Owners of 500 business enterprises are set to benefit from a three-week training program provided by the Stanbic Business Incubator Limited (SBIL), with funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), through Deutsche GIZ (GIZ)’s Employment and Skills for Development in Africa (E4D) Programme.
Speaking at the training launch, at the SBIL premises in Kololo, SBIL Chief Executive, Tony Otoa said the training will be delivered with a key focus on three core areas namely; access to markets, access to finance and business operational skilling necessary for start-ups’ management and growth.
“Priority has been given to female-owned enterprises. However, to qualify for the training, these businesses had to prove that they had been in existence for more than two years, have at least five employees and are operating within Kampala, Mukono and Wakiso”, he elaborated.
SBIL initially developed the Enterprise Development Program (EDP) in 2018 supporting 190 SMEs in Kampala, to focus on identifying and building the capacity of enterprises that could potentially penetrate and actively participate in Uganda’s natural resource sector. In 2019, E4D began supporting the Incubator’s growth and expansion to support 300 Ugandan Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to become more competitive and attain sustainable growth while also creating jobs in Gulu and Mbarara districts. In 2021, E4D launched a new project to further upscale and expand the Incubator’s reach across the country to cover at least 20 districts through four branches.
The E4D Uganda programme Team Lead Donald Agaba, said E4D will continue to promote local employment through capacity development in partnership with the Incubator. He discussed the needs of MSMEs in Uganda and their critical role as a backbone of the economy and, a massive provider of jobs. He went on to mention that this current partnership has created at least 1,377 jobs as of December 2022 according to early tracer study results.
“Key sectors of focus include agribusiness, food and beverages, trade, consumer goods and supplies, green businesses, tourism, hospitality and catering services,” Agaba said.
“Others include; construction, fabrication and civil works, transport and logistics, health, professional services, power, and infrastructure,” Agaba said.
