Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), the oldest and one of the biggest German political foundations, has kicked off operations in Rwanda with a core mission of training young professionals in the country.

FES gets its name from Friedrich Ebert, who was the first democratically elected President of Germany. The Foundation works across the world with 18 offices in Sub-Saharan Africa.

According to Oliver Dalichau, FES Rwanda’s country director, the Foundation established its office in Kigali on the invitation of the Rwandan government.

"The goal is support our Rwandan partners in the fields of social protection and good governance,” he said.

Edward Krubasik, one of Siemen’s top executives, interacts with young professionals in Rwanda.

He highlighted that the global President of FES, Kurt Beck, who is also the former President-Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate, signed a memorandum of understanding with Rwanda last year, marking the beginning of the Foundation’s process to enter Rwanda.

Just this week, the Foundation organised a workshop in Kigali that focused on ‘social-economic growth and digitalisation’ and brought together young professionals from different fields.

The workshop was graced by renowned German physicist Edward Krubasik, who is also among the top executives of Siemens and McKinsey & Company, a global consulting firm.

This workshop is part of a series of trainings that Dalichau says the organisation will be conducting targeting young professionals from different industries in Rwanda.

"With civil society organisations, trade union, universities and other think tanks, we are looking forward to organising more trainings, international exchange and supporting research,” he noted.

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