Vodafone Uganda has announced its sponsorship in this year’s Top 100 Mid- sized companies survey. The leading 4G LTE telecom operator has taken deliberate steps to close the digital divide following its differentiated focus on the youth, young professionals and SMEs. The Micro, Small, Medium, Enterprises (MSMEs) are the engine of growth for the economic development, innovation, wealth creation of Uganda, according to the Uganda Investment Authority.
The Top 100 survey is an initiative of KPMG and the Nation Media Group represented by Daily Monitor in Uganda; it has been conducted since 2009 in Uganda as well as in Kenya and Tanzania. The purpose of the Top 100 Survey is to identify Uganda’s fastest growing medium sized companies in order to showcase business excellence and highlight some of the country’s most successful entrepreneurship stories.
Vodafone now joins dfcu Bank, Insurance Company of East Africa (U) Group and South African Airways that had earlier announced their sponsorship.
Speaking at the launch event, the Vodafone Marketing Director, Ms. Progress Chisenga emphasized the need for SMEs to take advantage of these platforms for an exceptional experience, upskilling, training, collaboration and to showcase business excellence.
“Uganda’s entrepreneurial spirit coupled with the conducive investment climate, can indeed catapult an already thriving economy into an exciting economic frontier, and Vodafone is committed to partnerships that enable such growth.” She added.
“The Top 100 Survey will give hundreds of business operations the opportunity to learn from each other; to gain knowledge on policies and best practices, to understand their contribution to the economy and so much more. Our belief is that this initiative will go a long way in boosting the skillset of the selected companies, eventually translating to improved performance and increased profitability,” said Sarah Nalule, Marketing Manager Monitor Publications.
Statistics from the Uganda Investment Authority place 49% of SMEs in the service sector, 33% in the commerce and trade, 10% in manufacturing and 8% in other fields – with over 2.5 million people accounting for approximately 90% of the entire private sector. At this year’s events, the participating businesses will have a true 4G experience from Vodafone, and will learn about solutions specialized to meet their unique business needs.