Courtesy Photo
The Private Sector Foundation Uganda has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Uganda Industrial Research Institute to provide training and necessary business development support services to over 10,000 women across the country.
The partnership is under the Generating Growth Opportunities and Productivity for Women Enterprises (GROW) Project which is a government five years’ project financed by the International Development Agency (IDA) under a grant financing of USD 217 million.
The GROW project aims to provide a package of assistance to an overall total of 30,000 female-owned enterprises and approximately 185,000 women entrepreneurs, including refugees and host community members, to help them access funds, sector-specific training, and business support services.
The program has a specific target of women in business including; those who are self-employed, full-time employees in business in women-owned enterprises, and apprentices.
The key areas of training include; agro processing, post-harvest handling, technological skills, textile-related skills, construction fields, manufacturing fields, business digitalization, tourism and hospitality as well as oil and gas fields.
Sarah Kagingo, the PSFU Vice Chairperson said UIRI was chosen as a strategic partner due to its track record of successfully implementing the skilling program. With expertise and experience, UIRI specializes in designing and delivering creative and adaptive skill-building programs that relate to market demands.
“PSFU would like to tap into this expertise and experience to transform women entrepreneurs and the enter business sector in Uganda through the GROW Project,” Kagingo said, adding, “We are seeking more partnerships with various MDAs so that we provide women entrepreneurs with holistic support to grow their business from the micro level to small, medium, or large enterprises,”
Ruth Biyinzika GROW Project Coordinator noted that she’s optimistic that the PSFU-UIRI partnership will provide women entrepreneurs with a variety of skills and enable technical skills transfer to female entrepreneurs who want to improve their enterprises.
Betty Amongi, the Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development who officiated the launch remarked that it is a huge milestone in the implementation of GROW project with the partnerships being key to the project for women entrepreneurs to access services and grow.
Story by: Paul Murungi
