How young Ugandans are creating their own economic opportunities - in pictures

“Now everyone in my group has an income generating activity. We learn from each other and share our experiences.” Moses Isiko was 18 when he joined his local savings group. Initially attracted to the group as a way to enable him to save, the financial literacy and business skills training he received inspired him to consider how he could start his own business. Aged 22 he was able to use a loan from the group to buy a plot of land and build a piggery that can house 64 pigs. “Before joining the VSLA I never had any assets. Now I have land and a piggery… I am only young but I am hopeful and positive about the future.” Photograph: Jon Spaull/Banking on Change

“The thing [Banking on Change] has done for me is to be economically empowered. I am able to earn a living.” Before Banking on Change Sarah Mutanda only reared cattle, with an unreliable seasonal income. After joining her local savings group however, she received training in financial literacy and management of income. “The training made me realise the need for an enterprise which would provide a daily income. So I sold some of my cows and bought a motorbike”. Now Sarah rents out her motorbike, and has ambitious plans for the future. “I plan to buy a fridge as there will soon be electricity in our village – I have spotted an opportunity to sell cold drinks.” Photograph: Jon Spaull/Banking on Change

“I can now give my children a better future.” Sarah Malle is pictured in her shop. Before she joined Banking on Change, she had a small business selling charcoal, one bag at a time. After joining her local group she began to save money each week, and was able to take out a loan to invest in expanding her business. She now sells fresh produce from premises that she rents monthly, and has recently bought an acre of land on which she plans to plant trees to provide an additional income. Photograph: Jon Spaull/Banking on Change

“Through the Banking on Change group I was able to access the finance I needed to operate my business and make a profit.” After three years in a savings group, Suzan Naiga went from having just a few chickens to having over 1200 hens, and being able to sell 30 trays of eggs per day. At 7500 shillings (£2) each, she now earns over 225,000 shillings (£57) per day. “I used the proceeds from my hens and my shares at the end of the cycle to buy my own home and now I run my business from there. With credit available from the VSLA I was able to extensively upscale my poultry farming.” Photograph: Jon Spaull/Banking on Change

“I want to establish a tailoring school and poultry farm.” 27 year old Rosemary Awori used to support herself through selling vegetables. Photograph: Jon Spaull/Banking on Change

Rosemary joined a savings group in 2010 however, and was able to borrow money from the group to buy material with which to make clothes, using a manual sewing machine given to her by her mother. In a short space of time she was making a monthly profit, which she used to buy a second sewing machine. She now employs a second person to help her in her business and hopes to buy an electric sewing machine in future to ease her work and expand her business. Photograph: Jon Spaull/Banking on Change

“The Banking on Change programme has enabled me to improve my business skills as a result of training. I am happy.” With the business skills training and added confidence gained through his local savings group Hassan, 29, used his first loan to rent a shop and buy a stock of mobile phones and accessories. He now earns up to 600,000 Ugandan shillings a month (£150) and has used his profits to build a house for his family, pay for his children’s education and complete a university course in business studies. Photograph: Jon Spaull/Banking on Change