By Mulengera Reporters
When Winfred Phiona Adong walked into Hotel Africana’s Sezibwa Hall earlier this month (October7th, 2025), her calm confidence did not immediately reveal the scale of her entrepreneurial journey. But her story, told during Equity Bank’s Customer Service Week stakeholder breakfast, reflected how financial inclusion is changing lives across the country.
The engagement, themed “Listening to the Sound of the River,” brought together selected customers to share experiences and feedback on how the bank can improve its services. Among them was Adong, the proprietor of Ayoma Manufacturing and Construction Company, based in Soroti District.
Three years ago, Adong left her sales job in Kampala to start a business aimed at empowering single mothers and building a manufacturing base in Eastern Uganda. Despite several failed attempts to access funding from other institutions, her breakthrough came when she approached Equity Bank, which approved a UGX 300 million loan to support her startup idea.
The financial support enabled her to establish Ayoma Manufacturing and Construction Company, which has since undertaken major projects including the construction of waterborne toilets at Queen Elizabeth National Park and staff accommodation facilities at Mount Elgon National Park.
Adong says the bank did more than just provide funds. It also offered financial literacy training, flexible repayment terms, and continuous advisory support that helped her manage growth sustainably. After stabilizing the construction wing of her enterprise, Adong expanded into a new venture (Ayoma Toilet Paper Industry Ltd) to diversify income and create more jobs for women in Soroti.
The new line required a capital investment of about USD 330,000, which she accessed again through Equity Bank’s Contract Financing product, enabling her to import pulp wood and other raw materials necessary for local production. Through these efforts, Adong has been able to employ several people, many of them single mothers, whom she says are now able to provide for their families.
Distribution of her products has expanded to Lira, Gulu, Mbale, Jinja, and is expected to reach Kampala in the coming months.
Speaking at the same event, Claver Serumaga, the Executive Director of Equity Bank Uganda, said the bank is realigning its customer engagement model to focus more on follow-up and capacity development.
“We are reorganizing how we engage with our customers, following up on their progress, providing additional capacity support, because as they grow, we also grow,” Serumaga explained.
Adong’s long-term plan is to fully automate her production line and expand her business into manufacturing a range of stationery products. She also appealed to the Government of Uganda to offer tax holidays to indigenous manufacturers, arguing that such incentives would allow them to compete more effectively and expand their operations.
Her story reflects the growing role of the Bank’s inclusive financing model in supporting local enterprises, particularly women-led businesses, to scale from small ideas into sustainable enterprises that create jobs and drive local development.
