Aggrey Kibenge, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development
Officials managing the World Bank-funded Growth Opportunities and Productivity for Women Enterprises (GROW) project, which offers low-interest loans to women entrepreneurs, are moving to revise access requirements following low uptake in some areas.
Under this 217-million-dollar worth project, women entrepreneurs can access loans of between four and two hundred million shillings at an interest rate of not more than 10% per year.
However, according to Dr. Aisha Ruth Biyinzika Kasolo, the Project Coordinator, while releasing the first batch of the cash, they faced a major hurdle as the majority of the women’s businesses were not formally registered.
She said only ten per cent of the loans went to businesses that are registered, and yet in some areas, they could hardly find women to enroll.
She, for instance, mentions the Madi sub-region that comprises three districts of Moyo, Adjumani, and Obongi where only one woman applied for the loan.
Now, as they move to release the second batch of the cash, she says the team is considering several reviews to increase access, including looking into other collateral requirements than land titles and agreements, in addition to the possibility of allowing women to access money through groups such as SACCOs other than applying as individuals.
Meanwhile, this project has faced bad reviews from different members of the public, including a recent incident where a woman reported to President Museveni during the televised Women’s Day celebrations that the money had been swindled and many women had been denied access.
According to Aggrey Kibenge, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development such incidents are an indicator that this project was not well understood by the public and were misled into thinking that the whole of over 800 billion shillings was going into loans and that all women could access without conditions attached.
He says the loan component only comprises less than 30% of the money, and the rest goes into financial awareness programmes, work placement, and grants for women in business. So far, most of the loans given out have been accessed through Centenary Bank and Finance Trust Bank. Equity and DFCU banks that have given out the least loans have provided loans to 111 and 209 women, respectively. The bigger loan is for the project to reach 28750 women by 2027.
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