Women entrepreneurs in Mbale are registering business growth and greater financial independence under the government's Generating Growth Opportunities and Productivity for Women Enterprises (GROW) project, with beneficiaries saying affordable financing has helped them overcome barriers long created by limited capital and expensive commercial loans.
The government introduced the GROW Project to bridge the financing gap faced by women entrepreneurs by providing accessible and affordable credit specifically tailored to women-led businesses.
For years, Grace Namasopo watched men dominate the coffee trade in Mbale City.
The business was profitable, but also demanding, unpredictable and heavily dependent on capital -- something she struggled to access.
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Since joining the trade in 2010, Namasopo survived on small-scale operations, often alternating between coffee and maize trading during off-seasons to keep her business running.
"Coffee requires patience and understanding of the seasons," she explains. "When the season is low, you must find another way to survive without exhausting your capital."
The coffee season begins around May with the fly crop before peaking between July and December. During these months, traders require substantial amounts of cash to buy produce from farmers and middlemen.
But like many women entrepreneurs, Namasopo struggled to access affordable financing.
She says commercial bank loans carried high interest rates and difficult conditions that discouraged many women from expanding their businesses.
That changed in October 2025 when she secured a Shs10 million loan under the government's GROW Project.
The impact, she says, was immediate.
The single mother increased her coffee volumes, stabilized her business operations and eventually moved into a new house. More importantly, she says, she can now support her two daughters through university with less financial strain.
"I made more profit and built a house within one month," she says.
The breakthrough, however, did not come without challenges.
Namasopo says she had hoped to secure a larger loan, but the amount she qualified for was limited by the value of her collateral.
Now, after developing her property, she believes her improved asset base will allow her to access bigger financing in future.
"The loan is granted on the basis of collateral rather than potential. Now that I developed my land, I hope to borrow Shs50 million," she says.
Across town along Bishop Wasike Road, boutique operator Regina Newumbe shares a similar story.
Newumbe received Shs30 million under the same programme and invested the funds directly into expanding her boutique business.
She says the loan eased pressures that had long held back her growth.
Before joining the GROW programme, Newumbe avoided commercial bank loans altogether.
"The interest rates were too high and the requirements discouraging," she says. "You could fear borrowing because one mistake would destroy your business."
Today, she is on her second loan cycle -- the final opportunity allowed under the programme guidelines.
While grateful for the support, Newumbe believes the current policy still limits ambitious women entrepreneurs who have the capacity to repay larger loans.
She wants the borrowing cap for women without land titles reviewed upward and the restriction on the number of borrowing cycles reconsidered.
Her long-term dream is to venture into real estate development, but she fears the programme's current structure may limit that ambition.
"With more support, many women can move beyond survival businesses into major investments," she says.
The experiences of Namasopo and Newumbe reflect a wider challenge facing women entrepreneurs across Uganda.
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Many women operate businesses with strong growth potential but remain constrained by limited access to affordable credit, lack of collateral and fear of high-interest commercial loans.
The GROW Project was introduced to help bridge that gap by extending accessible financing to women-led enterprises.
In Mbale City, beneficiaries say one of the programme's strongest advantages is the relative ease of access compared to traditional banking systems.
Yet their stories also expose the next challenge -- ensuring successful borrowers are not trapped within small-scale financing limits even after demonstrating repayment capacity.
For Namasopo, the loan delivered dignity, stability and a brighter future for her daughters.
For Newumbe, it revived dreams she had nearly abandoned.
And for many women watching from the sidelines, their experiences are proof that access to affordable capital can do more than grow businesses -- it can transform lives.
