Government soft loans program transforms Ntoroko fisherfolk into entrepreneurs

At the urging of curious reporters, Shifah Kawambe does not hesitate to step onto a docked wooden boat at the busy Kanara Landing Site in Ntoroko district. 

In the process, the 31-year-old soaks her tightly fitted jeans but carries on unfazed, ready to answer a final round of questions before taking journalists on a brief ride along the waters of Lake Albert.

Kawambe has become a symbol of determination and transformation in the fishing community. 

A confident businesswoman and leader, she owns the very boat she is about to board. 

This one of ten small boats under her name, alongside eight boat engines that she rents out to fishermen. 

She also serves as vice chairperson of the Kanara Sub-county Twendelee Group, a Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA).

Her success story is remarkable considering that just eight years ago she worked as a housemaid for a local family in the same community.

“Before joining, I was working for someone else as a housemaid here,” she says. 

“Today I own ten boats and eight engines. I have built my own home, my children are studying in good schools, and I have bought land in Fort Portal, Hoima and Ntoroko.”

The Twendelee Group was established in 2018 and has since grown into a big savings and investment platform with 48 members, 40 of whom are women.

“Our group has generated enough money to start different individual businesses,” Kawambe explains. “Some members rent out tents and chairs, others are in farming, and some of us rent boat engines to fishermen.”

Kawambe says joining the group was a turning point as the savings culture and access to loans enabled her to venture into the fishing transport business.

Matia Kisembo, chairperson of Twendelee Group VSLA, says the group’s growth was accelerated last year after receiving support from the Microfinance Support Centre (MSC) under the Local Economic Growth Support (LEGS) Project.

The centre extended funding of Shs72 million to the group, 60 per cent as a loan and 40 per cent as a grant. Members combined this support with their own savings to construct a large commercial boat now operating on Lake Albert.

The vessel transports merchandise between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and has become a major income source.

“This boat employs many people, including porters who load cargo and crew members who operate it,” Kisembo says. 

“Before this support our annual savings were about Shs30 million, but after acquiring the boat in June they rose to Shs90 million.”

The 50-metre boat can transport nearly 100 tonnes of goods per trip, generating about $200 in profit per route. Kisembo proudly notes that it is the only large boat on the lake owned by Ugandans, as most others belong to Congolese traders.

For group member Rebecca Masika, the savings association has brought renewed stability to her family.

Masika moved to Kanara from the Democratic Republic of the Congo many years ago with her husband, Sam Mwebaze. Together they raise six children and run a small community church.

Since joining Twendelee, she has started a thriving fish trade business.

“I buy fish from the boats, salt it and sell it in different markets,” she explains. “Now I can buy fish worth two to three million shillings and make about 1.5 million in profit.”

The income has enabled her to educate her children in secondary school while also supporting vulnerable mothers and children through church activities.

Similar benefits have been felt by members of other community groups around the lake. Ayub Magezi from the Businge Group recalls how difficult life became when fishing on the lake was once banned.

“At that time we were lost as a community,” he says. “Then MSC encouraged us to form associations and supported us with a boat, fishing nets and an engine worth about Shs30 million.”

Magezi says the assistance allowed them to return to fishing legally and rebuild their livelihoods. He appealed to government authorities to maintain policies that enable communities to continue benefiting from the lake’s resources.

Williams Okweda, Regional Manager for Western Uganda at the Microfinance Support Centre, explains that the initiative is part of the Local Economic Growth Support project implemented in partnership with the Islamic Development Bank and the Ministry of Local Government.

Under the programme, MSC manages a $10 million rural microfinance component designed to provide affordable financial services to community groups in 17 districts.

“Kanara in Ntoroko is a hard-to-reach area where there is not a single financial institution,” Okweda says. “We came here because we did not want any community left behind.”

Through partnerships with savings groups, the project supports initiatives such as fishing equipment, boats and agricultural machinery.

Even small funding amounts, sometimes as little as Shs10 million, have enabled groups to expand their savings, recruit more members and strengthen their loan portfolios.