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Finance Trust Bank has launched a UGX 23 billion kitty in GROW loans to over 3000 women during a financial literacy training program at UMA Multi-purpose hall in Kampala.
Ms Annet Nakawunde, the Managing Director of Finance Trust Bank said the UGX 23 billion is an open fund targeting women across the country with the need of financing between UGX 4 million to UGX 200 million.
The GROW loan product designed to support women in business, agriculture, and trade at 10.5 percent.
The loans have been clustered into three segments including; Women in Business Loan designed for a category of women who want to grow their working capital, make business investments like purchase of machinery, and stock that’s payable in small manageable installments.
The Women in Agriculture loan is designed for women engaged in Agriculture activities at various levels in the value chain such as Agro- production, Agro- processing, and marketing.
The third segment of the loan is unsecured for Trade Finance- Local Purchase Order and Contract Financing.
The Generating Growth Opportunities and Productivity for Women Enterprises (GROW) project is a World Bank funded program that aims to support women entrepreneurs transitioning from micro to small and from small to medium enterprises.
It is in line with the Government’s NDP III goal that explicitly calls for “promoting women’s economic empowerment, leadership and participation in decision making through investment in entrepreneurship programs and business centers”.
The project aims to holistically tackle some of the structural barriers hindering the growth of women-owned businesses including financial inclusion, business development services, infrastructure and promoting effective participation of women in the development process.
It collaborates with development partners to deliver technical assistance and capacity building support to the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, the Private Sector Foundation Uganda, and the Office of the Prime Minister, with Finance Trust Bank being one of the banks where the GROW loans are channeled for women to access.
Nakawunde also used the opportunity at the event to share financial literacy insights on the importance of partnerships and networking for entrepreneurs, emphasizing positive thinking and a growth mindset.
“I want to believe that at this point in time, it is very clear that women need financial empowerment, they need affordable financing. So that’s what the GROW fund is bringing on board,” Nakawunde said.
She noted that the loans are payable within a 24 months’ period and urged women to use the loans appropriately so that they are in position to repay the loans.
Women who show interest shall be required to apply for these loans and open up accounts from any bank branch across a network of 35 bank branches in the country.
Ms Doreen Akankwasa, one of the women attendees from Wakiso District, and a dealer in confectionery business said she picked interest in attending the training through a Whatsapp forum for small scale industrialists, and is ready to acquire a loan of U GX 50 million for machinery as she targets UGX 200 million prize. .
Finance is a major hindrance to women businesses and as you well know, it is always the women that are in business, in markets and street vending. I thank Finance Trust Bank because I have so far received more than five loans from them,” Akankwasa said.
Marjorine Nantambi, a Personal Growth and Finance Coach applauded the Finance Trust bank team for the GROW loans initiative that adds value to women.
“Before you get the money though, how do you add value to yourself? So we are encouraging women to be open minded, to look for information because the information is there. If you are running a business, you need to know who else is running that business and you learn from them,” Nantambi said.