Overview:
Non-Ugandans should be running a business that includes a Ugandan in an ownership and decision-making role to be considered.
The National Social Security Fund (NSSF), under the Hi-Innovator flagship sustainability program, is looking for 92,400 women entrepreneurs to fund their businesses.
NSSF communication and marketing officer Barbara Arimi told New Vision in an interview that women entrepreneurs across the country were eligible, provided they dealt in agriculture, technology, commerce, and manufacturing.
She said each beneficiary business would receive $30,000 (about sh105m). The program will run for the next five years.
However, before receiving the grant, Arimi said the pre-accelerator is the first step of the Hi-Innovator program.
Arimi described it as a self-directed online platform with exercises to enable entrepreneurs to apply the skills to their businesses.
It also prepares them for the next phase, receiving funding and technical assistance.
“Starting a business is never an easy task. Founders often face the challenge of having to fund each step of the enterprise’s growth while ensuring that there is a balance between inputs and outputs,” she said.
Arimi added that these challenges, without quick solutions, often delayed a start-up’s maturity and resulted in business stagnation, hence the reason for women to receive the grant fund.
Richard Byarugaba, the NSSF chief executive officer, said by July 2021, about 890 applications had been received, from 28% females and 71% males.
Arimi said the opportunity was now targeting women to motivate them to improve their economic growth and survival in the bad economy.
The development comes after the partnership between NSSF and Master Card Foundation was sealed last year, where at least $2.4m (about sh8.4b) was cashed out of $10m (about sh35b) as seed capital to start-ups.
Byaruhanga said with this money, the fund seeks to support small businesses with the potential to scale and bring new economic opportunities in Uganda and create more than 130,000 jobs in the next 10 years.
What is required?
An application must be submitted through the Hi-Innovator and idea management system to be considered. Those received by email, What’s App, or in person will not be accepted.
In terms of what the business should possess, the limit is at least to have launched a product or service to the market and received early customer feedback with some revenue. The revenue should be at least sh20m over the previous two years.
The business should also have been legally and actively operational for at least two years.
The business must have been fully registered with Uganda Registration Services Bureau, Uganda Revenue Authority, and NSSF.
Arimi said the other requirement for registration is that applicants must be Ugandan nationals or non-nationals currently living and working in Uganda with up-to-date work permits.
Non-Ugandans should be running a business that includes a Ugandan in an ownership and decision-making role to be considered.
The Hi-Innovator initiative requires founder participation. All founding team members must commit to fully participating in at least 90% of the initiative’s scheduled learning labs and mentorship sessions.
“Founding team members not fully committed to the initiative will not be accepted in the initiative, and their removal may render the remaining team ineligible for the program,” she said.