As Uganda prepares to join the rest of the world to commemorate the International Women’s on March 8, URA organized a conference on Saturday for women to join hands and empower each other irrespective of their different business areas.
The conference, held at the Next Media auditorium, was themed “Women Rising to the challenge amidst a changing business environment.”
The theme, according to URA officials, highlights the need for women to re-invent and think of creative ways of doing things differently in the competitive business environment amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
In her key note speech, Patience Rubagumya, the Commissioner Legal services and Board Affairs at URA explained that women have been affected most by the pandemic.
For example, she pointed out, the most hit businesses are the Small and Medium Enterprises(SMES) and the informal sector that employs more women than the men.
She also quoted a recent business impact survey conducted by Makerere University in 2020 which indicated that 62.3% of the companies considered scaling down by laying off workers.
“All these factors negatively affected women’s ability to support themselves and their families,” Rubagumya said.
Mrs. Rubagumya told the women to create partnerships and discuss issues as a means to support each other.
“As an organization, we have purposed to be a business enabler by continuously listening to our stakeholders and clients and developing solutions to facilitate their businesses,” she emphasized.
She hinted on the immense opportunities presented by the ongoing URA KAKASA campaign advising women to embrace voluntary disclosure and Electronic Fiscal Receipting and Invoicing Solution to ease business.
Meanwhile, Annet Nakawunde, the Managing Director Finance Trust Bank, encouraged women to seize the opportunities brought about by COVID-19 other than lamentating on everything that went wrong.
She encouraged women to rely on online business operations and join developmental groups so that they access credit from banks.
“Whereas it is true that COVID-19 has affected us [women], there are also opportunities that have come with this season. Women should appreciate technology more by interacting with “machines” as they go about their business,” she said.
The Registrar General of Uganda Registration Services Bureau, Mercy Kainobwisho, encouraged women to formalize their businesses for sustainability and government sponsorship.
“During lockdown, government promised to support small business. However, this was an uphill task because most of the small businesses are not registered,” Kainobwisho said.
Connie Kekihembo, the Chief Executive Officer of the Uganda Women Entrepreneurs Association Limited, advised the women who want to compete in the challenging business environment to consider personal branding beyond their products.
She noted that having a good brand is important but a good personality and a story behind the product pushes one further in the market.
Kekihembo told women to have key values of trust, integrity in order to win clients’ confidence and thrive in business.
Some of the key women dignitaries who graced the 2021 URA annual women’s conference were; Rosa Malango, the United Nations Resident Coordinator for Uganda, Members of Parliament of Uganda and other women in leadership.
src: ChimpReports
