The Role of the GROW Project in Advancing Women-Led Business Initiatives in Uganda

Okello Francis Xavier (PhD Candidate)¹, & Aina Obe Shamsuddin Bolatito (PhD)²
1Department of Business Studies, Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Islamic University in Uganda, Maim Campus, Mbale, Uganda
2Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Islamic University in Uganda, Maim Campus, Mbale, Uganda
DOI – http://doi.org/10.37502/IJSMR.2026.9401

Abstract

In Uganda, women-led enterprises are gaining recognition as crucial to inclusive growth, employment creation, household welfare, and gender equality. Within this policy environment, the Generating Growth Opportunities and Productivity for Women Enterprises (GROW) Project has emerged as a major intervention intended to strengthen women’s entrepreneurship through access to finance, skills development, mentorship, and institutional support. This article examines the role of the GROW Project in advancing women-led business initiatives in Uganda. The researchers adopt a qualitative approach grounded in document analysis and supported by relevant empirical and theoretical literature. The discussion is informed by Kabeer’s Agency Theory and Bourdieu’s Cultural Capital Theory, which together explain how women’s economic participation is shaped by both access to resources and the socio-cultural structures within which entrepreneurship occurs. The findings suggest that the GROW Project has strong potential to improve financial inclusion, business performance, market participation, and women’s socio-economic agency. However, the project’s effectiveness is constrained by persistent barriers, including collateral requirements, bureaucratic delays, weak market linkages, digital exclusion, limited rural outreach, and enduring gendered norms. Comparative evidence from Uganda’s Women Entrepreneurship Programme further shows that women-focused enterprise interventions can deliver meaningful gains in income, self-employment, household welfare, and social transformation, but that such gains depend on continuous support and context-sensitive implementation. The article concludes that GROW is a promising instrument for women’s enterprise development in Uganda, but its long-term reputation and sustainability will depend on stronger monitoring, broader inclusion, and institutional responsiveness.

Keywords: GROW Project, women-led enterprises, Uganda, financial inclusion, entrepreneurship, women’s empowerment

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