Airtel Uganda awarded 34 franchise partners with certificates upon completing a 3-day business training at the inaugural Airtel Franchise Partner Development Programme.
The Airtel Franchise Partner Development Programme is part of Airtel’s strategic corporate social responsibility initiative aimed at equipping franchise partners with business skill sets that will see them become efficient, improve their individual performance and hence become more profitable.
This will replicate into a sustained value chain creating jobs for Ugandans, officials say.
Speaking at the certificate awarding ceremony in Hoima District, the Airtel Uganda Sales and Distribution Director (Growth Market) Christian Ongecu congratulated participants upon completion of the training.
“At Airtel Uganda, we will continue to seek opportunities through which we can collaborate and offer you the much-needed business assistance to support your growth and expansion while delivering unmatched customer experiences. Through engagements like this, I am confident we are on the right path to achieve this objective because avenues such as these enable us to bring our services closer to the communities, and in turn increase our footprint across the country and beyond,” he said.
The 3-day workshop covered several topics to include; Personal Money Management, Human Resource Management, Marketing, record keeping, Running my Airtel Business, Taxation and Compliance.
The sessions involved theory and practical aspects facilitated by both Airtel and external subject matter experts including; Ronald Mayanja, the CEO Ability Explored; Moses Asiimwe, Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) representative in Hoima; and John Aheebwa, manager of National Social Security Fund (NSSF) - Masindi & Hoima.
“It is key for businesses to get their tax profiles correct. One has to specify the nature of business they are operating, that is to say, if it is a mobile money agent, the business has to be classified under financial services, unless you have other businesses you operate,” revealed Asiimwe.
Speaking about NSSF benefits, Aheebwa said one of the major challenges faced by pension partners in Sub Saharan Africa is majorly low compliance levels, which is attributed to the fact that some employers don’t understand their obligation given the existing legal framework, plus the value of contributing social security on behalf of their employees.
“I would like to appreciate Airtel’s effort in extending a platform for us to educate the Airtel Franchise Partners on the value of saving, in addition to paying their employees social security fund,” he said, adding that he is very confident that this will go a long way in driving compliance and entrenching the value of saving in general.
One of the trainees Mark Kaija of Propt Cycle Suplllies Investment in Kagadi District thanked Airtel Uganda for the great initiative.
“This training will support our growth as operators in the Airtel retail value chain. The skills that have been extended will go a long way in enabling the growth of our businesses once adopted,” Kaija said.
Mayanja applauded Airtel for investing in socio-economic activities that positively impact the communities like the Airtel Franchise Partner Development Programme targeted for business proprietors.
