Country
Rwanda
Local Project Partner
Rwanda Institute of Cooperatives, Entrepreneurship and Microfinance (RICEM)
German Project Partner
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Donor
Enabel (Belgian Development Agency)
Duration
25.04.2024 - 25.04.2026
The Rwandan government is striving to transform the economy into a service-oriented one. Among other things, high unemployment is to be countered by creating fair employment conditions, which will lead to an increased willingness to work among the labour force, especially among women and young people. A dual approach is to align vocational training with the needs of industry. Generally, job creation is hampered by limited growth opportunities for enterprises. MSEs are rarely able to identify, plan and implement promising investment opportunities. A lack of commercial skills is an additional constraint. The financial sector also fails to play its role in financing MSEs. The information asymmetry between MSEs and FSPs, with low bankability on the part of clients and a lack of willingness and advisory skills on the part of FSPs, means that urgently needed, unsecured, cash-flow-based loans are hardly granted. This is even more pronounced in rural districts such as Karongi, Rutsiro and Nyamasheke.
Selected MSEs from the construction, trade and manufacturing sectors are supported individually in their investment decisions and expansion processes through training, coaching and mentoring. The business environment, market situation, legal framework and financing options are taken into account. The aim is to ensure that the entrepreneurial decisions achieve sustainable positive effects. Due to the limited domestic market, potential growth effects are also to be taken into account through the export of goods to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). As a further growth factor, the use of modern technology should reduce costs, differentiate sales and optimise purchasing. Target group and solution-oriented BDS including professional individual coaching, mentoring and group discussions additionally also lead to bank maturity, which is why, despite the demand orientation of this intervention, FSPs are to be included in the BDS in order to reduce the existing gap between MSEs and FSPs via professional exchange and thus increase financing opportunities for the target group.
Services provided
- identification of 1,800 eligible start-ups run by women (min. 1,080) or young people (including 90 people with disabilities)
- customised transfer of practical business know-how for effective business management
- provision of solution-oriented advisory services to MSEs, supported by selected mentors
- improving access to finance for selected entrepreneurs by identifying their needs and linking them to financial institutions
- facilitating access to local, regional and national markets and export opportunities for the target group's products and services
- creating access to technologies and innovations that contribute to business growth and improved productivity
- networking of the supported MSEs
