Attention will next week shift to Jinja city as it hosts the third edition of the annual PSFU Women’s Day Katale.
With anticipation growing, we caught up with Mr. Stephen Asiimwe, the PSFU CEO, who took time to explain the choice of Jinja as the ideal eastern Uganda city to host the Katale, the influence of Her Royal Majesty, the Inhebantu, and unlimited opportunities that this platform presents.
Question: How and why did PSFU settle on Jinja to host the 2024 Women’s Day Katale?
Stephen Asiimwe: This is a young initiative. This is Katale three. A three-year kid operates like a three-year kid. But more importantly, last year we had a big event in West Nile. We also had a big event in Mbale. Our affirmative action is to ensure that we spread equitably across the country.
The most important thing is that we wanted to go eastwards this year for the Katale and settled on Jinja. We wanted to ‘piggy-ride’ on the new enthusiasm of the new Queen of Basoga, her Majesty the IneBantu. She is new, fresh and popular. She is the biggest, youngest woman influencer in the country right now. The third season of the Katale, running in the month of March coincides with the end of her honeymoon. Culturally, she has to go through a honeymoon process which among other things stops her from appearing in public until a certain number of days which is done now. The PSFU Katale is thus a great event for the people of Busoga to engage with the IneBantu not that her honeymoon is done.
Further, Busoga region and Jinja particularly have a huge population of unemployed women. Jinja has a huge population but the per capita is very low. We wanted to use the Katale to catalyze the outreach for businesses there. Besides, Jinja is a town on the run; a Tourism City, a Source of the Nile and once upon a time, the biggest manufacturing centre in the country. Jinja is a good place to be and support the transformation of Women and the Girl child.
Question: As rightly observed by yourself, Jinja is a Tourism Hub. How can the Tourism sector tap into this Katale initiative?
Stephen Asiimwe: All roads lead to Jinja for the Katale. Jinja has the largest concentration of guest houses in Uganda. Many houses next to the River Nile have been converted into boutique hotels or guest houses. After Nyege Nyege, the Coronation and Royal wedding, the Women’s Day Katale is going to be the next biggest event in Jinja and Busoga region. The people of Jinja should prepare themselves in three ways. One; be ready to receive the visitors coming in for the Katale and make some money. Two; be part of the Katale by exhibiting the different products they have to offer. And three, the Jinja leadership and Tourism fraternity must use this opportunity to organize pocket-friendly tourism packages for visitors. These may include mini trips to the waterfalls, bungee jumping, visiting the source of the Nile and many others. It is a good time for Jinja, especially the Tourism fraternity. They must exploit these opportunities.
Question: Minus the Katale, which is an annual event, what follow-up activities does PSFU undertake to ensure that the ladies that have benefited from the Katale continue to grow their businesses and transform their communities?
Stephen Asiimwe: As PSFU, we have a big membership drive because we are a member-based organization. We have eased the process of enrolling new members, especially those that are upcountry-based. So, we intend to incorporate all the Women who participate in the Katale into our database for continued follow-up and support. We also have more projects that support Women Entrepreneurs such as GROW with the World Bank and the Ministry of Gender, we also have the Young Africa Works supported by Mastercard Foundation, INVITE – Investment for Industrial Transformation and Employment and UN Women programs among others. We also have several calendar events that support women. This very month, we have a big summit; the EU-Uganda Business Forum where Women Entrepreneurs will still have a chance to further grow their businesses. In all, we continue to support Women in Business to scale.
Question: As we conclude this interview, why must the Women Entrepreneurs in Jinja not miss this Katale?
Stephen Asiimwe: I would like to implore as many people from Jinja and Busoga to come for the Katale at Dam Waters Rugby Ground. We have a lot of transformative activities learned. We are going to teach and equip. Financial institutions are going to be there and our membership, projects and technical teams to ensure that all participants benefit. I would like to call upon the leadership of Jinja and the Kingdom of Busoga to be part of this. We won’t be coming to Jinja in a long time as we have to spread this Katale across over 100 districts, the 20 sub-regions if you like. So, 2024 is for Jinja and I implore the leaders to rally their people to participate. PSFU is a home to everyone doing business. If you are a business person, intend to do business or want to do business better, the PSFU Women’s Day Katale is your event.
