GROW Project: Women From Refugee Hosting Districts Gain Skills, Gov’t to Support them with Financing
By Namutebi Sumayiya
The Minister of Gender, Labour, and Social Development (MGLSD) Hon. Betty Amongi has said the Government is ready to support the beneficiaries of Generating Growth Opportunities and Productivity for Women Enterprises Uganda [GROW] Project ,by empowering them to have access to financing their businesses .
The Ugandan government launched a $217 million approximately shs805 billion project named GROW that runs up to 2027 and seeks to see 35000 micro and 4000 small women enterprises transition to small and medium enterprises respectively.
Flanked by officials from Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) , Minister Amongi on Wednesday and Thursday carried out a monitoring visit to; Gudie leisure farm in Kira , and YMCA Comprehensive Institute, Buwambo campus, the training facilities for Women from Refugee Hosting Districts who have been equipped with business development services and practical skills needed to grow their enterprises.
“We thank the President for endorsing this project and this is a testimony that it’s impactful. We want your business to grow from small, medium to large. What we are doing with this programme is that we want you to develop your individual businesses,” she said during the visit at Gudie leisure farm.
The project’s beneficiaries were trained in soap making and cosmetics, specialized handcraft, textiles and embroidery, waving and knitting, bakery, meat processing, fruits and vegetable processing, dairy, mushroom cultivation, and peanut butter processing.
“We are going to give you that money as an individual and what we require is that you choose what you want under this programme because it has several components,” the minister said while presiding over graduation for women entrepreneurs’’, at Buwambo .
Minister Amongi said that the government already signed a memorandum of understanding with Uganda Industrial Research Institute [UIRI] and kicked off provision of business development services, urging those who wanted further training to express interests.
“The first component which is the business development services and technical training has been undertaken and those who feel that the training period has been short and they need further training ,we have already a MoU with UIRI and we are ready to support you to take up a broad training,” she said.
Beneficiaries are also trained to process tomato sauce, spices, wood work, as well as metallic fabrication, bamboo processing, ceramics, briquette making and making clean energy cooking stoves, among others.
Dr .Ruth Aisha Kasolo, the Project Director at Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU), expressed her enthusiasm about the government’s initiative to empower women, urging beneficiaries to handle the funds responsibly and use the skills gained to empower other women, if they are to be supported further in the future.
Dr Gudula Naiga Basaza , a Ugandan businesswoman, entrepreneur and also the co-founder and managing director at one of the training facilities ,Gudie leisure farm located in Najjera, Kira , said during the training , women acquired enterprise development services including training (technical, life-skills, digital), business advisory services, and women’s networks that facilitate market linkages, value chain and transforming negative social norms that prevent women from engaging in business activities.
The project will help work on increased access to finance for women entrepreneurs to transition from micro enterprises to small and medium enterprises but also enable inclusive infrastructure through common-users’ facilities and childcare.
The project was launched in 2023 with the objective to increase access to entrepreneurial services that enable female entrepreneurs to grow their enterprises in refugee host districts.