WHEN money flows into the hands of women who have authority to use it, everything changes, for women, their families and the communities and that’s why Stanbic Bank Ltd believes that liberty for a woman comes from the ability to make financial decisions for her life.
It’s the reason Stanbic Bank has embarked on a series of training programmes targeting women entrepreneurs in all regions of the country in a bid to build their capacity to be able to do business in more profitable ways.
One of the trainings for selected women entrepreneurs in Busoga sub region was held at Innovation Village in Jinja City where the ladies of different age brackets closed down their shops for three days to get new insights on professional ways of doing business.
Topics covered include registration of their businesses as legal entities, records keeping, accounts keeping, cash flow management which was done by Laban Mawongye, a training consultant hired by the World Bank which works in collaboration with International Finance Corporation (IFC).
Speaking at the closing ceremony, the Stanbic Regional Manager James Damulira implored the now very enlightened women to put to practical use the information, skills and knowledge acquired for improved services to their customers.
More than 100 business women from the different districts that form the traditional Busoga sub region have benefitted from the training which is being rolled out by the Stanbic Bank to all regions of the country.
Why the Training
The Manager Women Banking at Stanbic Bank, Gorreti Sserunkuma says they understand the needs and challenges of the different segments of their clients including women.
Citing an incident when a distressed Kenyan woman boiled stones just to give hope the children that some food was being prepared, Gorreti Sserunkuma says women as home managers have a strong sense of care and resilience, like was the case in 2020 when 2020 COVID-19 pandemic broke out shutting down the economy.
To put in perspective, the widow was identified as Penina Bahati a mother of eight from the coastal Mombasa town who could not find any kind of job to get money due to the corona virus that had devastated the global economy.
The story, which has become a source of inspiration, hit mainstream and social media platforms which prompted well-wishers and organizations to pour donations and food items worth millions of shillings just to support her.
In order to advance the welfare of communities and indeed the nation, Gorreti Sserunkuma says Stanbic Bank has come out with innovations which offer different solutions to customers including women.
Among the sol Stanbic Bank Uganda has unveiled a special offering of financial and non-financial services for women in business aimed at empowering them with competitive abilities to succeed in a world of business dominated by men.
She says women continue to benefit from financial literacy training, cash flow and management of working capital, loan management, management of savings as well as mentorship and advisory services.
Gorreti Sserunkuma also said participating women will benefit from financial literacy training, cash flow and management of working capital, loan management, managing savings and debt, mentorship, and advisory services
“…most of them have been doing business casually without taking into account key aspects like importance of records keeping, mixing personal money with that for the business, managing cash flow and others…”,she pointed out.
Laban Mawonge, a consultant hired by the World Bank gave a background of the training saying it followed research which was carried out by IFC revealed that many women are engaged in businesses but have limited access to finance.
It was recommended that the private and public sector financial institutions should address the needs by developing a wide range of programmes and products, including loans, training and advisory services.
At the end, each of the participating women walked home with certificates of attendance, plus other packages, courtesy of the Stanbic Bank.
The President of the Busoga Women Business group Mrs. Esther Naigembe lauded Stanbic Bank management for giving priority to the women entrepreneurs in the region.
“…as mothers of the nation we feel honored to benefit from the many services including training which have since opened our business eyes to see and handle things differently and professionally…”Esther Naigembe said.
Naigembe,a secondary school teacher by profession, popularly known as Nalongo (mother of twins) also used the occasion to urge men to join hands to support their spouses who are working tirelessly to improve on the standard of the family members.
What You Need To Know:
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is an international financial institution that offers investment, advisory and asset-management services to encourage private sector development in less developed countries, Uganda inclusive.
IFC is a member of the World Bank group and is headquartered in Washington D.C, in the United States.
Information available indicates that IFC was established in 1956 as the private-sector arm of the WB Group, to advance economic development by investing in for-profit and commercial projects for poverty reduction and promoting development.
Its aim is to create opportunities for people to escape poverty and achieve better living standards by mobilizing financial resources for private enterprise, promoting accessible and competitive markets, supporting businesses and other private sector entities and creating jobs, among others to the poverty-stricken vulnerable people.
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