At PSFU Katale in Jinja, Sarah Kagingo highlights inspiring tales of Ugandan women in business and artists.

The Vice Chairperson of Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU), Sarah Kagingo, has said that Season 3 of Women’s Day Katale will empower hundreds of women with the skills and knowledge necessary to thrive and contribute to bridging the economic gap for women in Uganda.

The Katale is ongoing at the Dam Waters Rugby Grounds (Jinja City) until Sunday, March 17, 2024.

According to Kagingo, since its inception in 2020, PSFU in collaboration with the Mastercard Foundation, has spearheaded efforts resulting in the creation of over 125,000 direct job opportunities (with 64% being women) and more than 300,000 indirect employment opportunities.

Sarah Kagingo

She said the PSFU Women’s Day Katale 2024 serves as a dynamic platform, bringing together hundreds of young women and girls to exhibit innovative products, forge employment connections, and participate in valuable business development sessions.

“The inaugural Katale, held in 2022 in Luwero district, saw the participation of over 100 women from the informal sector. Subsequently, the second celebration occurred in Kampala at the UMA Show Grounds in 2023, attracting 250 women entrepreneurs. This annual event has evolved into a cornerstone of PSFU’s International Women’s Day celebrations, serving as a catalyst for addressing economic challenges faced by women and highlighting opportunities through enterprise exhibitions and access to Business Development Services (BDS).”

She said this has been through business clinics hosted by key government agencies.

“Notably, this Katale introduces two new platforms for networking and business-to-business (B2B) interactions, that is #TheKreativeVillage and deal rooms facilitated by our banking partners.”

According to her, Katale is a platform for women-led entrepreneurs to interact directly with key business-facilitating agencies in Government such as URA, UNBS, PPDA, URSB and Uganda Free Zones Authority (UFZA) on key areas such as tax incentives, public procurement, business formalization and accessing export markets.

“We have arranged these in partnership with Uganda Small Scale Industries Association (USSIA), one of our founding members. In addition, a “Start-Up Policy Congress” has been provided for specifically women-led innovations (entrepreneurs) in Jinja to directly contribute towards the development of the National Start-Up Policy 2024- a policy intervention which is spearheaded by the PSFU to promote the establishment, sustainability, and scalability of innovative businesses to enable them access finance and create employment. We have organized this in partnership with The Innovation Village,” she explained.

In addition, for this season of the Women’s Day Katale, PSFU presented the GROW project, an initiative that has been championed in partnership with the government of Uganda, several other key agencies and the World Bank.

“We are here to showcase what this project has to offer the female entrepreneurs across Uganda. We also have other projects from PSFU including but not limited to START2, CEDP, INVITE etc, represented here.”

She said Jinja City was selected as the host district due to its significant population of unemployed youth and abundant business opportunities, including industrial parks and tourism hubs.

“By harnessing its potential, the Katale aims to inspire Ugandan women to assume leadership roles in both economic and cultural spheres. Additionally, the partnership with the Busoga Kingdom underscores the event’s significance with Inhebantu Jovia Mutesi’s leadership serving as an inspiration to women across the region,” stated Kagingo.

She added: “Standing here at the Dam Waters Rugby Ground in Jinja City, I urge everyone to join us in making this event a resounding success and in fostering a new generation of female leaders.”

PSFU Chief Programmes and Projects Officer and Founder of the Ideation Corner, Damali Ssali, who inspected the YUVRAJ TVS corner, was fascinated by the stories of these young ladies and their ability to own spaces that previously were said to be for only men, more so in the automobiles industry.

The Communications Specialist for the Generating Growth Opportunities and Productivity for Women Enterprises (GROW) Project, Diana Naturinda, highlighted the main role of GROW.

The GROW Project is jointly implemented by the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development and the Private Sector Foundation Uganda as generously supported by the World Bank. GROW mainly focuses on enabling women entrepreneurs to access entrepreneurial services like finance and different trainings to enable their enterprises to grow from one level to another.

The Uganda Registration Bureau Services (URSB) which is one of PSFU’s partners will also sensitize and create awareness as well as interact with the women entrepreneurs and educate them about the various benefits they can get from the GROW Project.

“The Uganda Registration Services Bureau is here at the Dam Waters Rugby Grounds to assist the young women and any other person in business who would wish to register their business, make a name reservation and so forth,” said Naome Katushabe, the Project Support Officer Legal at URSB.