SEATINI and other CSOs launch a joint project dubbed; “Rebuilding Resilient Women Entrepreneurs.”
Women, especially within countries like Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, have been hit hardest, as the COVID 19 pandemic has affected them at enterprise, household, and individual levels. For instance, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), majority of which are owned by women have been forced into a situation of uncertainty due to a sudden loss of markets, reduction in cash flow which is the blood life of any enterprise, and the increasing threat of failure of meet their obligations, including taxes and loan repayments.
On Friday, 28th August 2020, SEATINI Uganda together with BEACON Kenya, USSIA Uganda, WISE Tanzania, and WORI Uganda officially held an inception meeting of the project dubbed; “Rebuilding Resilient Women Entrepreneurs through gender responsive post COVID 19 economic stimulus packages”.
The meeting that was held virtually on Zoom brought together participants from the East African Region where the project will be implemented.
Ms. Jane Nalunga, the SEATINI Uganda Executive Director while giving opening remarks, noted that most businesses are mostly owned by women yet policies do not favour them especially women operating Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). She noted that most countries have been providing stimulus packages to resuscitate their economies in the face of the COVID19 pandemic. However, there is a question of whether the stimulus package can easily be accessed by Small and Medium Enterprises.
Ms. Faith Lumonya the project focal person and SEATINI Uganda Program Coordinator, Trade and Investment while sharing an overview about the project, emphasized that the project will broadly contribute to fostering women integration into markets; enhancing access to market tools and supporting women entrepreneurs to benefit from opportunities available for advancing financial inclusion.
Ms. Dorothy M. Tuma, the Chair Emeritus East African Women in Business Platform while giving her presentation she called on women to join organizations or entities that are operating within the formal business sector inorder to easily access opportunities and funding that will help them grow their businesses. She later explained that women entrepreneurs are largely micro, small and informal. She noted that majority of women entrepreneurs are in the informal sector and they are invisible to government and those who are making decisions on where resources need to be redirected.
‘‘Women entrepreneurs continue to face numerous challenges even during the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic. These challenges include; lack of access to viable markets, lack of information on available opportunities for their products among others,’’ she said.
Below are some of the key issues discussed during the inception meeting;
- Resilience of women-owned enterprises is built around adaptive capacity;
- The Stimulus package should extend beyond financial institutions given that majority women entrepreneurs are in the informal sector and may not meet the requirements to access funding;
- The concept of women entrepreneurship is complicated due to gender triple roles that limit businesses of most of women to grow and to graduate from the certain level of tax blanket.