Manafwa – Uganda April 30, 2022: State Minister for Environment and the Woman Member of Parliament for Manafwa District has today lauded Stanbic Bank Uganda for its financial and non-financial services package aimed at supporting women-led enterprises to sharpen their competitiveness in the marketplace.
The Minister was Chief Guest at a financial literacy and access to finance training, attended by women in business at the Manafwa District Headquarters, on Saturday.
“I want to commend Stanbic Bank for not just focusing on big businesses but also finding time and creating financial support packages to support small businesses such as women-led enterprises—indeed, this is the best way to drive Uganda’s growth,” she said.
Recently, the Bank, in partnership with IFC and other partners, launched ‘Stanbic For Her’ a financial and non-financial package designed for women in business offering education, information, networking, and market linkages support in addition to access to affordable business loans.
Speaking at the same event, Stanbic Bank’s Sarah Nansikombi said, “we understand the challenges faced by our customers in the different market segments—that is why through Stanbic for Her, we are keen on supporting women-led enterprises to succeed.”
Close to 600 women attended the engagement that involved a financial fitness bootcamp for several leaders for SACCOs, Village Saving and Loan Associations and business owners from Manafwa and neighboring districts.
Ugandan women own about 39% of businesses with registered premises, yet they receive only 9% of commercial credit, according to IFC. This intervention by Stanbic Bank aims to support efforts geared towards reversing this situation.
Stanbic is also facilitating market access through online spaces and providing linkages to value chains and ecosystem associated with the bank’s corporate clients.
Stanbic For Her Financial benefits
Through Stanbic for Her, the bank is offering four different financial benefits including savings, investments; transactional and borrowing linked to products tailored to common profiles of women in business and aimed at addressing access to credit related bottlenecks they face.
For instance, women in business are borrowing loans at 12.5% through their SACCOs and at 15.5% interest on direct business loans but exempted from any charges in the event of early settlement.
Stanbic Bank is also offering Educare– an insurance and savings product for children, medical and home insurance aimed at securing women in the event of loss of income or natural disasters such as death.
Non-financial benefits for participating women include financial literacy trainings, cash flow and management of working capital, loan management, managing savings and debt, mentorship, and advisory services extended by the bank with support from IFC and Stanbic Business Incubator.
