A total of 530 SMEs nationwide with value addition and financial literacy skills from PostBank in partnership with Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises (FSME).
Dubbed "Gattako Omutindo," the program falls under PostBank's financial literacy and skills enhancement pillar.
Dubbed "Gattako Omutindo," the program falls under PostBank's financial literacy and skills enhancement pillar.
Speaking during the graduation of the last batch of SMEs in Kampala , Martin Lukyamuzi, the PostBank regional head of distribution in charge of greater Kampala said the traininings have been carried throughout the country, noting that whereas they had targeted 300 SMEs, they have surpassed this number.
“This program has been in the whole country. We have been in Arua, where we trained our people on how to add value on cassava. We have been in Fort Porto, where we have trained our people how to use their farms for tourism. We have been in Soroti where we have trained our people how to add value on millet, and here in Kampala, we are trained people to add value on coffee. All this with one sole aim to help our people prosper and grow and have that income they need to manage their lives,” Lukyamuzi said.
“ That's what Post Bank is here for, and that's what we will be here for going forward. We intend to train more SMEs in the coming years to ensure Ugandans prosper and grow.”
John Walugembe, the Executive Director of FSME hailed the training as one meant to give practical skills to the SMEs.
“Under this program, we seek to equip entrepreneurs with practical skills that can enable them to add value to what they do. As you know, Uganda is an agricultural country, and we need to add value. So, in line with government's priority of agro industrialization, we think that entrepreneurs need to be equipped with skills on how to actually add value in their contexts,” Walugembe said.
He said that the training also included offering financial literacy to the SMEs.
“We basically mix the value addition skills with the financial literacy skills to ensure that entrepreneurs have a holistic grounding that can enable them to run their businesses successfully. This collaboration is unique in the sense that the FSME brings its experience and expertise in dealing with businesses and equips them with technical know-how and knowledge, while the bank brings its experience in offering financing to businesses.”
“We believe that by solving these two issues, we can be able to can be able to resolve some of the core challenges that constrain businesses, and we hope that this can be a model that others can copy and build upon.”
