitting and generally the women have challenges with business”, Osakan said.

Paul Kenya, the head of UNHCR Arua sub-office says for the GROW project, they already have the PROSPECTS programme where they have established job centres in Arua, Yumbe and Madi Okollo districts where profiled women business entrepreneurs can be identified to benefit from the GROW project.

Banks determine their own recovery strategy

Despite the blame all directed towards the participating banking institutions for the stringent guidelines, the private sector foundation defended their strategy saying they derive their own recovery mechanism.

Julius Bwenkya Atwooki, the social development specialist GROW project in the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU), says it is the work of the commercial banks to identify how they will recover their money since the PSFU lends them the money at an interest rate of two per cent to be recovered from the bank.

“Our moneyman doesn't know whether someone is not paying or not. It is upon them to recover their money after they have paid our money,” Bwenkya says.

Bwenkya, however, adds that efforts are underway to bring on board more microfinance institutions and SACCOs that are expected to lend the GROW money with more relaxed guidelines.

GROW money not for business startup

Serena Cavicchi, the senior social development specialist for World Bank and overall team leader for GROW project, emphasized that GROW is not for women who are yet to start business but for established business entrepreneurs who would like to expand their businesses.

She encouraged the women with smaller businesses to take advantage of other government livelihood interventions, like PDM, EMYOOGA, and UWEP.

About the Grow Project

The GROW Project, which was launched in March 2023 by President Yoweri Museveni is a Government initiative funded by a grant from the International Development Association of the World Bank.

The project aims to increase access to entrepreneurial services that enable 5,000 female entrepreneurs to grow their enterprises, including refugee women and women in host districts.

The project was designed to respond to multiple constraints hindering women in business (entrepreneurs) from growing their businesses including but not limited to: inadequate business management skills; lack of access to affordable capital; limited access to common user manufacturing infrastructure and negative social norms that affect their participation in business.

The $217m project is implemented by the gender ministry and PSFU.