Building Livelihoods With Refugee Communities in Uganda
Written by: Lilian Nansubuga
Over the past six months, Street Business School (SBS), with support from CapCon Foundation, has been working with refugee and host communities in Uganda to expand access to practical business skills and create pathways toward sustainable livelihoods.
The three-year project aims to train 1,000+ people. As we wrapped up the first round of trainings over the summer, we took a moment to reflect on what we’ve learned, the partnerships that have made the work possible, and the people putting their new skills into practice.
A strong start
The first round of training was delivered through two approaches: SBS-facilitated sessions in Kampala and partner-led training in refugee-hosting communities, including the Kyaka II and Bidibidi settlements.
By the end of the first round, 254 people had completed the training, exceeding the initial target of 150.
The results were encouraging. Graduates recorded an astonishing average 484% increase in income, while 89% reported owning a business after completing the training. This means participating refugees saw an over 5x growth in income!
These results offer promising early evidence that practical entrepreneurship training can help people build and strengthen livelihoods in refugee and displacement settings.
Finding the confidence to start a business
Behind every program statistic is a person putting their new skills to work.
Grace Tabu, who lives in the Bidibidi refugee settlement, had long dreamed of starting a business at Yangani Market. She had an idea to sell onions, tomatoes, fish, and other household essentials but lacked the confidence and business knowledge to get started.
Through training delivered by SBS partner FineMind, Grace learned about core business skills and mindset shift.
The bookkeeping and market research sessions stood out to her. She learned to track her sales and expenses and understand what customers wanted before investing in stock. With these skills and greater confidence, Grace launched her business.
Today, Grace is using what she learned to manage her finances, plan her purchases, and attract customers through good service. Her story is one example of how practical business skills can help turn an idea into a livelihood.
Growing through partners
Partnerships have been central to the project’s progress. For the next round of implementation, SBS is working with a UNHCR partner to train urban refugees.
We have also continued our partnership with Opportunity International. Sixteen of their Uganda field staff have been trained as SBS coaches, and the organization has now reached or is currently training more than 2,200 refugees on the SBS curriculum. Their programs operate in Nakivale and Rwamwanja refugee settlements and among refugees and host communities living in Kampala.
Looking ahead
The first year of the refugee project with the CapCon Foundation has given us valuable insight into how entrepreneurship training can support refugee and host communities and how partnerships can help take that work further.
In the next phase of the project, SBS aims to train another 80+ people in order to stay on track to reach our goal of training 1,000 people over three years.
As we move into the second year, we’ll continue building on what we’ve learned, strengthening partnerships and supporting more people with the practical skills and confidence to build sustainable livelihoods.
The first year has been a strong start and we’re looking forward to seeing where the next one takes us! Thank you to the CapCon Foundation for your support of the SBS refugee project.
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