Kampala — With the country's unemployment levels growing, a number of people are resorting entrepreneurship to make ends meet.

However, most of these entrepreneurs lack sufficient knowledge to run and maintain these businesses and as a result a substantial number of these ventures do not live to see their second birthday.

There are a number of reasons often given for the closure of these businesses, ranging from high costs of doing businesses and others but the most common has to do with the difficulties in accessing credit.

Mr. Charles Ocici, the Executive Director of Enterprise Uganda, told the East African Business Week that the rush by entrepreneurs to access credit is actually one of the reasons as to why most of them rush to close shop as well.

He says that the mindset amongst these prospective businessmen that without capital one cannot be a successful entrepreneur needs to be changed.

"Capital is not about going to the bank, there are so many other sources of capital and banks should not be the first. The major issue should be to what extent is one using those other sources before going to the bank."

He adds that the main capital is actually the person because banks do not invest in ideas but the people behind the ideas.

"That is why banks will finance the same idea of a hotel in the same location 100 times because there are individuals they believe in. Our emphasis is to create a Ugandan who believes in themselves," he said.

Ocici was speaking to this newspaper on the sidelines of the Warid Entreneurship Fund training course that attracted over 500 participants from various areas of the country in Kampala.