Uganda Asks Development Partners: Fund Young Entrepreneurs, Not Just Training

Uganda's government has asked development partners to pair vocational and skills training with direct start-up capital, arguing that more than 200 young graduates leave programs each year with viable ideas they cannot finance. State Minister for Primary Education Phyllis Chemutai made the call at the closing ceremony of a three-day entrepreneurship workshop in Kampala, organized by the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) Uganda under the Higher Education Access Programme (HEAP).

The numbers behind the appeal are simple: a room of over 200 young people, trained and ready, but facing what Chemutai called the single biggest barrier between a business plan and a functioning business — money.

"Many young people have promising ideas, but lack the capital required to put those ideas into practice. Therefore, the provision of financial support by FAWE Uganda is a welcome step towards bridging the gap between training and actual enterprise development," Ms Chemutai said.

She commended FAWE Uganda for taking a holistic approach — combining financial support with practical learning rather than treating training as an end in itself. That combination, she argued, is what actually converts skill acquisition into enterprise development.

What does this change for practitioners?

For development organizations and NGO funders working in Uganda, the message is a shift in program design: financial assistance should come bundled with continuous mentorship and strict accountability, not as a one-off disbursement. Chemutai explicitly urged development partners to attach both conditions to maximize project success rates.

The workshop itself, held under the theme "From Ideas to Enterprise: Building Entrepreneurial Skills for Sustainable Businesses," targeted beneficiaries who had completed Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) courses. The Uganda Rural Development and Training Institute (URDT) facilitated the sessions, which covered a practical curriculum:

• financial literacy
• business visioning
• digital marketing
• the application of artificial intelligence in business
• resource mobilization
• product branding

Chemutai framed youth empowerment as core economic strategy, not social policy. "The empowerment of girls or boys is not merely a matter of promoting equality. It is also a strategic investment in Uganda's social and economic transformation. When we equip these young people with the right knowledge, skills, confidence, and opportunities, we empower them to become agents of change and drivers of development," she said.

The financing model FAWE already runs

FAWE Uganda's Board Chairperson, Margaret Atim Mugeni, offered a concrete mechanism: the organization pushes beneficiaries to build their own start-up funds from stipends paid during their studies.

"Apart from tuition, we give them a stipend which is kind of some allowance. At the very initial orientation stage when they are just joining us, we advise them not to misuse this money but rather make use of it responsibly as they save some, which has helped some of them to start their own entrepreneurial ventures," Mrs Mugeni explained.

That savings-first model — small allowances, disciplined accumulation — has already produced student-launched ventures, according to the organization's own board chair.

Start small, in sectors you know

Chemutai's advice to the graduates was blunt: start small, use savings prudently, and apply the training in sectors with accessible entry points — agriculture, tailoring, digital services, crafts, and food processing.

"Educating a girl and a boy should not end with acquiring knowledge in the classroom. Education must also empower these people to become self-reliant, innovative, productive, and capable of contributing meaningfully to their families, communities, and to the nation," Ms Chemutai said.

She closed with a direct challenge to the participants: "As you leave this conference, I challenge each one of you to put the knowledge and skills you have acquired into practice. Identify projects that match your interests, abilities, and the needs of your community. Use that little money, start small, and grow big."

For Uganda's development partners, the ball is now squarely in their court: government wants capital attached to training, with mentorship and accountability built in. How donors respond will help determine whether the country's TVET pipeline produces enterprise founders — or another cohort of trained but unfunded graduates.