Under the third cohort of their NSSF Hi-innovator programme, an innovation initiative, the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), in collaboration with the MasterCard Foundation, has set aside nearly US$7.6 billion in seed capital for 100 indigenous women-owned firms.
This information was presented at the NSSF Hi-Innovator Women Accelerator’s third funding round launch, which took place at the Mestil Hotel in Kampala on November 22, 2022, as part of Uganda Innovation Week.
Patrick Ayota, the NSSF’s Deputy Managing Director, said during the launch that the investment is intended to give female entrepreneurs the chance to develop their business skills and expand while also preparing them for future investor support.
We have seen that women company owners are underrepresented in business efforts. The 2019 World Bank reported that women-owned microenterprises in Uganda generate 30% less profit than their male counterparts, despite the fact that Uganda is ranked as the second-highest country in the world with the highest percentage of women business owners (38.4%), according to the 2021 MasterCard Index of Women Entrepreneurs.
We will offer possibilities for female entrepreneurs to buck the trend through the NSSF Hi-women-only Innovator’s funding round, said Ayota. “We will make available Ugx 75 million as seed funding for each women’s business, and our objective is to support at least 100 businesses this round.”
Up until the end of January 2023, the NSSF Hi-Innovator Women Accelerator is open to all female business owners across all industries.
Adrian Bukenya, the MasterCard Foundation Country Director, expressed his enthusiasm about the partnership. “Our vision is to play a catalytic role in supporting partners to spur change built on a shared vision and values, equity, and accountability.” Our approach is holistic, emphasizing resilience and coordination among local implementing partners. Therefore, we are excited to be partners with NSSF on the Hi-Innovator program,” he said.
He added that through the NSSF Hi-Innovator Women Accelerator, Mastercard Foundation aims to support highly impactful and scalable small and growing businesses to access seed capital and technical support for their businesses.
“With this intervention, and by decentralizing and democratizing investment, more start-ups can receive funding and technical assistance to enable them to scale and create work opportunities,” Bukenya added.
In addition to the seed funding, the selected businesses will have unlimited access to customized business courses on the Hi-innovator Business Academy – an online learning platform, with tailored technical support, mentorship, and peer-to-peer learning opportunities.
Applicants will first receive entrepreneurial skill training through the Hi-innovator business academy, then pitch to an expert panel of judges. It is through pitching that successful businesses will be selected.
Explaining the criteria, Richard Zulu, the Outbox Team Lead, said that participating businesses must have over 50% female ownership or have at least 70% women in top management, must be legally operational in Uganda for at least two years and, employ at least 2 full-time staff, among others.
The Hi-Innovator programme, initiated by NSSF in partnership with Mastercard Foundation aims to create an environment where indigenous Small and Growing Businesses can be supported to mature into viable businesses. Outbox Uganda is the lead implementing partner.
It targets to impact over 75,000 entrepreneurs, provide seed funding to 500 budding businesses and create over 132,000 jobs over 5 years.
Since its launch in May 2021, 32 businesses have received seed funding and technical assistance worth over Ugx 4.6 billion through the Hi-Innovator Programme, helping to sustain and improve over 20,000 work opportunities for young people in Uganda. 78 businesses that were selected for seed funding last month are currently undergoing due diligence prior to receiving their Ugx 5.9 billion funding.
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