Global week targets 50,000 new entrepreneurs

The Global Entrepreneurship Week, a global campaign to promote entrepreneurship worldwide, targets to support over 50,000 aspiring entrepreneurs to start up businesses.The Minister for Youth and ICT, Jean Philbert Nsengimana, said that establishing and running a business require appropriate entrepreneurship skills. “Without this critical entrepreneurship bit, you are nowhere. The thing we have to fight is under employment not unemployment,” the Minister said at a press briefing during the launch of the global week in Kigali last week. This is the second time Rwanda is participating in the global entrepreneurship week, which aims to celebrate innovators and job creators who launch businesses that bring new ideas to life, drive economic growth and improve human welfare.The Minister noted that such initiatives are expected to enhance the ability of women and young entrepreneurs to pursue economic opportunities, invest additional capital, hire more employees and grow their businesses. The Head of Human Capital and Institutional Development at Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Apollo Munanura, believes that through promotion of entrepreneurship, the country will be able to offset the shortage of investments needed to drive economic growth and development.“When we get more businesses started, we will be able to increase employment levels and develop our economy, which we are looking at in the Vision 2020,” he said.The week will also showcase new software that facilitates classroom management for distance learning developed by a local firm, Go beyond Technology Ltd. “It allows distant video classroom management giving room for student teacher interaction,” explained Alphonse Nsengimana, the innovator of the software.During the week, over 40 partner organisations will participate in 45 items that include Real Business Accelerator, a Women to Women International business competition that aims to facilitate rural women to start businesses.