Copyright independent
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Wearing a Clifton black top, a black skirt with matching black heels, Winfred Phiona Adong walked into Hotel Africana’s Sezibwa Hall with a quiet confidence. When she spoke, she was calm and articulate. She had the ease of someone accustomed to boardrooms and negotiation tables Adong was one of the few invited customers during Equity Bank’s Customer Service Week Stakeholder breakfast held at Hotel Africana early this month. The engagement was titled Listening to the Sound of the River, a focused group discussion designed to strengthen trust and relationships but also to ensure that the bank gathers customer feedback. Adong, the proprietor of Ayoma Manufacturing Company based in Soroti District, was there to get avenues on how she can further broaden her dream of, “Empowering struggling women, especially the single mothers and the entire community,” she says. That dream started three years ago when she quit her sales job in one of the corporate companies in Kampala. “I am a very ambitious person, and I thought it was time to relocate and invest my intellectual capacity elsewhere. So, I decided to venture into having a manufacturing solution enterprise,” a smiling Adong narrates. As one who describes herself as “one who lives and breathes adventure”. She took on a bold move to venture into construction. “Many women are afraid of going into male-dominated businesses, but I wasn’t,” she says. Despite vain attempts with other banks and financial institutions, when Adong approached Equity Bank, she was immediately given a green light and, as such, was able to access a loan of UGX 300m. “Equity made my start journey very smooth; they didn’t just give me money. I have a good payback period; coupled with the provision of capacity building and financial literacy, I was able to check many boxes which have helped shape my company to where it is today,” Adong explains. With that, Ayoma Manufacturing and Construction Company was birthed in January this year. This has seen her construct the state-of-the-art, waterborne toilets at Queen Elizabeth National Park completed this year in September, as well the new staff accommodation quarters at Mount Elgon National Park. But that wasn’t all; with the Construction department kicking off on a high, Adong diversified her business to open up, Ayoma Toilet Papers Industry Ltd. “Everyone needs toilet paper, so when we sat with my business partners, we thought it best to venture into that field and further even expand to more stationery.” However, it was an uphill task. “We needed a capital investment of $330,000, which you just can’t access from anywhere, and still, like at the start of the construction company, Equity is there to hold my hand.” Through contract financing, the bank has been able to support her in her efforts to mobilize raw materials such as pulpwood, which eased her way into the market. Claver Serumaga, Executive Director Equity Bank gives more clarity on the support that the bank is giving to various customers like her. “We are reorganizing how we engage with our customers, following up on their progress, and providing additional capacity support, because as they grow, we also grow.” Currently Ayoma Manufactures is looking at a ten-fold growth, extending its product line to all forms of stationery plus having an automated line of production. As such, distribution of its toilet paper product has expanded to Lira, Gulu, Mbale, Jinja and will soon be in Kampala. “I started small, but now slowly, I am changing lives; most of the casual employees I have are single mothers because this helps them get money in their pockets,” Adong says. Her last outcry is to the Government of Uganda to provide tax holidays to indigenous manufacturers like her so as to help them broaden their sphere.
