Britain offers 20 million pounds for Norther Uganda Small Businesses

Monday March 28, 2011

Britain has announced that it will provide a grant to help the small and medium scale enterprises in Northern Uganda recover from the 20 year war insurgency.

The matching grant to be administered through the Private Sector Foundation of Uganda, funded by the Department of International Development is envisaged to create 10,000 new jobs and unlock 20 million pounds worth of investment. Our reporter has the details.

England is one of the economies that was greatly hampered by the Global Financial Meltdown but says its hope for recovery lies in supporting the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises. Just like in Uganda, 90% of the enterprises in Britain comprise of small and medium scale enterprises.

The British Deputy High Commissioner Philip Mani says that the Government of Uganda should start vigorously supporting such enterprises if economic growth is to be achieved.

Mane who was presiding over the opening of the 6th Annual PSFU Member Day said that his government will next financial year provide a grant through PSFU that will create 10,000 new jobs and unlock 20 million pounds worth of investment in Northern Uganda.

But to the PSFU Executive Director, Gideon Badagawa, the performance and survival of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in the regional market created by the integration of East Africa is assured only if it beats the challenges such as limited market access and access to finance.

Organized under the theme, ‘Stimulating SME performance for Private Sector Growth’, this 6th PSFU member Days event will provide avenues for SMEs to network with the various sectors such as banking and telecommunication.

This will ultimately create linkages that will support SME activities to enable them survive and benefit from the regional market provided by the East African Community.