Uganda Development Bank launches enterprise development program for MSME’s

August 5, 2022 in Business, Companies, Financial Services by Editor

L-R: Mr Robert Anyang – ceo CHEMONICS, Mr Ibrahim Kibuka Bossa- Assistant Commissioner Public and Corporate Affairs URA, Barbara Kasekende – Manager Business Advisory UDB, Mr Livingstone Ebiru – Executive Director UNBS and Mr Sam Edem Maitum, the Director Credit UDB; pose for a picture during the launch of the UDB Enterprise Development Program earlier this week

Patient lender Uganda Development Bank UDBL this week, launched the Enterprise Development Program EDP, through which it is hopes to improve the capacity of entrepreneurs to use bank finance money more optimally.

The EDP, a series of training sessions under the Bank’s Business Accelerator for Successful Entrepreneurship Program, will equip business owners with the tools for survival and resilience as   a pathway to access to finance and long-term success.

“Access to finance remains a major challenge for businesses especially Small and Medium Enterprises in Uganda because many are not formalised and structured. Some of the other challenges include inadequacies in management, governance, financial management and record keeping, business planning, statutory compliance, tax compliance and standards,” said Mr. Sam Edem Maitum, the Director Credit at UDBL, during the launch in Kampala.

Maitum said as part of efforts to bridge the gap, UDBL has instituted the Enterprise Development Program to ease access to finance by SMEs. In concert with other government partners, UDBL has created a seamless credit application process for entrepreneurs.

The training sessions are being held in partnership with the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) who will equip participating enterprises who will with the mechanics of tax compliance; Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) for business registrations, Uganda National Bureau of Standards for quality certification and the Ministry of Trade and Industry for alignment with the government agenda.

The program that started with the central region will fan out across the country to reach a total of 1,167 entrepreneurs across northern eastern and western Uganda.

The trainings follow a call last year, in which the Bank published a call for inviting enterprises interested in business advisory support to express interest.  Some 1,064 businesses applied indicating a high appetite for learning.

“These trainings will be conducted in a phased approach. Our target is to get the enterprises to a level where they can effortlessly access financing and grow their businesses, create jobs, pay taxes, increase output value and become foreign exchange earners thus accelerating Uganda’s socio-economic development,” Mr. Maitum explained.

According to a recent report by Economic Policy Research Centre, the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) employ 8.5million Ugandans with 80pc of them engaged in manufacturing. However, the sector suffers a high mortality rate with about 7opc closing before clocking 12months.