The Bank of Uganda (BoU) in collaboration with Uganda Bankers Association have launched the Women Economic Empowerment Initiative (WEEI), a programme that is aimed at addressing issues that hinder the progress of women in the financial sector.
The forum will be an annual UBA event that aims to take stock of and gain insights into specific trends in women’s economic empowerment and sharing of experiences to shape interventions and strategies in the banking and financial services industry focused on breaking barriers constraining access to finance for women.
The forum will specifically focus on creating a formal arena for women in banking/finance supported by the wider fraternity of women to network, collaborate and share ideas about progressing collective opportunities available in the local and global marketplace.
Speaking at the launch in Kampala on Tuesday, UBA chairperson Sarah Arapta said the Women Economic Empowerment Initiative seeks to address the challenges obstructing women’s advancement in banking, finance, and entrepreneurship.
She explained the four key pillars that underpin the UBA Women Economic Empowerment Initiative as Leadership and Empowerment, Rewards and Recognition, Access to and inclusivity of Finance, and Partnerships and Collaboration.
Arapta said women make up 50% of the global population and constitute 40% of the global workforce, yet they only own about 1% of the world’s wealth. In Uganda, women make up 52.5% of the population.
But she acknowledged that in our traditional setting, cultural conditioning often skews power dynamics, decision-making, and entrepreneurship, leaving women at the fringes.
“However, in recent years Uganda is making commendable efforts to reverse this state of affairs through affirmative policy actions across public administration, education, and resource allocation, thanks to the Government’s unwavering stewardship in this direction,” the UBA chairperson said.
Dr Michael Atingi-Ego, the BoU Deputy Governor, in his remarks emphasized the growing recognition of women’s leadership value in the financial sector.
“In the financial industry, women leaders make a positive impact, yet gender diversity efforts persist. More women secure leadership roles, but top-tier positions still lack representation. Ongoing efforts are crucial to promote women into leadership across sectors,” he said.
“Our sustainability agenda places a strong focus on diversity and inclusion, including gender, race, and disability diversity, as well as employee relations, covering areas like satisfaction, engagement, compensation, and benefits. Empowering women within the BoU and supervised financial institutions is an indispensable part of this endeavour,” he added.
The Deputy Governor stressed that BoU in collaboration with stakeholders, is in the process of launching the second National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS), which envisions universal access to quality and affordable formal financial products delivered responsibly and sustainably.
Promoting gender-inclusive finance is a top priority within the NFIS, he said.