From playbook to profit: Dr. Biyinzika challenges financial institutions to turn women’s strategies into action

What the report says

GROW Project Coordinator Dr. Ruth Kasolo Biyinzika used the closing ceremony of the Women’s Market in Kampala to urge financial institutions to stop treating women’s financial inclusion as a broad slogan and instead design products based on data. According to Watchdog Uganda, she said women-owned businesses are not a single category and need different services depending on their size, sector and stage of growth.

Biyinzika said banks and other lenders should use disaggregated information to understand whether women customers need working capital, equipment finance, savings, insurance or longer-term investment. She argued that more precise data can help institutions identify underserved groups and develop services that match real business needs rather than assumptions. The report says the Women’s Market initiative and the WE-Fi Code are intended to support that shift.

The event took place on Saturday, August 29, 2026, in Kampala, with Hon. Mary Grace Kuteesa, State Minister for Gender and Culture Affairs, attending as chief guest. Biyinzika also thanked the Bank of Uganda, the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, the World Bank’s GROW Project team and Serena for their support. She recognised 55 financial-sector stakeholders, including several banks and finance institutions, for backing the women’s market agenda.

More broadly, the article frames women’s financial inclusion as both a policy and commercial issue: if institutions better tailor services to women entrepreneurs, the report suggests, business growth and wider economic activity could follow.