GIZ’s Employment and Skills for Development in Africa (E4D) programme is, partnering with GOPA Worldwide Advisors, AFC Agriculture and Finance Consultants and E360, to increase the competitiveness of 1,000 Ugandan Small Medium Enterprises. This is through the Enhancing the Competitiveness of Small and Medium Enterprises in Uganda (ECOS) project worth UGX 8.5 billion.
During its two-year running period, the project will work to create over 3,000 new jobs and improve the employment situation of 22,000 people in Uganda. The project’s priority sectors are agriculture and food processing, manufacturing, tourism, and hospitality, green sectors, and construction.
Speaking at the launch of the project, GIZ E4D Uganda’s Team Leader, Donald Agaba said,
“The ECOS project will be nationwide. It is part of E4D’s pandemic response efforts to capacitate SMEs to deal with the ongoing interruptions to supply chains and the decreasing consumption that have forced companies in various sectors to close or cut jobs, leading to a significant fall in company revenues and widespread unemployment.”
“Like E4D, the overarching goal is creating employment and improving the employment situation of workers. ECOS builds upon previous E4D interventions and shall address both structural and pandemic-related obstacles faced by SMEs in Uganda,” he adds.
Jimmy Byaruhanga, the ECOS project team leader at GOPA Worldwide Advisors explains that, “under this project, selected enterprises shall undergo a business diagnostic to identify key constraints limiting their growth and competitiveness, which shall be followed by a series of training and technical assistance in areas of innovation and digitalisation, quality management, market development and access to finance.”
Ugandan enterprises urged to explore regional oil and gas opportunitiesThe ECOS project seeks to establish and implement through an ecosystem that brings on board key players in the SME sector in Uganda. To enhance project sustainability, the ECOS project shall be anchored within various local partner institutions that shall support the institutionalisation of the business diagnostic tool plus training and capacity building initiatives. Partners that will support the objective to create green jobs, promote female-led enterprises and private sector engagement are similarly being sought.
Institutions from the Ugandan SME ecosystem, the public and private sectors, civil society, and academia, are invited to participate in the ECOS project to explore opportunities for collaboration and networking.
The ECOS project through the E4D programme is commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and is co-funded in Uganda by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) and implemented by GIZ.
About Employment and Skills for Development in Africa (E4D)
The E4D programme aims at bringing people into jobs and improving employment situations in six countries: Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda. Through cooperation with the private and public sector partners, E4D is implementing development projects in different sectors, mainly targeting disadvantaged groups like women and youth. The programme is commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and is co-funded in Uganda by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) and is implemented by GIZ.
