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Launch of the POWER Accelerator (2024-25) and Exciting News for Women Entrepreneurs in Uganda!

Blog | 24. September 2024 | #Entrepreneurship #femtech #Health #POWER #social enterprises #SRHR #startups #youth empowerment

Launch of POWER Accelerator for Female Entrepreneurs in Uganda

On Friday, September 13, we launched the third phase of POWER (Providing Opportunities for Women in Entrepreneurship and Reproductive Health) Accelerator for 2024-25 in Uganda. Honestly, as someone who has watched POWER grow from just an idea, to now potentially launching THIRTY-TWO new female-led startups in the field of family planning, this was the highlight of my year at DSW. But before I dive into the excitement of the launch itself, let me introduce you to this new phase of POWER and what it entails.

What is POWER all about?

The POWER Accelerator Cohort II (2024-2025) is an initiative developed by DSW and our partner in Uganda, Action 4 Health Uganda (A4HU), to accelerate female entrepreneurship in the field of Family Planning (FP) and Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) in Uganda. Building on the success of 12 startups launched in 2023, this new phase aims to support the creation of 20 more startups—leading to a total of 32 new social entrepreneurship businesses by 2025!

This new POWER phase is designed to be more than just an accelerator. It’s closely linked to DSW’s Youth Empowerment Centres (YECs) and Youth Clubs (YCs), creating synergy with other impactful projects like our ‘Flying Nurses’ project (more about that below). The accelerator focuses on empowering young women, aged 18-30, to launch FP/SRHR businesses, many of whom are coming from our YECs and YCs.

Here’s what the program offers:

To further enhance this, we’ve transformed DSW’s Bonita Training Centre into a dedicated ‘Women’s Business Hub’. This space will act as a training center and workspace for the new female-led startups, giving them the tools they need to thrive. In addition, the POWER entrepreneurs will operate across four major regions in Uganda:

Sustainable Growth and Multi-Sectorial Mapping

The vision for POWER is long-term sustainability, where each cohort’s graduates become mentors for future participants. While we’re launching with 20 startups this year due to financial constraints, we aim to increase that number to 24 annually as we secure more resources.

One of the standout features of Phase II was our multi-sectorial mapping exercise. This helped us forge connections with actors across the private sector (banks included), government, academia, and the social field. These connections brought a diverse group of participants (over 70!) to the launch event. Representatives from organizations like the International Labour Organization, Stanbic Bank, MasterCard Foundation, and GIZ were present, as well as government ministries like the Ministry of Gender. Past graduates of the program also attended, sharing their business success stories and offering valuable advice to the incoming cohort—truly an inspiring experience!

Introducing the Multi-Sectoral Investment Fund (MIF)

One of the most exciting parts of the launch was the introduction of the Multi-Sectoral Investment Fund (MIF). This initiative is truly unique and has the potential to revolutionize how women entrepreneurs in Uganda access financing. MIF is a private limited company set up by POWER Alumni to provide affordable and timely financing for its members. It’s based on four key pillars: investment financing, credit financing, asset financing, and matching grants.

Here’s a brief overview of these pillars:

  1. Investment Financing: Provides startup capital for initial costs like equipment, offices, and market penetration.
  2. Credit Financing: Offers loans supporting business expansion and inventory management.
  3. Asset Financing: Helps startups acquire costly but essential assets (e.g., machinery) through a lease or hire-purchase arrangement.
  4. Matching Grants: Matches up to 50% of funds raised by members from other sources, supporting struggling businesses or those in recovery.

The MIF aims to provide a financial safety net for businesses, especially those hit by challenges like inflation or financial distress. It’s funded by a mix of member contributions, donor funds, and development partner grants.

Expanding the Reach of POWER Startups

The companies formed through the first phase of POWER already offer a wide range of products and services. These include providing accurate information about modern contraceptives, HIV self-testing kits, period wellness products, and mental health support services. The businesses also leverage ICT innovations like e-commerce platforms to deliver these essential products and services discreetly and efficiently.

Looking ahead, we expect these offerings to expand further as the new cohort of startups comes online. One of the current POWER companies, SimplyFP, is already collaborating with the “Flying Nurses” project to deliver high-quality family planning products through an e-commerce platform. This partnership is a win-win: Flying Nurses can sell family planning commodities via SimplyFP’s platform, and nurses receive instant mobile payments for sales, expanding their market reach beyond traditional districts into urban areas, universities, hotels, and more.

Have any questions?

Feel free to reach out to me or Hassan directly:

Shane O’Halloran, Head of DSW’s Digital Transformation and Business Development Unit. shane.ohalloran@dsw.org

Hassan Waswa, Social Entrepreneurship Manager, Action 4 Health Uganda.  hassan.waswa@a4huganda.org

Shane O’Halloran