FEMALE-OWNED BUSINESS IN UGANDA
Today, female entrepreneurship in Uganda is rising rapidly where many women like Sandra are unleashing their talent. Despite the efforts around the world to help businesses stay afloat, there is a lack of attention to women-owned initiatives especially if they are not an established start-up. Across Africa, many women are prevented from getting a proper education at an early age due to discrimination, child marriage, or simply a lack of attention from their families. In fact, in sub-Saharan Africa 40% of the labor force is female. The pandemic also had a negative impact on these numbers, affecting women more than men, with larger work stoppages in urban areas.
In the private sector, African women only hold 23% of positions at the executive level according to reports at McKinsey. Lenders are less reluctant to give women a loan due to these numbers and hidden discriminatory practices, which only hold entrepreneurs back from accessing more capital.
WHAT IS “SHE IS A CEO”?
She is a CEO is a launched in 2021 to help underrepresented women in Uganda grow their businesses. We have chosen 3 female entrepreneurs with incredible business ideas to help grow. Our goal is not to change the mission of their idea but to help these female entrepreneurs expand to a bigger audience and transform their thoughts into reality. In order to do this, we believe that financial literacy training is as important as funding.
STEM All Stars provided $15,000 of funding to each woman and held digital marketing and business resiliency training. These two areas were of utmost importance because these women were not given the opportunity for an education focused on developing their own businesses. With technology also a huge part of our lives, social media platforms have been used by many businesses worldwide to connect to customers, especially during COVID-19. Most women who are economically challenged are not digitally savvy; in fact, they do not have access to technological devices which can be a big obstacle for women looking to reach out to customers. The training was held in partnership with local community partners and 20 STEM All Stars ambassadors. After seeing the incredible results of this initiative, STEM All Stars hopes to continue these efforts not only in Uganda but also in other countries in the world where women are underrepresented in business.
Attached below is the schedule for our initiative:
ABOUT OUR 3 CEO’s
- Naobi Mohammad
Naobi is a single mom with 3 children, had a love for cars ever since she was 15. When she was a little girl, her dream was to become a driver or a mechanic for motor vehicles. She began her career a decade ago at a local garage where she was allowed to do minor repair tasks for customers. After gaining the necessary skills at her job, she decided to sell her two cows to raise capital and start her own garage. Naobi bought a tool box and rented a space for 6 months. She says that customers found it difficult at first to trust her with their vehicles, especially in an industry dominated by men. While it took time to win the trust of her clients, she built a steady customer base by telling customers to refer her to their friends and family. When STEM All Stars first met with Naobi, she was facing many challenges. Her business was lacking capital to purchase spare parts, such as a portable welding generator, air compressor, engine lifting crane, and electrical welding machines. As rent prices were climbing up, she also risked missing her payments. Participating in “She is a CEO” has helped her strengthen her repair shop and get it registered under Kampala’s Mechanic Association. The training provided gave her the necessary skills to market to a wider audience other than her friends and family while the funding allowed Naobi to purchase necessary capital expenditures. As her business began to make more profit, Naobi bought 3 cows, a plot of land in the suburbs of Kampala, paid school fees for her children, and purchased a car. In order to grow her business, even more, she has employed 2 people and hopes to offer her mechanical skills to young girls in the community.
2. Aluna Ba
Aluna is a single mom originally from the Rwenzori region in Western Uganda, comes from a family of basket weavers. In Rwenzori, the tradition of hand weaving is passed down from mother to daughter adding to its importance as a vehicle for cultural expression and family livelihood driven by strong women. “It is a way of expression. I try to bring art on paper to life,” Aluna says. Aluna wakes up in the morning every day and walks 2 miles to pick dried grasses. These grasses combined with dyed sisal are what create the beautiful patterns and sturdiness of Aluna’s baskets. One large basket takes Aluna around 5 days to make and selling her product at a local marketplace with other basket weavers takes around 1-2 days. During the pandemic, it was even harder for Aluna to do this due to lockdowns and an overall decline in the retail market. When we met with Aluna in 2021, we asked her where she needed the most help. We learned about the basket weaving industry, the culture behind it, and the current demand in the market. Aluna told us that the biggest problem was the lack of primary infrastructure like sheds for weavers to sit in. She stays home to create baskets in her leisure time, which reduces productivity and ability to meet demand. Storing the products also requires investment and money that Aluna could not afford. After understanding her challenges, our ambassadors organized a long-term action plan to understand how much money Aluna needs to set up her own shop. They analyzed the amount of time she spends weaving an item, how much profit each product yields, and how many hours a week she is willing to work. They worked with her to interpret order forms and design color palettes that would appeal to a wide range of buyers but also distinguish her product from other competitors. Aluna and the ambassadors did this by adding a customizable feature to her baskets which were unheard of in the basket weaving community. With a strong value proposition, Aluna got the digital market and financial training and has started selling 10 baskets each week. She has over 6000 followers on Instagram and has established a shed for herself and fellow weavers to do work efficiently. In the future, Aluna says she wants to strengthen her craft and establish an international business.
3. Sandra Okaro
Sandra is the mother of Bilsha, is a single mom with a daughter in middle school. As mentioned above, she was the inspiration for Sajni to launch the initiative – She is a CEO. Sandra was brought up in a cultural household where beadmaking was a longstanding tradition. She doubled the number of bead bracelets sold every week and has an average of $1000 in her savings.