Young entrepreneurs to benefit from MINEDUC funding

Entrepreneurial minds lacking the money to begin their dream businesses have received a helping hand from the Ministry of Education, which will provide finances of up to US50,000 (Rwf 30 million).The endowment targets entrepreneurs in ICT, manufacturing and agriculture.Interested applicants of any age, although preferably, young and more risk taking, have been urged to submit business plans to the ministry for assessment.The initiative labeled the Rwanda Innovation Endowment Fund (RIEF) was established by the government to finance innovative entrepreneurs and to stimulate socio-economic transformation.It is managed by MINEDUC in partnership with United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in the framework of One UN Rwanda.During a public lecture yesterday, themed, ““Entrepreneurship, Innovation and the Rwanda Innovation Endowment Fund”, young entrepreneurs and university graduates were urged to grasp the opportunity.“The objective of the fund is to stimulate economic transformation through innovative and market oriented products and processes in the priority areas of the economy, thereby increasing prosperity and the competitiveness of Rwandans economic growth and social development,” Mike Hughes, the advisor on Science, Technology and Innovation in MINEDUC said.The main speaker at the public lecture, Axel Bichara,is a mechanical engineering, entrepreneur and International Venture Capitalist from the USA with more than 25 years in investment.“Promoting entrepreneurship is one of the best things any of us can do to help the world become a better place. Through this project, Rwandan youth have the chance to finally engage in what they have always wanted and thus change their lives and communities,” Buchara told the attendants.For the pilot phase, it is anticipated that up to ten successful projects will be funded.