The minister of State for Gender and Culture Kuteesa Mary Kamuli has commended Stanbic Bank Uganda and the Embassy of France in Uganda for supporting women and youth-led businesses in the green economy.
Kuteesa said partnerships such as the Stanbic GreenTech Accelerator are important in removing barriers that prevent women and young people from fully participating in Uganda’s economy.
She made the remarks on Friday in Kampala while officiating at the graduation of 106 entrepreneurs who completed the GreenTech Accelerator and Incubation Programme.
Kuteesa said Uganda’s ambition to achieve tenfold economic growth by 2040 would require greater investment in women and young people, who make up a large part of the country’s entrepreneurial population.
“To achieve the growth we aspire to, we must expand economic opportunities for women and youth,” she said.
She commended Stanbic Uganda and the Embassy of France for supporting entrepreneurs who are creating jobs, developing solutions to environmental challenges and contributing to Uganda’s economic growth.
The graduates, most of whom are women and young people, underwent training and business support aimed at helping them develop climate-smart enterprises, strengthen their business models and become more attractive to investors.
The programme supports businesses working in areas including sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, waste management, circular economy solutions and other green technologies.
The initiative is being implemented by Stanbic Business Incubator Limited (SBIL), a subsidiary of Stanbic Uganda Holdings Limited (SUHL), in partnership with the Embassy of France in Uganda.
The two-year programme targets up to 200 enterprises in the Kampala Metropolitan Area and the Albertine Region, with more than 60 per cent of participating businesses led by women and young people.
The programme was launched in 2025 with financing from the Embassy of France and co-financing from Stanbic. At the launch, the project was valued at about €687,833, including a €450,000 contribution from the French Embassy and €237,833 from Stanbic.
The support is intended to help entrepreneurs improve their business skills, access finance and markets, strengthen their operations and develop enterprises capable of creating jobs and responding to environmental challenges.
Mark Ocitti Ongom, chief executive officer of Stanbic Uganda Holdings Limited, said the partnership reflected the shared interest of Stanbic and France in Uganda’s long-term economic development.
“The Embassy of France is interested in sustainable growth for Uganda. We, on the other hand, call Uganda home and are committed to driving her growth,” Ongom said.
He said the programme demonstrated what could be achieved when organisations worked together to support entrepreneurs who were addressing practical challenges while creating economic opportunities.
French Ambassador to Uganda Virginie Leroy said entrepreneurs would be central to Uganda’s efforts to achieve sustainable economic growth while responding to climate change.
She said businesses participating in the programme were demonstrating that environmental sustainability and economic growth could be pursued together.
“Uganda’s green transition will depend on innovators who can translate environmental challenges into practical and commercially viable solutions,” Leroy said.
Catherine Poran, chief executive officer of Stanbic Business Incubator Limited, said the programme was designed to help entrepreneurs turn innovative ideas into businesses that can attract investment and compete in the market.
She said the graduates had spent the programme period strengthening their business models, testing their solutions and preparing their enterprises for expansion.
The graduation ceremony also marked the beginning of the programme’s second phase, with the Embassy of France and SBIL signing an agreement to continue the initiative and open applications for another group of green entrepreneurs.
