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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