Prime
Monitor, partners give women business skills
Attentive. Ms Victoria Byenkya, the Women in Business manager at dfcu Bank, speaks during a training in Mbarara last Thursday. PHOTO BY FELIX AINEBYOONA
What you need to know:
- “I am happy for this training which is targeting women because we are the engine of development in the country. I am grateful that a big number of women have received the training; the knowledge we have acquired will help in improving our incomes. We have learnt how to take records of our business activities which is a big challenge in every business,’’ Ms Mutabazi said.
- The Monitor Publications Limited brand manager, Ms Elizabeth Namaganda, said the initiative is designed to promote women in agribusiness, trading and professional services among others.
Mbarara. The Daily Monitor in partnership with dfcu Bank and Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) have embarked on training women in business techniques under the initiative dubbed ‘The Rising Woman’.
The initiative aims at recognising and celebrating women, and promoting a culture of mentorship among businesswomen. More than 200 women were trained in Mbarara District last week.
Ms Victoria Byenkya, the women in business manager at dfcu Bank, said the training gives women knowledge of how best they can run businesses and build customer base.
“We want women to obtain knowledge and skills on how to run their businesses. They are given marketing and customer care skills to enable them grow and improve market share for their businesses. They also obtain skills on how to register their businesses and the benefits associated with it,’’ Ms Byenkya said.
The first training was conducted in Lira last month and is expected to go across the country, with the next one in Jinja and Kampala in October and November respectively.
“We have mentorship programmes and proposal writing where winners take away cash prizes and get exposure trip to Nairobi,” she added.
The UIA investment executive from, Ms Ida Dean Rwego, said most women are affected by inferiority complex and lack of financial strength and skills which cut their dreams short.
“Many women lack confidence in business, they may know how to do something so well but they are not confident enough to say that something will be accepted by the society. So sometimes they can reach out to few who are their friends,” Ms Rwego said.
She added: “When we give them the confidence of packaging, marketing and record keeping, they also see their profits growing, they gain confidence that they can do it. When we introduce them to the banks such as dfcu which is ready to give them financial help, they get confidence. Basically, it is financial confidence that has been putting them down.”
The chairperson of Mbarara District women council, Ms Monic Mutabazi, said such trainings will help women, especially those in rural areas, to fight poverty because they open new opportunities for them and gain new business skills.
“I am happy for this training which is targeting women because we are the engine of development in the country. I am grateful that a big number of women have received the training; the knowledge we have acquired will help in improving our incomes. We have learnt how to take records of our business activities which is a big challenge in every business,’’ Ms Mutabazi said.
The Monitor Publications Limited brand manager, Ms Elizabeth Namaganda, said the initiative is designed to promote women in agribusiness, trading and professional services among others.
Ms Namaganda added that they are receiving business proposals and encouraged women to submit by September 28.
“We are also organising an expo where women from across the country will showcase their products and services,” she said.
The expo will be held at Hotel Africana on November 16 and 17.
