Rising Woman Initiative to benefit 5,000 entrepreneurs

Launch. Left to right: Dr Gudula Naiga Basaza, the chairperson of dfcu Bank Women in Business Council, Mr Mathias Katamba, the Chief Executive Officer of dfcu Bank, Ms Sheila Mugyenzi, the director Investment Promotion at Uganda Investment Authority and Mr Johnson Omollo, the general manager at NTV Uganda, exchange documents at the dfcu Bank headquarters in Nakasero on Wednesday during the launch of Rising Woman Initiative. PHOTO BY STEPHEN OTAGE

Nation Media Group, through Daily Monitor newspaper, in partnership with dfcu Bank’s Women in Business and Uganda Investment Authority (UIA), have launched the second edition of the Rising Woman initiative.
The initiative, which was started last year under the theme: ‘Taking your business ahead’, is aimed at recognising, celebrating and promoting a culture of mentorship among female entrepreneurs in Uganda.
It focusses on small-scale investors, members of Uganda Women Entrepreneurs Association Limited (UWEAL), Uganda Small Scale Industries Association (USSIA) and Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA).

Financially enabling environment
Speaking at the launch event on Wednesday, dfcu Bank Chief Executive Officer Mathias Katamba described the initiative as a “…fundamental step on the path to creating a financially-enabling environment for female entrepreneurs.”
“Our primary motivation is the fact that despite women making up over 52 per cent of the population of Uganda, it is not reflected in the ratio of women who have access to financial services,” he said, referring to the bank’s 2017 Women in Business programme to empower small and medium women-owned enterprises.
Dfcu under the programme, launched in 2017, works with women in diverse ventures to turn business ideas into realities.
He issued a clarion call for business proposals, to be submitted through the bank’s official website, that will evaluate and reward three of the top 10 business ideas with cash and an all-expenses-paid learning tour to Nairobi, Kenya.
Mr Johnson Omollo, the general manager of NTV-Uganda, said: “It’s our responsibility to pass on information to those who need it, be it our customers or not. As such we are once again honoured to be spearheading the Rising Woman Initiative through the Daily Monitor newspaper.”
He added: “We shall also be promoting all the Rising woman activities on all our platforms (KFM, Dembe FM, NTV, Spark TV and digital) to drive awareness of the opportunities that have been put across by our partners; dfcu Bank and UIA.”
Mr Lawrence Byensi, the acting director general, Uganda Investment Authority, said: “UIA is committed to working towards enhancing women-owned businesses so that they are consistently competitive. Our partnership with dfcu Bank and Nation Media Group has provided the opportunity for enabling UIA to reach a broader spectrum of women in business with the services that we offer.”

The initiative

Rising Woman. This initiative, now in its second year, is to inspire aspiring or current women entrepreneurs and investors to scale up the heights in chosen enterprises.
Competition. It includes tailored regional trainings, proposal writing on winning business ideas, a business expo (on November 15 and 16) and an award ceremony to recognise the best business plans.
The top three winners will, in descending order get Shs15m, Shs10m and Shs5m, respectively.
All 10 top proposal writers benefit an all-expenses-paid study tour trip to Nairobi, Kenya.