President Museveni has directed the Ministry of Gender to put in place a mechanism through which money paid back from GROW loans is pooled.
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.
Speaking during the handover of 146 motorbikes to all the cities and districts across the country to facilitate the implementation of the program, the Minister for Gender, Betty Amongi said the fund will later grow into a women’s bank.
“The recovered money should be deposited and find a mechanism through which if we want, form a women’s bank. All this money we need to continue lending it in perpetuity. It can make Uganda have a women’s bank to support women with capital,” Amongi said.
According to officials, since the launch of the GROW program in August, shs18.98 billion has so far been disbursed to 1,193 women entrepreneurs across the country through five commercial banks that were contracted by government.
The minister however tasked the focal persons to identify women entrepreneurs who are eligible for GROW loans but also help government in recovering the loans given out.
“For us to reach all target groups and beneficiaries , we have project coordinators and focal point persons who will be our eyes, ears and foot soldiers in each of the districts and cities to ensure the project succeeds,” Amongi said.
She said these will be tasked to identify women entrepreneurs who are already undertaking business to benefit from the GROW project.
According to Amongi, the motorcycles will be used by these focal persons to monitor the project in their areas of jurisdiction.
“We want to ensure that micro, small and medium businesses are provided with the necessary facilitations in the form of skills, capital which are affordable and certification of their products so that their businesses grow,” the minister said.