The company also employs over 1,000 people and exports products to regional markets of Kenya, Tanzania and South Sudan.
It also used to export to Rwanda before the border was closed. Omalla thanked Enterprise Uganda and UNCTAD for the award, and pledged to continue working to support uplift rural women from poverty.
She said that she intends to reach at least one million women from the current 500,000, over the next 10 years. She also noted that Delight is in the process of installing a modern processing plant in the region so as to increase its capacity to be able to buy and process all the fruits produced by women farmers.
Speaking during the award ceremony, Enterprise Uganda executive director Charles Ocici applauded UNCTAD for the Empretec Programme, saying that it has had great transformative effect on women-led businesses across the countries where it operates.
“While it is widely acknowledged that the small and medium enterprises offer scope for economic development, few interventions in enterprise development equal the transformative effect of the Empretecprogramme. Thanks to Empretec, Enterprise Uganda centre’s credentials in SME development are unparalleled in this country,” Ocici said.
He added that the power of Empretec to transcend the gender and economic barriers of its beneficiaries speaks to its universality in correcting economic disparities in society.
“Julian’s (Omalla) story we are celebrating today confirms that returns for investing in Empretec, a structured entrepreneurship programme are manifold, enduring and far-reaching. Since she took part in the programme, she has inspired many women to believe in themselves, created jobs, widened the tax base and diversified exports,” Ocici noted.
The UNCTAD’s Deputy Secretary-General, Isabelle Durant, warned that the Covid-19 crisis could reverse the limited gains made on gender equality and exacerbate the feminisation of poverty. She called for concerted efforts to mitigate the negative effects of the crisis on women through mainstreaming women’s empowerment in all policies.
She noted that while success is still not yet gender neutral, the Covid-19 pandemic has further brought disproportional socio-economic challenges for women and female entrepreneurs. She, however, noted that entrepreneurship is more critical than ever in this pandemic and for recovery and that it can play a big role to promote social cohesion, reduce inequalities, and expand opportunities for all, including women.
“We are dedicating this award to resilience, a key element in this pandemic times. Resilience means that we can protect entrepreneurs and their businesses and by doing so, reduce uncertainties and make them able to recover quickly,” she said.
“Entrepreneurs should have mindset that will allow them identify new opportunities for them to succeed. If we are making women think as entrepreneurs, this is an efficient tool to reinforce their resilience in their personal and professional life,” she added.
The UNCTAD Investment director, James Zhan also alluded that the coronavirus pandemic has triggered a recession with a particularly strong negative impact on women entrepreneurs, given their overrepresentation in key sectors affected by lockdowns, such as retail trade, hotels and restaurants and education.
He added that pre-pandemic gender inequalities such as limited access to finance, technology, markets, networks and social protection have been exacerbated during the crisis with women entrepreneurs suffering more with increased care burdens during lockdowns.
“It is more important than ever to recognize women entrepreneurs who are resilient in the face of shocks and committed to their business cause,” Zhan said.
UNCTAD’s Empretec programme, which has trained thousands of entrepreneurs over the past 30 years, is one of the feathers in the UN trade and development body’s cap. Its Women in Business Awards was established in 2008 and awards its prize every two years.
The UNCTAD head, Enterprise Branch, Tatiana Krylova, said that the awards seek to recognize, inspire and support women entrepreneurs building social and environmentally friendly business ventures, including in such challenging Covid-19 times.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic which has been ravaging the world for a year now, this year’s edition of the Empretec awards focused on resilience in difficult times.
