Joseph Kariuki
6 October 2008
Kampala — WOMEN entrepreneurs have been asked to use the existing loan schemes to compete with men in running business.
"Women lacked collateral but now there are Savings and Credit Co-operatives and investment clubs which allow pooling money together to start up a business," said Prisca Mashengero, the executive director of the Uganda Women Entrepreneurs Association.
Speaking on Friday during a public lecture at the Makerere University Business School (MUBS), Mashengero urged women to take advantage of the schemes to better their lives.
She said most women had shunned schemes like the Bona Bagaggawale yet they were created to help them.
Mashengero added that despite the women accounting for 52% of the population, they only control 15% of the country's GDP.
She regretted that sometimes women get the money but are only let down by their husbands.
Mary Kisubi, a registrar with MUBS, said men dominated most of the property in marriage. This, she said, denies the women a chance to succeed.
Kisubi said women rarely inherit wealth from their parents as men do so they have scanty resources to create wealth.
Ralph Nyakabwa-Atwoki, a consultant, said cultural and religious beliefs were curtailing the progress of women entrepreneurs.
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