Sustainable Business for Uganda (SB4U) on Tuesday held a half-day event to celebrate the seventh anniversary of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Day.
SB4U is the fruit of a partnership between the European Union (EU), the Government of Uganda (GoU), and the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU), funded by the EU.
The United Nations (UN) General Assembly designated 27th June as “Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) Day” to raise awareness of the tremendous contributions of MSMEs to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The event seeking to build competitiveness and empower Ugandan MSMEs to participate and win at the domestic, regional, and global marketplace, was held at Golf Course Hotel in Kampala.
The event focused on key issues of export readiness and was facilitated by policymakers, leading professionals, and lead organizations with extensive experiences in and mandates for trade promotion and facilitation, product and market development, and entrepreneurship development in Uganda.
While delivering her remarks, the Keynote Speaker, Angella Bageine, highlighted the significance of categorizing MSMEs based on the number of employees, capital investment and annual sales turnover.
“This helps us understand where we stand and how to progress. Let’s move forward by knowing ourselves,” she noted.
Bageine is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Africa Customer Service Agency and a Private Sector Foundation Board Member (SMEs).
She said while the growing statistics may seem positive for Uganda’s MSMEs, there are underlying concerns.
According to her, the lack of support for local businesses and a focus on importing rather than manufacturing hinder growth.
“We need to work together to empower MSMEs and reduce the 20% business mortality rate that they are currently suffering,” she stated.
According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), this year’s Micro-, Small & Medium-sized Enterprises Day is a reminder that MSMEs hold the potential to transform economies, foster job creation and promote equitable economic growth if given adequate support.
“As we discuss the challenges faced by MSMEs, we acknowledge the resilience shown by businesses in Uganda despite the pandemic. However, we must address bottlenecks such as finances and matching supply with demand,” said Caroline Adriaensen, the EU Head of Cooperation.
She said their goal is to find solutions and empower MSMEs to overcome these challenges.
“We appreciate the vital role of small businesses in job creation, wealth, and revenue generation. Small businesses represent 90% of job opportunities, offering employment to youth and women,” she added.
Speaking on the sidelines of the event, John Walugembe Kakungulu, the Executive Director at the Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises- Uganda, said the SB4U platform facilitates dialogue between public and private sectors locally and with the European Union which he called “the largest single market in the world”.
He said the meeting was intended to highlight challenges facing MSMEs and find solutions as well.
“So, we came together to share experiences and pool together knowledge,” he said, adding that there was a need to focus more on targeted interventions, especially raising more finances for MSMEs.
“SMEs have already invested. We need to support them to grow by availing cheap credit. If some of these bottlenecks aren’t addressed, businesses may stagnate,” he said.