A total of 20 Women entrepreneurs have successfully made it to the list of the top 20businesses in the running for the ‘Rising Woman’ initiative Awards. Three (3) winners will be selected from this shortlist to receive Awards and cash prizes totalling to UGX 30m. The top 10 finalists will be taken on all expense study trip in Nairobi, Kenya.
The 2nd season of the Rising Woman inititiative launched in June 2019, called for women entrepreneurs to submit business proposals showcasing what they could do in their communities. Over 100 proposals were received over a period of four months in categories ranging from from Agriculture, trade, hospitality, food processing, entertainment to tours and travel.
The Rising Woman initiative is a nationwide financial literacy campaign championed by dfcu Bank in partnership with Monitor Publications Limited’s (MPL) flagship brand Daily Monitor and Uganda Investment Authority (UIA). The initiative was started in 2018 under the theme ‘Taking your business ahead’ and is meant to recognize, celebrate and promote a culture of mentorship among women in business in Uganda.It falls under dfcu Banks’ ‘Women in Business programme’ which started in 2007 and targets Ugandan businesswomen, SMEs among others. In the last 4 months, a series of trainings have been conducted in different regions across the country.
The trainings were centred on among others: Basic business skills; business planning; enterprise management, positioning for access to credit and marketing. This initiative seeks to create a supportive environment for women’s entrepreneurship as a key driver for success.
The competition is highly competitive as different clubs defended their proposals on 5th November in front of a panel of Judges. According to Victoria Byenkya,dfcu Bank’s Manager, Women in Business, the top 10 clubs will be rewarded handsomely. The top 3 winners will win UGX 15 million, 10 million and 5 million respectively and all ten (10) clubs will get exposure through a study excursion.
On Friday 15th to Saturday 16th November, there will be an Expo will be held at Hotel Africana for businesswomen to showcase their products and services which will be open to the entire public. Showcasing is free of charge, all one has to do is register.
Below are the different clubs that were shortlisted.
| RISING WOMAN PROPOSAL PRESENTATION | BUSINESS | |
| 1 | AW BAMBOO ENTERPRISES LIMITED | BAMBOO VEGETABLES IN MBALE |
| 2 | AWA FOODS | MILK PROCESSING IN ISINGIRO |
| 3 | ELGON MOON TOURS AND TRAVEL YOUTH TRAINING AND EMPOWERMENT PROGRAMME | TOUR & TRAVEL |
| 4 | ELGON NATURALS | PROCESS BAMBOO COSMETICS |
| 5 | FINEM (U) LTD | FINANCIAL SERVICES MICRO FINANCE |
| 6 | HAZIEL AGENCIES | PROCESSING CHIA SEEDS & HONEY |
| 7 | LIVING LOVE MINISTRIES AFRICA | SKILLING OF TEENAGE MOTHERS & SCHOOL DROPOUTS IN MBALE |
| 8 | MOTHER MARY KIDS ACADEMY | CHILDCARE FACILITY & PRESCHOOL |
| 9 | MY PASSION FARM | POULTRY FARM VALUE ADDITION |
| 10 | OPUYO VISION VOCATIONAL TRAINING INSTITUTE | VOCATIONAL TRAINING |
| 11 | SCECK CONSULT | WOMEN & YOUTH EMPOWERMENT PROGRAMS |
| 12 | TREE RESOURCE ENTERPRISES LTD UGANDA | TREE SEEDLINGS & TREE SEEDS |
| 13 | TUGUME ENID AND THE D’S BUSINESS SOLUTIONS | MILK PRODUCTION IN ISHAKA |
| 14 | UGANDA JOINT WOMEN ASSOCIATION | BIO SUN FILTERS FOR CLEAN WATER IN MBALE |
| 15 | UMOJA NIKAZI EASTERN CHAPTER | FINANCIAL SERVICES -SAVING CBO IN MBALE |
| 16 | VAL MEDIA CONSULTANCY PROJECT PROPOSAL | PHOTOGRAPHY & FILMING |
| 17 | WENGER INVESTMENTS LTD | MIXED FARMING |
| 18 | WESTERN SILK | HONEY PRODUCTION |
| 19 | YESU AFAAYO SERVICES | CATERING SERVICES |
| 20 | YISTAM ENTERPRISES LTD | TRADE |
