Enterprise Rwanda to Boost Small Enterprises

Enterprise Rwanda, a programme of the Private Sector Federation, will provide business skills training in an effort to grow enterprise in the country.

The New Times

Berna Namata

Published: February 24, 2009

Kigali — It is anticipated that the above package will create a new breed of dynamic micro, small and medium enterprises that will grow and compete in the domestic, regional and international markets

In a bid to boost the economic potential of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) in the country , the Private Sector Federation (PSF) has embarked on a special programme dubbed 'Enterprise Rwanda' that is expected to change the way of doing business in the country.

Under the new programme, business leaders at the executive and managerial level from SMEs will undergo training in business management.

The program includes an outreach campaign, entrepreneurship workshops, a business 'health check' system, counselling services, business plan preparation guidelines, a credit facilitation scheme and business plan preparation guidelines.

In addition the program will also offer a loan monitoring service as well as performance monitoring scheme. It is envisaged that the above package will create a new breed of dynamic micro, small and medium enterprises that will grow and compete in the domestic, regional and international markets.

The pilot programme that was launched last week, with at least 30 business leaders from SMEs around the country attending a business training session for 10 days will be an annual event with two training sessions in January and June respectively.

According to a 2007 Business Survey done by PSF, SMEs comprises 87 percent of the businesses in the country. Survey also indicates that the private sector lacks business skills to efficiently and effectively do business.

The initial cost of the training programme stands at $ 26,000 and is funded by Africa Capacity Building Foundation. While the pilot training is being done at no cost, subsequent trainings will be done at a fee.

The training exercise takes 6 months beginning with a business skills training session and concluded with an evaluation of what progress has been made after the session.

"The process of evaluation will largely dwell on the problems identified within the businesses at the beginning of the training session to assess the impact of the training. This will also be useful to identify and address the challenges SMEs face," Manzi Rutayisire Antoine , the Director of Entrepreneurship Development and Business Growth at PSF , told The New Times in an interview on Wednesday.

Rutayisire underlined that the program aims at mainstreaming the micro and small enterprises into the monetary economy. As drivers of economic growth in the Country, there is need to strengthen the existing SMEs to fuel economic growth.

"Our vision is to have these SMEs grow and expand to provide the necessary services and also in turn earn substantial monetary returns. Once SMEs have good monetary returns, the whole country will benefit more as they will generate revenue for government."

Rutayisire also underscored the need for SMEs to grow in order to be sustainable and increase productivity.

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Rwanda Boosts Business Competitiveness

Business Plan Competition aims to support a culture of entrepreneurship, while reducing unemployment and alleviating poverty.

The New Times
Eddie Mukaaya
Published: December 24, 2008

Kigali — The Rwanda Private Sector Federation (PSF) is targeting over 100 winners in next year's Business Plan Competition (BPC) in a concerted bid to boost their business competitiveness. This was revealed during the just concluded BPC for the year 2007-2008.

Antoine Rutayisire Manzi, the federation's Director of Entrepreneurship and Business Growth said that out of the targeted number of at least 150 entrepreneurs who will benefit from training and related components,100 of these are slated to win each year.

This is aimed at increasing the number of young entrepreneurs in Rwanda and to help boost the performance of the private sector which is considered to be a backbone of the country's economy.

Manzi explained that this upscale program has been backed by the positive impact registered out of the pioneering edition of the competition.

'The program beneficiaries have created employment and revenues to government treasury, which all contributes to the country's economic development', he added.

Statistics related to the previous 30 winners in the last two contest shows that 17 projects developed became operational which provided about 250 jobs while paying taxes to the treasury.

Manzi said that this was proof enough that the program was in tandem with efforts geared at developing a culture of entrepreneurship as the country marches towards achieving the Vision 2020.

He however cautioned that the programme will only be made sustainably successful with the support of stakeholders, since the World Bank (WB) support programme has come to an end.

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Trade and Industry Antoine Ruvebana, expressed the government's support for the programme since it is aimed at developing the private sector through capacity building while at the same time providing access to finance as well as developing the entrepreneur's business acumen.

He added, 'In this way, we will move closer to our goal of ensuring that the private sector is strong enough to fight poverty, eliminate unemployment and be the driving force of our economy'.

Ruvebana was the guest of honour representing the Minister of Trade and Industry, Monique Nsanzabaganwa.

Since the its inception, the BPC has been slated as one of the Private Sector Federation's key projects. The programme has been under the support of World Bank through its Competitiveness and Enterprise Development Project (CEDP), with additional assistance coming from the government.

It mainly targets the youth and fresh graduates to address the unemployment problem and alleviate poverty in Rwanda. According to PSF officials, the programme embraces development oriented enterprises with potential of creating a positive impact on employment and income generating activities.

Initiated in 2004, the programme has seen 100 young entrepreneurs awarded capital and technical assistance for the purposes of building their businesses. This year saw 50 winners awarded up from the 30 awarded the previous years.

A guarantee fund worth US$500,000 (Rwf275.6m) was awarded to the winners. This follows the increase of funding by the World Bank from US$200,000 to US$500,000.

According to PSF, funds are provided only to the most viable entrepreneurial project proposals selected after a rigorous evaluation by Rwanda Development Bank (BRD), which also administers the funds.

The programme objective is aimed at providing capital to young and upcoming entrepreneurs with innovative and profitable business ideas.

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