Uganda Small Scale Industries Association (USSIA) on Friday called upon their members to mobilize and utilize the available resources to increase value addition for their Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
Ms. Veronica Namwanje, the executive secretary for Uganda Small Scale Industries Association, while addressing participants at Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala, said USIA is 45 years old, whose primary mission is to lobby for resources and advocate for growth of SMEs, which also includes advocacy on Government to lower taxes.
“USSIA is spread across the four Regions of Uganda and we are the best Association in the country, which won the Private Sector Foundation- Uganda (PSF-U) Award last year”, she said.
She said USSIA in addition has empowered women and youth entrepreneurs, through training on business start-ups in partnership with CARITAS Uganda in Yumbe District.
“USSIA in addition supports SMEs to access markets for their products. These include; SMEs engaged in meat, fish, wine and food processing, carpentry and metal fabricators among others”, she added.
Mrs. Eunice Wekesa, USSIA Chairperson, said their organization is in partnership with Trade Facilitation Office- Canada (TFO-Canada),a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) for resource mobilization to support Ugandan SMEs. She said TFO-Canada supports SMEs in Kenya, Uganda and Lesotho to align with their strategic priorities.
“We should strengthen our organization in resource mobilization. We first need assessment before engaging in supporting USSIA members”, she said.
She said USSIA is committed to helping women and youth entrepreneurs stand on their own economically.
Mr. Gyeriva Kyalimpa, a wood processing SME proprietor from Fort Portal, hailed USSIA for supporting him and his other colleagues to travel to Germany for a study tour. He said the study tour enabled him to expand his business tremendously and called upon Ugandan entrepreneurs to join USSIA for a bright future.
“When I lost my job in Kampala in 2001, I went back to Fort Portal to engage in wood business. With support from USSIA, I have managed to grow my business and now employ over 20 people in my enterprise”, he said.
The one-day Conference was also attended by representatives from the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) and Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) among others.
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