Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) and MTN provided free financial training to small- and medium-scale women entrepreneurs in Kampala, Uganda. The collaboration aimed to drive financial and gender inclusion and empower African women to reach their full potential.

To celebrate International Women's Day, the two companies launched a three-week training program for local female traders at one of the largest markets in the Ugandan capital. In addition to enhancing financial literacy, the initiative highlighted the benefits of MTN's mobile financial services platform MoMo, powered by Ericsson Mobile Financial Services, for small businesses, and encouraged participants to use it.

The training kicked off with an official opening in the presence of Sylvia Mulinge, Chief Executive Officer of MTN Uganda, visiting the market and interacting with women traders. In the following days, local MTN and Ericsson volunteers educated the entrepreneurs on various financial topics, such as savings, cash flow and credit scores. The participants also learnt how to use mobile money to transfer, pay, save, receive, and borrow funds to grow their businesses.

The training included testimonial sessions that showcased the success stories of women entrepreneurs who have used MoMo to scale their companies. The last day of the event featured a competition, where the top five traders with the highest MoMo transactions for the month of March won prizes for their businesses.

Richard Yego, Chief Executive at MTN Mobile Money Uganda Limited, says: "At MTN, we are committed to improving the lives of the communities in which we operate. As a global technology leader, Ericsson has been our trusted partner in building confidence in mobile money solutions and has played a key role in modernizing our services in this space. Our joint training program marks a new step forward in bridging the digital gender divide in Uganda."

Hossam Kandeel, Vice President and Head of Global Customer Unit MTN and Customer Unit MTN Africa at Ericsson Middle East and Africa, says: "As the digital transformation in Africa advances, we are keen to help unlock opportunities for people and businesses on the continent to actively participate in the digital economy. As part of our environmental, social and governance (ESG) efforts and our strong focus on women's empowerment, we were delighted to join forces with MTN Uganda to support women's entrepreneurship by upskilling local traders. In line with our corporate citizenship initiatives, Ericsson employees are encouraged to do volunteer work of up to one day per year, and in Ericsson Middle East and Africa we do this under the banner #powerofkindness."

According to Uganda Women Entrepreneurs Association Limited (UWEAL), 44 percent of businesses in the country are owned by women. However, a World Bank study has found that these businesses tend to be smaller and operate in less profitable sectors than those run by men. Therefore, Ugandan women entrepreneurs require targeted support to increase their contribution to the national economy.

Ericsson has enjoyed long-standing collaboration with MTN Uganda since their inception as a communication service provider (CSP) in 1998. In 2014, the company migrated its mobile money offering to Ericsson Mobile Financial Services, resulting in a significant increase in reliability, security and scalability.