Women in small-scale businesses have been implored to penetrate into male-dominated sectors and digitalize them to enhance business growth.

The Executive Secretary Uganda Small Scale Industries Association (USSIA) Veronica Namwanje said COVID-19 was a blessing in disguise as many things came with it especially digitalization which came to stay.

“With government agencies going digital, it is time for us women in small businesses to adapt to the technology to increase access to markets, “she said.

She added, “we want to ensure that all our women are into inclusive markets. digitalization no longer requires you to say hello to people alone or just to send a message, but it is now a tool and a resource that can be used to reach very many people in terms of marketing products and expanding business,”.

She explained that most women in small-scale businesses have been challenged with lack of finances, marketing and capacity building of their employees, which has hindered their penetration into the male-dominated sectors and access to markets.

Tophas Oringo, the director Devine Glory Dawa tea exhibiting some of her products during the sensitization meeting organised by PSFU.

Speaking during the Generating Growth Opportunities and Productivity for Women in Enterprises (GROW) Project sensitization meeting Namwanje stated that USSIA Members have been facing barriers in getting money from the banks and government bureaucracies which has kept them behind.

“The World Bank-supported GROW project is like an opportunity and a catalyst to make them change makers, we have been promised to get grants to help us get access to finances easily.

We want to see how can our members be able to expand their businesses and also be empowered to have their products certified by UNBS at a free charge,” she said.

The project she said is looking at supporting women who want to enter into male-dominated sectors like manufacturing to enhance exports to ensure that no woman is left out.

“We are trying to see how the members can be capacitated so that they have an equal society where they can deal properly,” she said.

She is hopeful that the GROW project will be the gateway into the male-dominated sectors so that women can come in as many as possible, especially those who lack resources to put up, such that they can put up carpentry workshops, metal fabrication workshops and construction among others.

“As USSIA, we encourage women to be part of the male-dominated sectors to enhance business growth.

With the grow project, we are very hopeful that it will accelerate everything since there is free training in marketing, certification, and capacity building to a level of supplying government agencies

Tophas Oringe the director Devine Glory DAWA TEA applauded the government for the project saying With GROW project, she will grow her business to higher level including producing for export.

She highlighted the challenges faced when supplying supermarkets saying the technological way of transacting businesses, especially e-receipting and e-invoicing sometimes makes it hard for them coupled with high taxation from URA.

“In these supermarkets when we supply things, they tell you to wait for consignments yet issues of school fees and house rent are demanding,” she said

Rebecca Kukundakwe the Gender specialist at Private Sector Foundation (PSFU) while facilitating the meeting said over 100 USSIA members venturing into different enterprises on a small scale were being sensitized on how to benefit from the project.

She said the project will be targeting those who have ventured into 21 different initiatives ranging from manufacturing of cosmetics, value addition, and recycling among others.

“We want to support those women that have ventured into the male-dominated sectors by offering sector-specific training and enterprises services for them to advance their business from one level to another.

We want women to, improve the quality of products produced, provide market linkages with different platforms for both local and at regional levels including networking and learning from those who have made it in manufacturing,” she said.