The Private Sector Federation (PSF) has received €4.2m (approx Rwf 340m) from the Netherlands Cooperation to kick start its 4-year Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) Project, The New Times has learnt.

The project, which begins mid this month, will focus on the Business Plan Competition (BPC) targeting TVET graduates and enterprises with potential to promote skills development and employability of talented young Rwandans.

The project aims at promoting skills development and bridging the skills gaps through a well-coordinated internship programme and advocacy on technical and vocational trainings taking into consideration industry needs and trends in a changing environment and its challenges.

It will also establish a quick-win network between the private companies and TVET training facilitators and also promote the culture of business and self employment among others.

The Head of the Entrepreneurship Development and Business Growth unit, Antoine Rutayisire Manzi; told The New Times that the Rwanda Business Plan Competition was a concept developed by the federation as one of the areas to encourage the emergence, growth and development of Small and Medium Enterprises.

The funding will support the TVET programme to promote and stimulate entrepreneurship development in the country by encouraging start-ups and on-going businesses to prepare viable business and project plans that can attract external financing, targeting notably the graduates from TVET institutions at higher and lower levels and companies likely to promote skills development in general.

It will also, help in the capacity building of entrepreneurs to manage their businesses efficiently by training them on efficient and effective ways of managing their business among others.

The project will use the lessons learned from the competitions to make a tailor-made one to improve the TVET graduands’ business skills, thus contributing to the improvement of their employability and to enhance growth of Small and Medium Enterprises.

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