A group of women who went through the financial Literacy Clinic at the UGAFODE office at Wandegeya, were also given gift hampers
HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I Women entrepreneurs have a culture of servicing their loans well, and paying back on time.
It’s upon this background that the Uganda Agency for Development Microfinance Limited (UGAFODE) , one of the outstanding microfinance deposit taking institutions (MDI) in Uganda has undertaken an initiative to train women in financial literacy.
“We educate them on the importance of saving for low-income earners, because once they get the discipline of saving regularly, when they qualify for loans, they’ll find it easy to pay their loans, since they would have adopted the discipline of putting money aside consistently,” said Florence Nambi, the, the Manager for the Bombo Road branch.
Speaking on the sidelines of event where they handed over gift hampers to over 170 Muslim women to congratulate them upon finishing the holy month of Ramadhan, Nambi said they also encourage them to open accounts.
Florence Nambi, the, the Manager for the Bombo Road branch, giving out a gift hamper to one of the women beneficiaries
The hampers, which were worth Shs70,000 each, contained an assortment of things including wheat flour, maize flour, sugar, soap, oil. The women beneficiaries came from Makerere Kikoni, Bwaise, Nakulabye, Katanga, Makerere Kivulu, among other areas.
“We also talk to them about the dangers of keeping money in their houses or boxes where it can easily get stolen.
She further said that lack of a saving culture can hinder women from progressing financially.
“Saving is a discipline. When one learns how to save consistently, later on when they get a loan, they get a skill of paying money regularly and consistently,” she said.
Finance for Startups
She said that its on record banks usually don’t finance startups. “They want someone who has something in place and then they add on it. The only way women can start up a small business is through saving. They first have to start, then they go to a bank to boost their venture.”
Lilian Namusoke Magezi, the UGAFODE communications officer said they have decided to go to the aid of traditionally marginalized women, who include the low-income earners and the urban poor.
One of the UGAFODE officials giving out a gift hamper to a beneficiary
“These are usually marginalized by financial institutions. They don’t have collateral and don’t qualify for loans usually. They are usually shunned by big banks,” she said.
UGAFODE is a micro-deposit taking institution. It’s regulated by Bank of Uganda and their customers’ deposits are protected by the Deposit Protection Fund of Uganda. Having been established in September 1994, it has been in business for 31 years since.
