The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, yesterday launched an entrepreneurship development programme.

The Rwanda Entrepreneurship Development Programme (REDP) was launched after a validation workshop involving over 100 stakeholders committed to Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) development in the country.

According to an IFC communiqué, the programme will promote IFC’s regional strategy in Africa to support economic growth and job creation through competitive SME businesses.

"The new IFC programme will work hand in hand with public and private sector institutions involved in entrepreneurship development, to enhance availability of technical skills and business development services in Rwanda with a greater emphasis on SMEs,” the REDP Programme Manager Ignace Rusenga Bacyaha noted.

It will also focus on facilitating growth in business revenues, access to finance, and job creation in sectors with a high development impact, "particularly in markets at the frontier of private sector development.”

According to the IFC, the programme is supported by donor partners like Japan, the Netherlands, and Belgium.  

The centre-piece of discussion at the workshop was the findings of a study commissioned on SMEs development and the role of entrepreneurship in the country, in addition to challenges and proposed solutions.

The workshop also sought stakeholders’ "valuable input” which is considered key to the success of this event and the development of entrepreneurship and SMEs in Rwanda.

The programme is split into four components – the entrepreneurship development centre, tourism linkages, capacity building and, building a business culture.

The IFC is a member of the World Bank Group that supports private sector development and offers unpaid assistance to the governments.

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