Reviewing Entrepreneurship Development in Rwanda...
Dr. Sunil Shukla, Director General, EDII visited Rwanda India Entrepreneurship Development Centre (RIEDC) at Kigali during 18th-23rd December, 2022 to attend Project Monitoring Committee (PMC) Meeting and Governing Board Meeting of RIEDC. (Top Row-2nd from L) Shri Puneet Roy Kundal, Joint Secretary, MEA, Gol, (Top Row-2nd from R) Dr. Prakash Shelat, Under Secretary (E&SA), MEA and (Top Row Extreme R) Mr. Robin Jain, Officer from the Finance Section also attended the meeting. In addition, Officials from Indian Embassy in Rwanda, representative from MINICOM, Govt. of Rwanda; Director, Rwanda Institute of Cooperatives, Entrepreneurship and Microfinance (RICEM), and Advisor, RIEDC remained present. (Top Row- Extreme L) Advisor, RIEDC, Dr. Piyush Sinha presented the progress report and activities carried out during the first year of the operations of RIEDC, which was established in November 2021. The highlight was the training of 600 youths and establishment of 50 enterprises by RIEDC- trained participants. The discussions centered around reviewing the progress and brainstorming over the possible viable activities.
A Business Symposium on Furthering Rwanda’s Economic Journey
Rwanda is at a cusp. It is ready to take the big leap and break the glass ceiling. The ethos, initiatives and policies of the government is paving ways for a country fit for the new world order. The borderless world, where geography has become history, allows free flowing exchange of ideas, knowledge, technology, skill and investments. read more
8 Week Train-the-Trainer at EDII, Ahmedabad
Eighteen people were chosen to attend this programme at EDII. These would become the resource to conduct the activities at RIEDC to further the entrepreneurial preparedness among the target participants. The programme has been conducted with the following objectives:
- To impart skills covering assessment of entrepreneurial potential among youth; training them to identify business opportunities, prepare business plans and equip themselves with an understanding of management of small ventures
- To develop a resource pool of trainers who can facilitate new enterprise creation
- To equip the participants with skills in profiling small enterprises in operations and in assisting entrepreneur to take their businesses to greater heights
- To help the participants acquire skills in developing industrial/artisanal clusters
New Enterprise Creation Programme
Rwanda – India Entrepreneurship Development Centre (RIEDC) has been setup under an MoU between the Government of Rwanda and the Government of India with a purpose to contribute to building the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the country. It aims at building capabilities among the people and institutions in Rwanda and further the Entrepreneurship Policy of the government. The RIEDC is being mentored by Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) and Rwanda Institute of Cooperatives, Entrepreneurship and Microfinance (RICEM).
The New Enterprise Creation Promotion is an initiative in this direction where the youth of the country would get an opportunity to setup their own start-ups and run them successfully.
Objectives
- Provide Opportunities to sharpen entrepreneurial capabilities
- Bringing Clarity about business idea
- Developing Skills in preparing business plans
- Assistance in preparing the business plan
- Understanding intricacies of managing small businesses
- Handholding support in setting up the business
Workshops
Appreciation Workshop of Key Policy Makers in Rwanda
A 2 day workshop was held in Kigali for the senior officials from ministries, middle level policy makers, executives from banks and financial institutions and officials from industry and trade association. The workshop aimed at highlighting the need for a plan to facilitate entrepreneurial development and create strategies for region specific interventions and, in the process, highlight the role of the stakeholders to hasten the process of SME development.
Regional Workshops for Entrepreneurship
2 Day regional workshops have been planned for operating level officials. The workshop would enhance the understanding of the process of entrepreneurship development and support the needs of the target groups such as youths, educated unemployed, and women in urban and rural areas. During the interactions, the participants would be made acquainted with various interventions that would promote and strengthen SMEs and create an enabling environment to promote entrepreneurship development initiatives.
Feasibility Report of the Centre
RIEDC has been setup based on a feasibility report prepared by EDII with support from the Government of Rwanda. The report highlights the needs for the Centre and formulates broad guidelines for organisation and management of the centre. It lays down its objectives and targets and suggests a viable financial plan. The reports was developed based on data collected from government departments, academic institutions, chambers of commerce and industry association and international development and donor organisations.
Business Opportunity Analysis and Project Identification
This document is planned to be helpful to the local entrepreneurs to identify the areas of their interest and pick up the kind of enterprises they would like to build in these domains and geographies. It would also help the existing entrepreneurs to expand and diversify their enterprises. The report contains the various opportunities in manufacturing, trading and service sectors. The prospective entrepreneurs can screen these opportunities based on financial and non-financial parameters. It would also act as a guide to business opportunity identification process by an entrepreneur. The report used an internationally accepted UNIDO methodology. The report also contains a list of several project profiles that could be picked by prospective start-ups as well as established enterprises.