The Minister of Gender, Labour, and Social Development Betty Amongi has assured Ugandans that government is in the final stages of releasing the second batch of cash to replenish banks to enable more women acquire GROW loans.
The $217 million approximately shs805 billion project named Generating Growth Opportunities and Productivity for Women Enterprises(GROW) by the World Bank is aimed at supporting women entrepreneurs in the country.
The five year project seeks to enable women led enterprises grow and transition to the next level through provision of affordable loans between shs4 million and shs200 million and is being implemented by the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.
On Monday, speaking a meeting for borrowers from Centenary and Finance Trust Banks at Hotel Africana in Kampala, Beatrice Lugalambi, the Communications and Marketing Manager at Centenary Bank said the demand for these loans has exceeded the available cash, noting that more women are now requesting for the loans.
“We are aware that the demand for GROW loans has exceeded the available funds. Right now in Centenary Bank, we have loans worth shs28 billion in the pipeline . We are requesting that the funds are made available to avoid delays,” Lugalambi said, noting that the bank ha already depleted the GROW cash given to them in the first bank.
Speaking in response,Minister Amongi allayed any fears, noting that in less than a month, the second batch of loans will be released to banks.
“There have been concerns of funds running out of the six commercial banks. I want to inform you that the initial contracts we signed were for shs98.8 billion out of a total allocation of shs 260 billion. We therefore still have funds to lend out under the project,” Amongi said.
The agreements we signed with the 6 commercial Banks (Centenary Bank, Finance Trust Bank, Equity Bank, DFCU Bank, Post Bank and Stanbic Bank) require that an independent firm verifies and confirms that funds were lent out to eligible beneficiaries before replenishment. This has un-intendedly resulted into delays to replenish the banks but it remains a good safety net that helps us confirm that loans are going to the target beneficiaries.”
The minister said in no time, the second batch of funds is to be released to the banks to enable more women entrepreneurs borrow.
Amongi noted that it is enriching to hear that the number of women applying for GROW loans has continued to go up, a situation she said shows the success of the project.
“There is a cabinet resolution of having equal allocation of the GROW loan apportionments across the 19 sub-regions of Uganda. My ministry, together with PSFU are engaging with the World Bank to agree on the mechanisms for implementation of this directive,” Amongi said.
Under the GROW project, women entrepreneurs are lent between shs4 million to shs200 at an interest of 10% and these loans are disbursed through six commercial banks including Centenary Bank, Finance Trust Bank, Equity Bank, DFCU Bank, Post Bank and Stanbic Bank.
Stephen Asiimwe, the Executive Director of Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) said to date, shs50 billion worth of loans has been disbursed as part of the GROW project and over 2000 women entrepreneurs have benefitted from these loans.