MTN Uganda in partnership with Private Sector Foundation (PSF) has rolled out a three-day workshop at the Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA) main exhibition hall, for Small and Medium Enterprises to exchange ideas on how to grow their businesses.
The workshop that had a number of exhibition stalls from different companies, was officially opened by the Prime Minister Hon. Amama Mbabazi who pledged the Government’s continued commitment to create an enabling environment conducive for SME growth.
Mbabazi who inspected all the stalls and interacted with the exhibitors said the future of Uganda’s economy lies in the hands of SMEs adding that its part of Government’s greater vision to work with and nurture upcoming Uganda businesses into successful ventures.
In a petition to the Prime Minister, the SMEs decried the cost of doing business in Uganda compared to other countries within the region adding that a lack of infrastructure development and government subsidies has led to the collapse of most businesses.
MTN Uganda’s Senior Manager Strategic Partnerships, Henry Muwaga who spoke on behalf of MTN said through MTN Business, the company has put in place a number of products and services all aimed at equipping SMEs with the necessary tools to enhance business growth. He mentioned that MTN is involved in number of Community and Social activities with several SME’s.
He affirmed that MTN Business’s primary objective is to support SMEs with communications solutions that are cost effective and relevant to their different business needs. These include communication services such as Internet Broadband (inclusive of internet bundles), Cloud services and software products such as Colocation, Mail Support, on-line back-up, Security, anti-virus and Office desktops (Share Point) and Mobile Money that have come in handy for business owners.
Muwaga said in the past three years, MTN has facilitated training sessions for SMEs in the Central region, however effective 2013 MTN now conducts SME training sessions in the different regions of Uganda and urged participants to register their companies in order to participate in the forthcoming trainings.
He further encouraged SMEs to particularly utilize MTN cloud services which he said is a complete package of IT solution for the business community.
“MTN’ s focus is to contribute to the development of enterprises and the sustainable growth of economies in the countries of operation and innovations like MTN Cloud Services is integral to the company’s strategy to achieve this, particularly as enterprises are key economic growth drivers in most of our markets,” he said.
The MTN Cloud Services are aimed at satisfying the growing appetite of business for ICT solutions that are relevant, customized and affordable. To this end the impressive array of the services under this product include cost effective e-mail and collaborative software such as Microsoft Dynamics CRM, a customer’s relations management tool, as well as security powered by McAfee.
The workshop which has attracted a cross section of SMEs in and around Kampala was also attended by officials from Uganda Manufacturers Association and the Private Sector foundation.
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