Post Bank Uganda continues its dedication to fostering agricultural growth as it renews its collaboration with Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises Uganda (FSME) pledging Shs 200 million.
This program aims to empower farmers and agribusinesses so they can realize their full potential and make a meaningful contribution to Uganda’s agricultural environment by focusing on improving financial literacy and encouraging value addition.
The success of the original relationship, which started in 2022, was emphasized by John Walugembe, the Executive Director of FSME, during the contract renewal ceremony held on Wednesday at the Post Bank Uganda offices in Kingdom Kampala. The bank contributed Shs 80 million to that cooperation, which was used to help 500 small company owners in different parts of the nation improve their financial literacy and receive technical training in value addition.
“I want to thank Post Bank Uganda for partnering with us starting in 2022. In that year we targeted different Agribusinesses with an aim of finding some of the challenges that stop them from being competitive. Uganda is an agro-based country and agriculture is our backbone to our economy, so in line with government programs and approaches under the Parish Development Modal and Under National Development Plan of ensuring that businesses add value, FSME prioritized agrobusiness. Through this partnership, 500 SMEs were supported with not just practical technical skills of adding value but also with Financial Literacy.”
In Kampala SMEs have been trained to add value on vegetables and fresh fruits, in Lira SMEs have been trained to add value on Maize, Mbarara SMEs were trained to add value on Milk. And with the provision of more boost from the bank this year.
SMEs in Soroti will be trained to add value to millet, in Koboko SMEs will be trained to add value on cassava. According to Walugembe the initiative identifies specific value chains in specific regions.
The number of SMEs taking part in technical value addition training has increased this year, from 20 to 40, according to Walugembe’s report. Through financial literacy training, many recipients have also opened bank accounts and enhanced their record-keeping abilities. This support provides a solid basis for their long-term growth and sustainability in addition to assisting them in managing their funds more skillfully.
The Chief Finance Officer Post Bank Uganda who is also Chairman Corporate Social Responsibility Peter Ssenyange revealed that the initiative is for those SMEs who have started something but need to upscale or add value to their product.
“Our program is called Gatako Omutindo all our beneficiaries under this program we found them doing something. Our CSR program has four pillars; Health, Education and Sports, environment and financial literacy and skills enhancement. So, FSME came in as this partner on the last pillar, our aim as a bank is to see that whatever we do has value. In addition to it, that’s the only way the beneficiaries can improve their livelihood. Tod we gather to announce an increase in our partnership with FSME,” he said.
Mr. Ssenyange continued, saying that the bank had originally set aside Shs80 million as a program launch fund in 2022. However, the bank has boosted its allocation to Shs200m as a result of the program’s tremendous success.
Why the Support
He said that the bank acts as a central point for more than 100,000 smallholder farmers engaged in a range of production activities. However, a lot of people find it difficult to expand their companies and successfully compete in various market niches because they lack value-adding abilities and financial literacy. Thankfully, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) can now acquire the skills they need to improve their production capacity thanks to this initiative.
“Government is very interested in value addition, so is Post Bank, now that’s how this partnership works. We are not giving away money to small businesses but we are giving money for value addition so we are very committed to supporting this partnership,” he said.
Participants in the program must be based in specific places, such as Kampala, Lira, and Koboko, and must already be involved in production or the value chain. Participants must also have a willingness to unlearn as well as learn, and they must pledge to provide long-term assistance that goes beyond training. Whether or not one is a Post Bank customer does not impose any limitations.
With regard to the Shs200 million allocated for training this year, SMEs in Kabarole, Koboko, Kampala, and Soroti would benefit from the training. The public is welcome to participate in the program, and registration can be finished at any Post Bank branch countrywide or at the offices of FSME. The initiative will kick up in Koboko next week, starting with sessions to improve skills and ending with financial literacy instruction.
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