GROW trains 106 Pader women to strengthen businesses and access financing

11 November 2026, 7:05 am

By Geoffrey Okwong

A total of 106 women entrepreneurs in Pader District are undergoing a four-day business skills training aimed at strengthening their enterprises and preparing them to benefit from government financing opportunities under the Generating Growth Opportunities and Productivity for Women Enterprises (GROW) Project.

The training, being conducted at the Community Development Boardroom at Pader District Headquarters, is part of the Essential Skills Training for Women Entrepreneurs in Northern Uganda, coordinated by the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development with support from the World Bank.

FEM Consultants and Research Centre Ltd was contracted by the ministry to conduct the training across Northern Uganda.

Speaking during the opening of the training, Ssekito Kevin Aloysious, a Senior Consultant and Team Leader at FEM Consultants and Research Centre Ltd, said the initiative was intended to address knowledge and capacity gaps that had previously prevented some women entrepreneurs from accessing opportunities under the project.

He said the training would equip participants with essential entrepreneurial skills to help them manage their businesses, meet programme requirements and take advantage of available support.

Ssekito explained that GROW provides three major forms of support to women entrepreneurs: affordable loans, business grants and common user facilities.

Under the loan component, women can access financing at an interest rate of approximately 10 per cent per annum to help them improve and expand their businesses.

He said the grant component, which does not require repayment, was expected to be rolled out around February or March 2027, although specific application dates had not yet been announced.

The common user facilities, he explained, would enable women entrepreneurs to access shared machinery and equipment at affordable costs, helping them increase production without individually purchasing expensive equipment.

Pader District Chief Administrative Officer Peter Gidongo Wasagami urged participants to take the training seriously, saying the knowledge acquired should translate into practical improvements in their businesses.
Boniface Pule the Assistant Resident District Commissioner signing up the open of the training,  Kevin Aloysious Ssekito holding the microphone 

He particularly highlighted the importance of financial management, entrepreneurship and the use of mobile phones in business, urging participants to actively engage with the facilitators.

Wasagami also assured the women of the district’s readiness to support them as they develop their enterprises and announced that a business consultation clinic would be held on Friday to help participants strengthen their business proposals.

Boniface Pule, the Assistant Resident District Commissioner for Pader, who officially opened the training, described GROW as an important intervention that could help women fight poverty and improve livelihoods in their households.

Pule urged participants to understand the programme requirements and take advantage of the opportunities, emphasising that the initiative was not politically affiliated or discriminatory.

He also called for wider sensitisation to ensure women who had not attended the training could eventually access information about the programme.

Meanwhile, Patrick Okello, the Vice Chairperson of Pader District Local Government, said many women, particularly those in rural communities, still lacked adequate information about GROW and other government programmes.

He urged the 106 participants to share the knowledge acquired with other women in their communities to widen awareness of the available opportunities.

The training covers entrepreneurship mindset, personal development, business management, financial management, business formalisation, gender norms and businesses, business sustainability, future planning and the use of mobile phones in business operations.

At the end of the four-day exercise on Thursday, participants are expected to receive certificates and prepare business proposals and activity manuals for submission through the district GROW focal person to the ministry for review.