A group of 60 Rwandan women entrepreneurs visiting the U.S completed a training programme to facilitate them to scale up their businesses.The programme that was offered by the Institute for Economic Empowerment (IEEW) aims to assist women to become catalysts to build stable democracies. “As part of this training, half of the students are selected to travel to the United States for higher-level business and leadership training that culminates with the Summit and graduation,” a statement from the Rwandan Embassy in the US reads in part. At a reception ceremony held at the Embassy in Washington D.C., Ambassador James Kimonyo congratulated the women and underlined his continuous support to the programme.“The rural woman who is most often wrongly regarded as a liability to development in some less developed nations is now Rwanda’s pride as she steers the nation to recovery. These women are being empowered and have joined or led associations, self-help and credit schemes where they generate income and sustain their families and communities,” Kimonyo told the guests who included the Rwandan Diaspora in Washington.“Rwanda is a nation that has understood women as the future of the country and the face of sustainable development.”Also present was James Gatera, the chief executive officer of the country’s largest lender, Bank of Kigali, who emphasised the need for women to make investments in real-estate and energy sectors, as well as urged the Diaspora to make more investments in Rwanda.The annual programme that is in its sixth year enrols an average of 60 women out of whom 30 top performers acquire further mentorship.This programme is implemented through a pledge made by the Women, known as “Pay if Forward” that obliges them to teach other women about what they learnt.
