Govt to support more women entrepreneurs

The Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion has pledged to help women entrepreneurs overcome challenges they face in their business ventures.Gender minister Oda Gasinzigwa, who was addressing women entrepreneurs at the 6th graduation of the Peace Through Business Association of Rwanda commended women for “effectively achieving the triple role of a woman, a mother and an entrepreneur.”Some 29 women entrepreneurs graduate from small and medium enterprises at the Tuesday function in Kigali.“I am excited to see women who start from the scratch but whose business grow bigger with time. It shows that you have a lot of potential. Together, we can plan and achieve big,” she said. Gasinzigwa challenged the women to always seek support from the ministry, mainly on the advocacy front. The Peace Through Business programme was borne of a belief that ‘When you educate a woman, you educate a nation,’ according Dr Terry Neese, the US-based founder of the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women, which founded the programme.It seeks to promote international peace and to facilitate local economic stability for women who have suffered oppression, marginalisation and whose homelands have been devastated by war, genocide and poverty.Emilienne Nyiramana, a member of a tailoring cooperative in Kicukiro district, said they used to mix up accounting systems and could not know how much they have learnt and what constitutes the expenditures. But by meeting twice-a-week for the last two months, the women have designed the books and taught themselves business management.“I started in 2012 with no idea on how to do business, but today, I know what I am talking about; skills I got from here helped me a lot,” testified Teta Isibo, the owner of Inzuki Designs, a local company specialising in African inspired jewellery, accessories and interior décor, who graduated in 2012.Eighteen women who excelled during the training were rewarded with Rwf200,000, while three cooperatives were granted Rwf1m each.

National

Govt to support more women entrepreneurs