President Museveni launching the GROW loan facility in April 2023
HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I The Generating Growth Opportunities and Productivity for Women Enterprises (GROW) Project has registered significant progress in its first year of implementation, with thousands of women entrepreneurs across Uganda accessing affordable credit, expanding their businesses, and creating jobs.
The $217 million Government of Uganda initiative, funded by the World Bank, is designed to empower women-owned enterprises through low-interest loans, business development services, and training, with a clear focus on transitioning micro enterprises into small and medium-sized businesses.
A special quarterly report highlights that beyond financing, the project is strengthening enterprise development systems nationwide. It notes that, “this quarter the project-initiated Business Advisors support for Business Development Support (BDS) is in the interim for procurement of the service providers for skills and BDS nationwide.
This is being implemented under four (4) thematic areas, and synergies with the GROW Financing Facility GROW Loan borrowers.” The report emphasizes that these interventions are intended to improve business skills, market readiness, and loan performance among women entrepreneurs.
The GROW Financing Facility has been rolled out through 14 Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs), including Centenary Bank, DFCU Bank, Equity Bank, Finance Trust Bank, PostBank, and Stanbic Bank Uganda. In the second year of implementation, additional banks such as Pride Bank, Opportunity Bank, UGAFODE, and EBB SACCO were cleared to participate, widening access to rural and urban borrowers.
According to official data, Shs69.2 billion has so far been disbursed to PFIs under the line of credit. Cumulatively, 4,889 women have accessed GROW loans across three funding tiers: 3,672 borrowers (71.11%) in Level 1 (Shs4–20 million), 657 (13.44%) in Level 2 (Shs20–40 million), and 560 (11.45%) in Level 3 (Shs40–200 million). These achievements represent 57.5 percent of the year-three target of 8,500 women borrowers.
The report further shows that GROW loans have reached 128 districts and 13 cities, with only eight districts yet to benefit. Importantly, 97 percent of borrowers are individual women entrepreneurs, and nearly half (46.9 percent) are first-time borrowers.
Sectoral distribution indicates that 40.3 percent of beneficiaries are in trade and commerce, followed by agriculture and agribusiness (36.7 percent), business and financial services (7.1 percent), construction and engineering (6.5 percent), and tourism, hospitality, and creatives (3.23 percent).
Inclusivity remains central to the programme. So far, 10 refugees have accessed loans worth Shs65 million, while 365 women in Refugee Hosting Districts have benefited from Shs4.77 billion. Additionally, 11 women from minority communities have accessed loans totaling Shs106.5 million.
The report also highlights strong use of collateral systems, noting that 98.24 percent of borrowers provided collateral, mostly registered land titles or agreements, while only 1.76 percent accessed loans without collateral, primarily through strong banking relationships.
Age distribution shows that 81.2 percent of borrowers are aged between 31 and 55 years, while youth aged 18–30 account for 6.9 percent.
By enabling affordable credit and business support, the GROW Project is already demonstrating its potential to transform women-led enterprises, expand financial inclusion, and stimulate job creation across Uganda.
