The government of Uganda, with support from the World Bank, has launched the GROW project, financed by a grant from the World Bank worth USD 217 million, to boost women enterprises.

The project is being implemented by the Ministry of Gender, Labour, and Social Development (MGLSD) and Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU).

The Grow project is meant to increase access to entrepreneurial services that will enable female entrepreneurs to grow their businesses in targeted locations, including refugee host districts.

During the launch on August 28, 2024, H.E. Jessica Alupo, the Vice President of Uganda, urged women to embrace the initiative, as it is one of the projects meant to help women entrepreneurs access quick and soft loans from the banks.

The Vice President also cautioned women against engaging in domestic violence once they have acquired the loans.

“Let this Grow loan not be a source of domestic violence but rather bring economic freedom and improve your livelihoods,” Alupo said.

Alupo further asked women to embrace the project and get loans to boost their businesses, as this is one of the many government initiatives intended to improve household income.

“The project is one of the many projects meant to empower Ugandans to improve their household income, just like the PDM and Emyooga projects, among others,” Alupo said.

Justine Akello, a resident of Mukono district, appreciated the GROW project for its swift loans starting from Ugx 2 million to Ugx 200 million without asking for collateral security.

“The good thing about the GROW loans is that we can be able to get money without having to stake collateral security, as we all know collateral has been our biggest hindrance to accessing bank loans,” Akello said.

The Grow project will give out loans from Ugx 4 million to Ugx 200 million at an interest rate of 10% per annum and has no loan application fees and a loan repayment period not exceeding 24 months.

The Grow loans are available to individual women entrepreneurs and individual women-owned enterprises. The loan also has special incentives for people living with disabilities and special incentives for women entrepreneurs from minority groups, women in refugee camps, and women from poverty-stricken sub-regions of Karamoja with 10 districts and Busoga-Bukedi with 20 districts involved.

The loans can be obtained from Stanbic Bank, Equity Bank, Finance Trust Bank, DFCU, Centenary Bank, and Post Bank, and some can be applied for online and disbursed within 24 hours.