Women Entrepreneurs in Pakwach District have welcomed the reduction of the minimum loan amount requirement under the GROW Project. They say reducing the requirement from four million to two million shillings opens the window for women who were not eligible to access funds to grow their businesses.
Officials from Pride Bank Uganda’s West Nile Branch announced the adjustment during a meeting with women vendors and entrepreneurs in Pakwach Town Council.
The Bank advised women seeking the loans to involve spouses, clan leaders, and family members in securing collateral and signing mutual agreements to ease access to the funds.
Silver Opondo, a regional loans officer at the bank, encouraged women to work closely with relatives and local leaders to meet the requirements and improve their livelihoods.
The GROW Project is a Government of Uganda initiative funded by the World Bank and implemented through the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development together with the Private Sector Foundation Uganda. SThe project aims at supporting women-owned enterprises to grow from micro to small and medium businesses.
Bank officials say over 700 million shillings has been allocated to support women entrepreneurs in Pakwach District.
The Pakwach District Women Council Chairperson, Christine Akumu, said many women had previously failed to access the funds because of the high minimum amount, noting that most businesses in the district operate with small capital.
The district GROW Project focal person, Ginaro Okumu, described the revised loan amount as a positive step towards improving women’s access to financial support.
Meanwhile, Pride Bank Arua Branch Manager, Daniel Odongo Okabo, urged market vendors to formalize their businesses through trading licences to qualify for the loans and encouraged prompt repayment to benefit from the project incentives-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
