Ericsson and MTN have collaborated to offer free financial training to small- and medium-scale women entrepreneurs in Kampala, Uganda.
This initiative aims to drive financial and gender inclusion and empower African women to reach their full potential.
The two companies launched a three-week training program for local female traders at one of Kampala’s largest markets. The program not only enhanced financial literacy but also showcased the benefits of MTN’s mobile financial services platform, MoMo, powered by Ericsson Mobile Financial Services, encouraging participants to utilize it for their businesses.
The training commenced with an official opening attended by Sylvia Mulinge, Chief Executive Officer of MTN Uganda, who visited the market and interacted with women traders. Over the following days, volunteers from MTN and Ericsson educated the entrepreneurs on various financial topics, including savings, cash flow, and credit scores. Participants also learned how to use mobile money for transferring, paying, saving, receiving, and borrowing funds to grow their businesses.
The program featured testimonial sessions highlighting success stories of women entrepreneurs who have scaled their businesses using MoMo. The final day of the event included a competition, where the top five traders with the highest MoMo transactions for the month of March received prizes for their businesses.
The Chief Executive at MTN Mobile Money Uganda Limited, Richard Yego stated, “At MTN, we are committed to improving the lives of the communities in which we operate. As a global technology leader, Ericsson has been our trusted partner in building confidence in mobile money solutions and has played a key role in modernizing our services in this space. Our joint training program marks a new step forward in bridging the digital gender divide in Uganda.”
Also, the Vice President and Head of Global Customer Unit MTN and Customer Unit MTN Africa at Ericsson Middle East and Africa, Hossam Kandeel added, “As the digital transformation in Africa advances, we are keen to help unlock opportunities for people and businesses on the continent to actively participate in the digital economy.
Kandeel said : “As part of our environmental, social, and governance (ESG) efforts and our strong focus on women’s empowerment, we were delighted to join forces with MTN Uganda to support women’s entrepreneurship by upskilling local traders. In line with our corporate citizenship initiatives, Ericsson employees are encouraged to do volunteer work of up to one day per year, and in Ericsson Middle East and Africa we do this under the banner #powerofkindness.”
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According to the Uganda Women Entrepreneurs Association Limited (UWEAL), 44 per cent of businesses in the country are owned by women. However, a World Bank study has found that these businesses tend to be smaller and operate in less profitable sectors than those run by men, highlighting the need for targeted support for Ugandan women entrepreneurs to enhance their contribution to the national economy.
Ericsson has maintained a long-standing collaboration with MTN Uganda since their inception as a communication service provider in 1998. In 2014, MTN migrated its mobile money offering to Ericsson Mobile Financial Services, significantly increasing its reliability, security, and scalability.
