The Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU), in partnership with the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB), has trained a group of business people on how to navigate insolvency, a state where a business cannot pay its debts.

Due to the negative impacts of COVID-19, many businesses collapsed while some are still struggling as they move to recover from the shutdown and later slow-down of business due to COVID-19 which happened about two years ago.

According to Grace Nshemeire, the Chief Operating Officer at Private Sector Foundation Uganda, business owners or investors should strive to nurture their startups if they are to last for generations. She noted that this is where the many currently thriving businesses in countries such as India began and sustained the momentum.

The Director of Insolvency and Receivership at the Uganda Registration Services (URSB), Robert Mugabe, encouraged the owners of startups to seek recovery funds and partner with like-minded parties in a bid to recover from the impacts of Covid-19. He added that all businesses will have good and bad times in their lifetime.

The Manager of Registration and Compliance, in the Directorate of Insolvency and Receivership at URSB, Allan Kakunguru noted that bankruptcy and the attendant challenges are provided for in the law. So business owners should work against bankruptcy and insolvency and also learn the means to recover whenever it befalls them or the best way to wind up an insolvent business.

Kakunguru advised business owners to engage with other business partners or embrace corporate rescue to avoid closing down and avoid unnecessary costs. They should also have regular communication with banks and other lenders to avoid insecurities that may arise from bad debts.

One of the business leaders at the insolvency training was the Executive Director of Guardian Pharmacy, Anthony Natif. He advised business owners to first fully understand the kind of business they are engaged in before expanding because that may save them from closing down shortly after opening.

The Insolvency Act, of 2011 provides for receivership, administration, arrangements, bankruptcy, the regulation of insolvency practitioners and cross-border insolvency, and other related matters. This law manages the best way a struggling business can either be wound up without causing too much pain to the stakeholders or how it can be helped to recover.