HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I The global community prepares to mark International Women’s Day 2026. Currently, the conversation is shifting from symbolic recognition to sustainable empowerment. At the center of this shift is social entrepreneurship, a model that blends business innovation with social purpose, and one where women are no longer passive beneficiaries of development, but the architects of lasting change.
Across the world, and in Uganda, women-led social enterprises are proving that when women are equipped with the right financial solutions, training, and market access, the returns extend far beyond profit. They ripple through households, communities, and entire local economies.
Unlike traditional business models, social enterprises operate on a Triple Bottom Line: balancing people, planet, and profit. Social entrepreneurship answers the question: What if profit and purpose were not opposites, but partners? For women, particularly in emerging economies, this model creates a powerful pathway into leadership; a pathway that bypasses many of the barriers found in conventional corporate
structures.
Women often build enterprises rooted in lived experience, responding directly to challenges such as limited access to healthcare, agricultural inputs, clean energy, financial services, and menstrual health solutions. This firsthand understanding gives rise to what can be called a resilience advantage. Their enterprises are deeply embedded in communities, enabling them to design solutions that are practical, trusted, and locally
relevant.
What if profit and purpose were not opposites, but partners? Research conducted in 2025 by the Schwab’s Foundation has shown that Africa is home to 2.8m social enterprises (SEs) generating $96bn annual revenue, making up 17% of companies employing youth. Together SEs create 38-
68m jobs employing 85% of women and youth. Globally this movement has impacted 891m lives in the past 25years. It said that SEs are likely to create 3 times jobs than pure for profit.
In Uganda, this multiplier effect is no longer theoretical, it is visible and measurable. Capital Solutions Limited, a formidable social enterprise in Uganda has supported over 685 women-led enterprises to scale from survival-level businesses into growth-oriented ventures. These women operate
across diverse sectors including agribusiness, tourism, healthcare, manufacturing, green enterprises, and value-added production. As their businesses grow, they create employment, strengthen supply chains, and improve access to essential goods and services within their communities.
The result is transformation at multiple levels: women gain economic independence, communities benefit from locally driven solutions, and regional economies become more inclusive and resilient.
Despite these returns, women entrepreneurs continue to face a persistent global funding gap. Female founders receive only a fraction of venture capital and formal financing compared to their male counterparts. Addressing this gap requires a shift toward gender-lens investing, financial models that recognize long-term stability, social impact, and community-wide returns as core indicators of value.
Closing this gap is not charity. It is a strategic economic decision that unlocks untapped innovation and accelerates inclusive growth.
As the world celebrates International Women’s Day, Capital Solutions has recently graduated 200 young women this year under the Women Income Generation Opportunities Initiative (WIGOI) and the Ugandan Change Makers Programme, marking a significant milestone in their entrepreneurial journeys.
The programmes meaningfully transformed participants’ lives, with many graduates launching and expanding businesses that are already creating jobs within their communities. The graduation event underscored the power of access to tailored financial support and hands-on business support in enabling women-led enterprises to scale sustainably and deliver lasting social and economic impact.
When Abwongo Sarah, a graduate from the Ugandan Change Makers Programme, started customizing hand made shoes from old tyres, she wasn’t just making ends meet. Her venture is a classic example that profitability and purpose are not mutually exculsive. She addressed the urgent need to divert non- biodegradable materials from landfills while providing her community with affordable essentials.
But for this momentum to last beyond commemorative events, both public and private sectors must act. Corporations can move beyond one-off donations by integrating women-led social enterprises into their supply chains. Governments can strengthen impact by introducing enabling policies, legal frameworks, and incentives that recognize businesses with dual social and commercial missions. By investing in women-led social enterprises today, we are not just celebrating progress, we are building the foundation of tomorrow’s economy.
Because when women gain, we all gain.
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