BRIDGING ECONOMIC DIVIDES FOR WOMEN PROSPERITY

Last month, the whole world came together to celebrate the tremendous women making strides for a better world. The acknowledgement and celebration of women annually during the “Women’s month” is uplifting, and it restores hope among women. However, the real task at hand remains how to boost economic prosperity for women, especially, female led innovations in Uganda. Fighting this battle begins with accepting that the playing field is not level. The balance remains in favor of male founders/innovators, mainly due to inherent biases in the corridors of power about female founders/innovators.

Due to the challenges women face naturally because of gender disposition, they aren’t recognized as viable options for serious business deals. Uganda is a patriarch state in which most of the resources are held by males on behalf of the family who pass on the wealth to their male heir upon their demise.? With ownership of wealth comes control of use of resources, access to capital or credit, which are then tilted in favor of the males. Additionally, women carry the natural carter role which further limits the time available for serious business outside the home. A global study found that women spend 55% of their time on unpaid work. Take an obvious example of a wife. While a wife will be expected to stay at home if her child or husband falls sick, it's highly unlikely that the husband will do the same if she fell sick. Instead, another female relative or care giver shall be found to fill the gap an enable the man to continue working uninterrupted.

For the women who manage to make it to workplace and become serious contenders with men, they are most likely undermined by either male colleague, bosses, or their Boards simply for being feminine. Essentially, women juggle the same roles but have less money to show for it due to pay parity or if they are founders/innovators, lack of connections to opportunities men get for financing. This makes their businesses less competitive because they cannot afford top talent, improve production, penetrate new markets etc. Further issues are demonstrated by the cases of sexual harassment in the workspace that are primarily a showcase of taking advantage of the vulnerability which comes with gender disposition. Unfortunate as they are, all these issues are by no means limited to Uganda alone.

Globally, there are 12.3 million women-owned businesses today, with 43% of the total number of entrepreneurs worldwide being women. According to Women Entrepreneurs Statistics 2023, the issue of gender predisposition has affected over 35% of female entrepreneurs, and 88% of businesses owned by women produce below $100,000 revenue yearly. It has been reported that getting a conventional loan from the bank is still an uphill task for women, with over a third of female loan applicants being rejections from financial institutions. Successful female loan applicants receive 5% less of the funding offered to men for business.

Beyond mere recognition of the challenges faced by women, it is imperative that we take deliberate action to dismantle the barriers hindering their economic prosperity. This entails implementing practical measures aimed at fostering their advancement. Presently, a multitude of organizations are dedicated to nurturing female entrepreneurial talent, including incubators, accelerators, gender-focused investment funds, venture capitalists, and advocacy and mentoring groups. However, our foremost priority should be to ensure that the women most in need of support are the primary beneficiaries of these initiatives.