Microfinance and Entrepreneurial Empowerment of Women: The Case of Women's Microfinance Initiative in Uganda

Purpose: Women have always been underestimated and discriminated in social, economic and political spheres of life. Moreover, the traditional household chores create hindrances in their social and economic empowerment. Entrepreneurship development among women largely focuses on the empowerment of women through developing skills in Small to Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and business ventures by taking risk of making investment decisions. Over the years, various efforts have been made by Government and Non-Government Organisations to promote women empowerment in Uganda and one such effort is through the micro-finance intervention. This Paper attempts to explore the impact of micro finance on the women's entrepreneurial empowerment with specific reference to Women's Micro-finance Initiative (WMI) in Buyobo in North Eastern Uganda. Materials and Methods: The study adopted an exploratory cross sectional research design. The target population comprised women's microfinance Initiative Laon beneficiaries. A study Sample of 1,380 Respondents were purposively selected. The main Instrument for data collection was a structured Questionnaire and was complemented by Interviews and Focus Group Discussions. The study findings were presented in form of Tables, Graphs, Pie charts and where appropriate and where necessary, quotes or excerpts were used to strengthen the interpretation. Findings: The study findings reveal that the Micro-finance has a positive impact in terms of improvement in Business Operations; Diversification of Businesses; Business Skills Improvement; Improvement in Household livelihoods and living standards. The study findings will act as a basis for policy formulation as it will provide empirical evidence for policy makers to formulate relevant policies geared towards enabling environment for enhancing women Entrepreneurial Empowerment in Uganda. The study will further contribute to the struggle to eliminate gender inequality in Entrepreneurial empowerment. The study will further add value to existing scholarship which the future scholars may use to generate further research in the area of Microfinance and Entrepreneurial Empowerment of Women. Implications to Theory, Practice and Policy: The study recommends strengthening and expansion of micro-finance support to resource poor and vulnerable women in other parts of the country through entrepreneurial education and training, provision of access to credit and financial services as well as markets. The study will contribute to critical debates and raise awareness on issues pertaining to Microfinance and Entrepreneurial Empowerment of Women at community level which will help to build initiatives for effective women Entrepreneurial empowerment in Uganda.