SMEs told to take advantage of Challenge Fund

By Prossy Nandudu

KAMPALA - Ugandan small and medium business enterprises (SMEs) have been urged to embrace the African Enterprise Challenge Fund to grow their businesses and improve the livelihood of farmers.

The Fund, under the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), is being channeled through the African enterprise challenge as a grant for all Ugandan SMEs to apply for.

According to Anne Mbaabu, the director of market access program at AGRA, the Fund is aimed at creating change through improved service delivery like provision of quality seed for farming communities.

 "AGRA has for long supported the Ugandan agriculture sector. This time, we want the SMEs that provide services to the communities to be boosted.

"This is why we are introducing the Challenge Fund which we hope should go a long way in changing livelihoods," she said during an SME workshop in Kampala.

Mbaabu pointed out that the Fund was a realization that many SMEs collapsed before they reach their first birthday, yet with great potential to transform communities.

"Many SMEs collapse because they lack sustainable support. We are now calling for increased access to finance, and here is an opportunity that Ugandan SMEs should take with open arms.”
 

Boleslaw Stawicki said the Fund is open to any SME. (Photo credit: Prossy Nandudu)

Boleslaw Stawicki, the interim manager for the Challenge Fund said the ACEF gives an opportunity for SMEs to take their businesses to scale but with involvement of low income communities.

"The Fund is open for any SME. All they have to do is to apply and justify that the funds will be able to change life, as well as their activities," said Boleslaw.

The US$207m Challenge Fund comes from multilateral and bilateral donors interested in stimulating private sector entrepreneurs in Africa to innovate and find profitable ways of improving access to markets for the poor, particularly in rural areas.

 The Fund awards grants and repayable grants to private sector companies to support innovative business ideas in agriculture, agribusiness, and renewable energy, adaptation to climate change and access to information and financial services.