Rising Woman: 3,000 women in business equipped, supported

Ruth Asasira, the manager, women in business and special programmes at DFCU bank, shares the initiative’s journey through the years and its impact in Uganda as the sixth season begins.

What is the Rising Woman campaign all about?

The Rising Woman initiative was launched to provide a platform for Ugandan women in business to grow their businesses to greater heights, showcase women owned businesses through media advertising and profiling, and provide financing solutions that meet their needs while negating the phobia for borrowing among women in business. The partners have successfully implemented five editions (2018, 2019, 2020,2021 & 2022) of this Women in Business programme. Over this time, the project has directly benefited over 30,000 women entrepreneurs & women groups through regional trainings in the districts of Bushenyi, Mbarara, Kampala, Mbale, Gulu, Jinja, Lira, Masaka, Kitgum, Iganga, Ibanda, Adjumani and Hoima.

What impact has the initiative had in the last five years?

Since 2018, we have reached at least 30, 000 women directly through the training sessions. We have supported three cohorts of 30 women entrepreneurs with exposure and mentorship programs in Nairobi.  Approximately Shs100Million in seed funding has been extended to the winners of the highly competitive proposal writing challenge. In terms of financing, we have had about 6,000 women entrepreneurs accessing financing from DFCU.

How do you ensure transparency when financing women?

Through this initiative, women that compete or have a shot at the grant money compete through the business proposal writing.

They give details about the kind of businesses they are running and the impact they have on the communities in which they operate as well as the challenges that these businesses are solving.

Through the vetting processes, we focus on the most compelling business proposals that have potential to create greater impact in the community in terms of growth. We also look out for solutions that are scalable.

For all the women that have won this money, we follow them to make sure money has been put to use appropriately.

What are some of the testimonies from the women who have participated?

Some of the women have purchased machinery/equipment to improve efficiency in their businesses, especially those in the agriculture value chains while others have improved their systems in form of setting up governance and administration structures by employing befitting and more technical staff.

Where the money in grant is sometimes not enough, we also support those who qualify with loan facilities to ensure that their budgets can be fully implemented.

What are the non- financial benefits from the Rising Woman Initiative?

Throughout the campaign, women are invited to participate in the trainings for free. These programs are implemented in all regions in Uganda in the selected districts. This season, the business breakfast events will take place in Mbale, Kabale, Kampala, Arua and Masaka.  The training programmes expose women to opportunities of financing and networking with other business entrepreneurs as well as open new markets for their businesses through the women in business EXPO.

How many women are selected in the vetting process?What criterion do you follow to ensure that you reward and support the best candidates?

All proposals submitted are subjected to three phases of vetting, implemented by a legitimate and independent firm, which supports Rising Woman partners in ensuring that all the proposals have been given equal valuation for accountability.

Out of hundreds of proposals, we scoop out a list of 20 semi-finalists. These are given a chance to pitch their business proposals before a panel of experts, in order to measure their viability. 

The 10 best candidates from the pitching process, are awarded with a fully funded business mentorship trip abroad and the top three benefit from the grant.

The overall winner is awarded Shs15 million, the second best gets Shs10 million shillings and the third gets Shs 5 million shillings.

 What challenges have stakeholder over the years in organizing the Rising Woman initiative?

More women across the country need to be equipped with information that is crucial to their businesses/sector.

In addition, some women-led businesses are still operating informally, and they do not go through formal business compliance procedures. These are some of the areas being tackled during the trainings.

Some women are still not confident about accessing financing solutions from formal financial institutions due to knowledge gaps, cultural norms, lending rates among others. Through dfcu Women in business, the bank is addressing these by offering reduced rates and un-secured financing to qualifying women led/owned enterprises and offering transactional business accounts with no monthly management fee.

Is there any different thing you are going to do in the sixth season of the Rising Woman?

In this sixth season, we are challenging women to take their time to identify challenges that they can address with suitable solutions in their communities through businesses.

Through training programmes, we want to tackle areas of research such as how to conduct a survey before you start a business, how to take advantage of the disruptions in the market to become a resilient and sustainable business.

Additionally, we have women in business expo, where we are inviting women in business to be part of this initiative. In the expo, different business shall exhibit in different regions.

We expect women to grow their social capital as well as their business linkages to potential customers and expand their reach in terms of market. They will also get an opportunity to be profiled. They will also hear from experts on what they need to do improve productivity and profitability of their businesses.

This year, Uganda Airlines has partnered with us and it will sponsor air tickets for the winners for their trip abroad.

What would you say to women who want to start businesses, those that are already running businesses but are somewhat stuck or stagnant?

Seek knowledge, engage in research in your areas of specialisation, identify opportunities in the different value chains where you can make big margins and also identify potential markets in the sector of interest.

Women also need to get business colleagues who can act as their accountability partners and mentors. Women can also have a go to bank that can support their financials needs.

The sixth edition of Rising Woman was launched on August, 9 and the call for proposals in on countrywide until October, 31. The winner will be unveiled during an event on a date that will be communicated.

For women that do not make it to the top 20 or top 10, how do you keep them motivated? Do you give them feedback on why they failed and share tips on how they can polish their proposals next time?

We deeply value all women who participate in this programme and to ensure that the proposals are competitive, we have designed a proposal writing template to guide all participants of Rising Woman. Our ambition is to ensure that many women entrepreneurs can pitch their business plans through this competition.

To participants that do not emerge as finalists, clear feedback is given to them and also on ways to improve their business proposals and are encouraged to apply for subsequent competitions.

You mentioned that an applicant goes through three phases to win. Could you please expound on this?

Proposals go through a three-stage vetting process, until the final winners are announced. The first stage excludes businesses that are un-registered.

In the second stage, an independent audit firm vets the viability of the project to measure impact, sustainability and scalability, among others to arrive at the top 20 semi-finalists.

In the third stage, the top 20 pitch their businesses or projects before a selected panel of five to choose the final 10, who are rated to arrive on the overall winner, first and second runners up

It appears this programme is meant for elites. How can a woman running a small business at the grassroots, one in the market or one rearing their animals be supported to increase profitability?

The programme is open to all women entrepreneurs operating sole proprietors and women owned enterprises with a minimum of 50 percent ownership. Through regional trainings organised in selected cities across the country, and the dfcu branch network, the micro women entrepreneurs are taken through a step-by-step process to understand the guidelines.

 During proposal writing training, we identify women entrepreneurs in the communities to provide mentorship to other rising women.

Research has severally shown that most start-ups do not live to celebrate their third anniversary. How is Rising Woman helping women to rise above this challenge?

Uganda has a copy and paste syndrome, which affects our business environment. And this initiative ensures that women SMEs understand why they are in business.

Through power trainings and the proposal writing challenge, women entrepreneurs are challenged to discover what challenges their business models address, the opportunities to exploit through partnerships and governance, among others.

What are most important things that a woman in Uganda urgently needs to thrive in business?

Invest in learning; to keep you and the business relevant to new trends

Identify a suitable financial services partner to support your business growth journey, with suitable financial back up and investment advisory services

Embrace growth opportunities such as digital marketing, launching new services or products

Connect with others; join a community of like-minded entrepreneurs and enjoy benefits of collaboration. It is said that iron sharpens Iron.

Identify your purpose; be clear about why you are investing in that enterprise and not any other