Stanbic Bank CEO Anne Juuko announced a US$ 5million contribution to the Economic Enterprise Restart Fund to transform lives affected by COVID-19. Photo via @stanbicug Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The UN and Stanbic Bank have launched an initiative in which they hope to raise up to USD 100 million to help small and informal enterprises out of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The initiative dubbed, the Economic Enterprise Restart Fund is a three-year initiative and is aimed at helping the enterprises that find it hard to access formal financial services especially credit.
While it aims to reach the beneficiaries through village savings and loans association and Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies or SACCOs, special emphasis will be on those involved in agriculture.
The UN Capital Development Fund in Uganda offered 1 million dollars to kick-start the fundraising while Stanbic Bank Uganda has set aside 5 million dollars towards the initiative.
The money will be channeled to the beneficiaries partly as a grant and partly as a soft loan.
It will also be used for training of the beneficiaries on how to adopt management systems that can be recognized by lenders and enable the enterprises access credit.
This will include digitalizing the operations and the dealings between the individual and the group they belong to and as well as between the group and the bank which will in turn create a bridge between the entrepreneur and the bank.
According to the Bank of Uganda, about 11 million Ugandans have bank accounts and can therefore access formal financial services. However, almost half of Ugandans can access a form of financial service from SACCOs and VSLAs.
According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, there are more than 21,000 registers SACCOs in the country.
The UN believes that women and youth have been hit more by the pandemic and its effects and since they usually dominate the SACCOs and VLSAs, it is hoped that the fund will have a big and fast impact.
The UN Representative to Uganda Rosa Malango says the pandemic has erased many economic gains the country had made including the journey to attaining the Sustainable Development Goals, adding that the EERF’s objective is to increase job opportunities.The project initially set to run for 3-years is also planned to be executed in conjunction with government’s rural-based programs like Operation Wealth Creation as well as district cooperative and commercial officers for easy reach to the targeted […]