Mulwana urges banks to support SMEs
Oct 12, 2009
TOP businessman, James Mulwana, has asked more financial institutions to support small and medium enterprises because of their contribution to livelihoods and the economy.
By David Mugabe
TOP businessman, James Mulwana, has asked more financial institutions to support small and medium enterprises because of their contribution to livelihoods and the economy.
“For a country to grow, you have to start with small and medium enterprises because most of them are family-owned. For corporates, when things go bad they move out,†he said.
Mulwana, who is also the board chairman of Standard Chartered Bank, was speaking at the opening of the bank’s small and medium enterprises centre in Kampala.
Owners of small businesses do all they can to grow their businesses “but what is lacking are the banks to support them,†Mulwana said.
Small and medium enterprises constitute over 75% of the economy and employ millions of people. But they are fragmented, with little business management skills and little capital to move forward, the board chairman added.
By opening the centre, Mulwana said, the bank had fully transitioned from the perception of being a rich man’s bank. Herman Kasekende, the head of consumer banking, said there are now 4,000 customers in the small and medium enterprises section.
Standard Chartered Bank is the oldest bank in the country, having been established in 1912. It has declared October the “Africa small and medium enterprises month.â€
TOP businessman, James Mulwana, has asked more financial institutions to support small and medium enterprises because of their contribution to livelihoods and the economy.
“For a country to grow, you have to start with small and medium enterprises because most of them are family-owned. For corporates, when things go bad they move out,†he said.
Mulwana, who is also the board chairman of Standard Chartered Bank, was speaking at the opening of the bank’s small and medium enterprises centre in Kampala.
Owners of small businesses do all they can to grow their businesses “but what is lacking are the banks to support them,†Mulwana said.
Small and medium enterprises constitute over 75% of the economy and employ millions of people. But they are fragmented, with little business management skills and little capital to move forward, the board chairman added.
By opening the centre, Mulwana said, the bank had fully transitioned from the perception of being a rich man’s bank. Herman Kasekende, the head of consumer banking, said there are now 4,000 customers in the small and medium enterprises section.
Standard Chartered Bank is the oldest bank in the country, having been established in 1912. It has declared October the “Africa small and medium enterprises month.â€