Robinah Omolo spent years running an informal business with no permanent location, displaying second-hand children's clothes along shop corridors while selling soft drinks and sachet water from a small refrigerator to generate additional income. On favourable days, she could make around Shs5,000 in profit from water sales alone, but her earnings remained modest and unpredictable. Despite these constraints, she was building towards a specific goal: creating a more secure future and providing her son with opportunities to study and become a lawyer.
Omolo started her entrepreneurial journey at age 20, shortly after becoming a mother. Two years later, she borrowed Shs300,000 from a friend to begin trading in second-hand children's clothes and refreshments. Unable to afford rent, she operated from another trader's veranda while keeping her costs minimal as she developed her customer base. Rather than spending all her earnings, she joined a Friends of Friends SACCO and began saving consistently to reinvest in the business. For several years, she avoided formal loans because of concerns about interest rates and repayment pressure.
Her situation shifted in early 2026 when Lira City's business environment changed and roadside traders were required to find permanent operating spaces. Using Shs1 million accumulated through her SACCO, Omolo secured a small shop and paid four months' rent in advance. The move created new demands for shelves, additional stock and furnishings to expand her range of children's clothes. After a friend recommended FINCA Uganda's Youth Empowerment Loan, a financing product designed for young entrepreneurs, Omolo visited the lender's Lira branch. Although she applied for Shs1.5 million, she was initially approved for Shs500,000, an amount reflecting the size and financial capacity of her business at that time.
She invested the approved amount in restocking refreshments, which provided quicker returns particularly during the dry season. FINCA Uganda said its Youth Empowerment Loan is intended to help young entrepreneurs access financing to meet business needs, strengthen their enterprises and pursue their ambitions. Omolo now operates from her own shop, gaining a more organised space to serve customers and greater independence than she had while selling along shop corridors. Her immediate plans include rebuilding stock and expanding her range of children's clothing, with a longer-term ambition to become one of the leading entrepreneurs in Lira City.
Omolo's progress demonstrates how combining personal savings with access to formal credit can help small traders transition from informal to more established business operations. She emphasized that gradual expansion while taking on manageable financial obligations was crucial to her success. Her experience illustrates that growth for informal traders often depends not on a single loan but on years of disciplined saving paired with access to appropriate financing when the business is ready to scale.