KAMPALA, UGANDA – 5th February 2024: Joined by its partners from Daily Monitor, Uganda Investment Authority and Uganda Airlines, dfcu Bank flagged off 10 women entrepreneurs who emerged winners in the 6th season of the dfcu Rising Woman Competition to an all-expenses paid study tour in Nairobi, Kenya.
The top 10 entrepreneurs were selected from over 200 participants who submitted business proposals to win business funding, business mentorship and the study tour.
Rising Woman aims to recognize, celebrate, and promote a culture of mentorship among women in the business space in Uganda. It falls under dfcu’s Women in Business Program which aims to create a business enabling environment for women entrepreneurs, with a special focus on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
Launched in 2018, Rising Woman has directly benefited more than 60,000 women and over 1, 000,000 more, virtually, through a range of programs that include regional power trainings, live TV talk shows, proposal writing competitions and mentorship trips within the region.
Over UGX 120,000,000 of seed capital has been granted to winners of Rising Woman since 2018.
The 6th season was launched in August 2023 under the theme ‘Empowering Entrepreneurs to Succeed’, attracting participation from hundreds of women across Uganda, with 20 of them making it to the business proposal-defense stage.
Kate Kizza, the Executive Director, and Chief Financial Officer at dfcu Bank described the flag off as a ‘celebratory moment’ of the achievements and hard work of the women entrepreneurs. She reinforced dfcu’s commitment to supporting the skilling and financial literacy of Ugandan women entrepreneurs through various programs and partnerships.
“dfcu has a longstanding legacy of empowering women entrepreneurs and we are proud of the achievements that have been realized through the Rising Woman Initiative and the dfcu Women in Business Program under which the initiative falls,” Kiiza noted.
“As you embark on this trip, I encourage you to remain committed to finding new sources of motivation and to remember that your power lies in both your individual work and also, the collaborative efforts between you and other women entrepreneurs,” she concluded.
Making her remarks, Ruth Asasira, the Head pf Women in Business at dfcu Bank applauded the sponsoring partners of the Rising Woman Initiative for their continued commitment to investing in the development of women entrepreneurs. She also congratulated the winners, noting that the trip to Nairobi would be a knowledge-mining experience, with the capacity to create business transformation.
Belinda Namutebi, a member of the dfcu Women in Business Advisory Council congratulated the winners upon their milestone, urging them to focus on creating businesses that would create positive socioeconomic impact, in their communities and the country at large.
Susan Nsibirwa, the Nation Media Group Managing Director encouraged the winners to use their businesses as platforms to positively impact the lives around them, through job creation and designing of much-needed products and services.
Representing the winners, Ms. Nandudu Meridah and Ms. Nabukenya Diana both thanked dfcu Bank and the sponsors for implementing the Rising Woman initiative. The 3-day trip will involve mentorship sessions with key Kenyan business entrepreneurs as well as factory visits to learn best practices.
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