In commemoration of the 2025 International Women’s Day, HiPipo has held a Digital and Financial Literacy workshop for women cross-border traders at the Elegu-Nimule one-stop border post, which connects Uganda and South Sudan.
Working in collaboration with MTN MoMo and MOVIT Products, the HiPipo team on Thursday 6th March trained over 200 traders from the Elegu Women Cross-Border Traders Co-op Society on a number of financial inclusion aspects including savings, loans, personal finance and digital financial services. This training was hosted at Elegu Women Cross-Border Traders Co-op Society Warehouse and Grounds.
The HiPipo FinTech Events Manager, Charlotte Neeza, noted that this gesture is geared at empowering women traders with knowledge and skills that can catapult them from informal into formal business owners.
“This is part of our Include Everyone program which strives to level the ground for last-mile people. The focus on women cross-border traders at Elegu is strategic because both sides of the border have a history of political instability and it has been women that have kept the economy in this place going,” she said.
“Elegu has hundreds of Women Cross Border Traders. We want these traders to have the basic knowledge in book keeping, saving and personal financial management. They need to know when, where, how and why they should take loans. They need to know the safe and efficient Financial Technology solutions available for them. They need to be included and actively involved in the Digital Financial Services ecosystem.”
The Elegu border post is a growing trade hub between Uganda and Africa’s youngest nation – South Sudan. Being the main gateway into South Sudan from the port of Mombasa, this post is of strategic importance to the East African Community. All manner of merchandise right from food products to manufactured goods enter South Sudan through this post. Majority of the Women Cross Border Traders at Elegu deal in Food items such as Silver Fish, Vegetables, and Grains.
However, smaller cross-border traders, predominantly women, at this post are faced by a number of challenges including illiteracy, lack of tailored digital financial solution, lack of proper documentation, foreign exchange challenges, limited capital, and network challenges among others.
“I would like to thank HiPipo for this training as we celebrate International Women’s Day and Month. Our traders need a lot of capacity building especially in digital financial services. This is a good start point but more of such trainings are needed. I also thank MTN and MOVIT for joining us today,” noted Margaret Auma, the Chairperson of the Elegu Women Cross-Border Traders Co-op Society.
The area officer in charge of Elegu Police Station re-emphasised the need for women traders to obtain proper documentation and avoid dealing in contraband which may put them on the wrong side of the law.
On the other hand, the Amuru district commercial officer Albert Lada applauded HiPipo for the training in financial literacy, noting that while women traders contribute a lot in the micro-economics of the country, many struggle to break-even because of their bookkeeping frailties.
Women’s Day comes early.
The event was also attended by officials from MTN Uganda who showcased MTN MoMo’s digital financial services catalogue and specifically trained traders about cross-border transactions, savings and loans products. They also offered services like on-site SIM Card registration, in addition to giving participants free items such as Umbrellas, Shirts, and Caps.
MOVIT Products crowned the workshop as it rewarded all participants with gifts that included Soap, Vaseline, Body Lotions and Hand Sanitizers, among others.
Indeed, International Women’s Day came early for the Elegu Women Cross Border Traders.
