Majority of GROW Loan Beneficiaries Deal in Trade, Agribusiness- Report

A report on the performance of the Generating Growth Opportunities and Productivity for Women Enterprises(GROW) project has indicated majority of benefiting women entrepreneurs are dealing in trade and commerce, agriculture and agribusiness.

The report highlights performance of the project between August and December 2024 and is implemented by the Ministry of Gender.

Speaking in Kampala, Dr. Ruth Aisha Kasolo, the national coordinator for the $217 million approximately shs805 billion project whose implementation started in August last year  said so far, 2,175 women entrepreneurs have acquired loans.

“Of the 2,175 women who have taken GROW loans, 947 representing 43.5% are into trade and commerce, 552(25.4%) in agriculture and agribusiness, 252(11.6%) in construction and engineering,” Dr.Kasolo said.

She said 172 women borrowers(7.9%) are in business and professional services while tourism, hospitality and creatives accounted for 3.5% of the GROW loans.

The borrowers

The report shows that majority at 98% of GROW loan borrowers are individual women entrepreneurs, 28% are new borrowers who had never borrowed before, five are women with disabilities while 64 loans are in five refugee hosting districts.

Whereas GROW loans range between shs4 million and shs200 million, the report indicates that majority of the borrowers at 75% so far have taken loans between shs1 million and shs20 million to ensure a total of shs15.3billion has been borrowed by women entrepreneurs in this category.

On the other side, loans between shs20million and shs40 million have seen borrowers take a total of shs8.63 billion.

According to Dr.Kasolo, during this period, loans worth shs51 billion have been disbursed to women entrepreneurs through six commercial banks (Centenary Bank, Finance Trust Bank, Equity Bank, DFCU Bank, Post Bank and Stanbic Bank .

She insisted that loans only constitute 30% of the entire GROW project, noting that the remaining components including provision of common user facilities and training of women entrepreneurs among others.

The Ministry of Gender Permanent Secretary, Aggrey Kibenge insisted that GROW loans are not for all women, but only those already in business.

“GROW is specifically designed to support women who are already in business, regardless of how small those businesses may be. These are women actively engaged in trade, services, agriculture, or crafts—women who are striving to grow their enterprises and create jobs. If we do not communicate this target audience clearly and consistently, we risk misdirecting resources and missing the very women this project was meant to support,” Kibenge said.

The Permanent Secretary said the project extends far beyond loans.

“ Some of the most powerful and promising components are already operational including essential skills training which is reaching women with foundational competencies that strengthen their capacity to manage and grow businesses, work Placement Programs which are giving young women practical experience and better prospects for employment and entrepreneurship and business development services which  are providing coaching, mentorship, and tailored support to help women refine business strategies and access markets,” Kibenge said.

The report highlights performance of the shs805 billion project between August and December 2024 and is implemented by the Ministry of Gender.