dfcu Bank, in partnership with Monitor Publications Limited, is steadily deepening its investment in women-led enterprises through the Rising Woman Expo.
The flagship platform has grown into one of Uganda’s most influential springboards for entrepreneurial development.
Bringing together hundreds of women from across the country, the Expo creates a marketplace of ideas, skills, capital, and opportunity.
It is designed to help women-led SMEs become more competitive, better structured, and more prepared for sustainable growth.
Central to its philosophy is the belief that women already form a strong entrepreneurial base in Uganda; what they need are the tools, networks, and knowledge to scale meaningfully.
At the core of the Expo is an integrated ecosystem that combines structured business training, one-on-one mentorship, financial literacy coaching, and market linkages.
The approach is intended to close operational and knowledge gaps that commonly hold back small businesses. Entrepreneurs are not only taught new skills; they are immediately connected to potential buyers, financiers, and partners.
This mix has turned the platform into a space where businesses gain visibility, refine their operations, and position themselves for expansion.
Doreen Atuheire, the head of dfcu Women in Business, says the bank’s investment is deliberate.
She notes that when women acquire the right financial tools, skills and networks, they strengthen not only their businesses but the communities around them.
The Rising Woman Initiative is, therefore, about improving the operating environment for women-led SMEs so that they become more resilient, more bankable and more impactful.
People buy different products from a woman-led business at the Rising Woman Expo in Kampala. Through the expo, dfcu Bank is building a stronger entrepreneurial ecosystem by equipping women with financial skills, market linkages, and mentorship that help them structure, scale, and sustain competitive businesses.
This approach is especially important in sectors where women traditionally dominate – food, retail, household products, services and health-related goods.
These enterprises directly influence household welfare and community livelihoods, meaning that when they thrive, entire neighbourhoods benefit.
Through the Women in Business (WiB) Programme, dfcu has already trained and supported more than 80,000 women entrepreneurs.
This is crucial in a context where many SMEs fail not due to lack of ideas but because of weak systems, poor financial discipline, low market access and limited institutional linkages, as highlighted by research from Financial Sector Deepening Uganda.
The Rising Woman Expo addresses these weaknesses by bringing mentorship clinics, learning spaces, exhibitions, public dialogues and networking opportunities under one roof.
Entrepreneurs who understand bookkeeping, tax obligations, digital tools and marketing stand a better chance of surviving and scaling.
The 2024 Expo, held from November 14 to 15, came as dfcu celebrated its 60th anniversary, marking decades of investment in financial inclusion, enterprise development and national growth.
The Expo reflects this legacy by recognising entrepreneurs as engines of economic progress.
The impact in practice
The Expo’s value becomes clearer when viewed through the stories of entrepreneurs behind the stalls.
The journeys of Amazima Restaurant, Muyettis Company, and Lacito Enterprises demonstrate exactly how knowledge, networks, and coaching reshape the trajectory of women-led SMEs.
Amazima Restaurant: Building structure for scale
Amazima Restaurant, run by Gloria Naturinda near Charm Towers, is a 29-year-old establishment known for its organic and largely oil-free meals.
It grew gradually from a small canteen through reinvested daily earnings, a path typical for many women entrepreneurs whose expansion is constrained by limited access to capital.
Naturinda says that despite strong demand, the business faced challenges in staff retention, tax compliance and financing.
How Ecobank is Betting on Inclusive, Tech-Powered Learning in UgandaRising Woman training led to two major shifts: digitalisation and financial discipline.
She realised that modern systems could reduce leakages, improve transparency, and strengthen the restaurant’s credibility with lenders.
Another important change was separating business and personal finances. This has helped her create savings, reinvest in the business, and plan for expansion.
With 42 employees, Amazima already has a strong social and economic impact, and the new systems have positioned it for its next phase of growth.
Muyettis: From single product to diversified enterprise
Muyettis Company, led by Ndagire Betty Wambi, began as a simple sandal-making venture. But it has evolved into a diversified cottage enterprise producing avocado seed powder, porridge, hair bonnets, odour removers, bomber jackets, and liquid soap.
Her story shows how women entrepreneurs can expand horizontally when they are equipped with the right skills and networks.
She employs women from her community and has created a structured supply chain for avocado seeds, which previously went to waste.
Before joining Rising Woman, Ndagire had no formal record-keeping system. Orders were scribbled on loose paper, and payments were tracked on her phone.
After training, she now keeps clear financial records and understands her profits, expenses, and cash flows. This shift has made her business more credible to potential lenders and partners.
Lacito Enterprises: Bridging diaspora investment and local markets
Lacito Enterprises, founded by Grace Oloya, operates in event management, procurement, and shopping services, primarily for clients in the diaspora.
Many Ugandans abroad struggle with mismanaged local projects, and their business responds by sourcing materials, supervising construction, and ensuring value for money.
She also runs the Luo Festival, a cultural and tourism event that promotes local products, community identity, and regional tourism.
The festival creates temporary employment and stimulates markets for rural producers. Oloya credits Rising Woman with improving her understanding of tax compliance, bookkeeping, marketing, and social media.
These skills have strengthened her business operations and improved her institutional readiness. While access to finance remains her biggest challenge, she believes she is now better positioned to secure credit for scaling.
A clear economic logic
Taken together, these stories illustrate the underlying logic of the Rising Woman Initiative.
Each entrepreneur began with potential but faced structural constraints, including weak systems, limited financial literacy, tax confusion, and restricted market access.
Rising Woman provided the training, mentorship, visibility, and networks required to overcome these barriers.
These efforts did not replace the entrepreneurs’ resilience; they sharpened it.
And because each enterprise sits within a wider economic ecosystem, strengthening them creates ripple effects across households, markets, and communities.
As Atuheire notes, when women gain access to the right tools and opportunities, they uplift entire communities.
The Rising Woman Expo shows how that transformation unfolds, steadily, deliberately, and sustainably.
