Some of the winners of the 2024 Startup Capital Awards
The Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (Minagri) has called on financial institutions to fully back- up women entrepreneurs after a project findings showed that equipping women led agribusinesses with value chain skills can result in profitability.
The call was made by Alice Mukamugema, the Director General Agriculture Value Chain Management at Minagri, during a one-day Annual Finance Fair and Learning Event organised by Women for Women Rwanda (WfW-R), on August 22, 2024.
The fair was aimed at exposing and showcase 80 women micro-entrepreneurs from seven districts will present their products and business ideas. This is an opportunity for them to expand their networks, gain visibility, and receive valuable feedback from industry experts.
The event also presented the outcomes from the end of a 3-year project- “Enabling Environment for Successful Female Entrepreneurship in Rwanda”, that was implemented from 1st July, 2021- 30th June, 2024.
A cross-section of women at the Annual Finance Fair and Learning Event organised by Women for Women Rwanda (WfW-R)
The project was aimed at strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Rwanda by connecting vulnerable women micro-entrepreneurs in 7 districts with opportunities, resources and partners that support their journey to become successful entrepreneurs.
Project findings (outcomes) showed the 1,440 targeted direct beneficiaries from the select districts of Nyaruguru, Muhanga, Gasabo, Kicukiro, Bugesera, Rwamagana and Kayonza were able to gain skills in improving business value chains, market assessment before production and to pitch their business to potential investors in their ecosystem.
For instance, through this project, WfW-R provided training with the aim of supporting women accessing and retaining markets locally and abroad. The trainings included price bargaining skills, contract managements, etc
The results showed that 4% of them have reported engagement into a business to the extent that 280 women micro-entrepreneurs are linked to 5 exporter companies.
Although this achievement might seem little, it is still significant when compared to the 1.4% who were exporting their products at the project start and indicates a promising trend.
Alice Mukamugema
Mukamugema said that this model of improving agribusiness value chains is evidence for financial institutions to trust womenpreneurs in the agriculture sector to acquire financing without fear of previously perceived risks.
Rwanda is a signatory to the Malabo Convention that requires African states to invest at least 10% of the national budgets in agriculture financing.
The 4th Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Biennial Review assessment shows that Rwanda emerged as the leading performer (8.07%) but as of 2023 no African country has met the established benchmark of 9.29% out of 10%.
Rwanda currently boasts of women’s financial inclusion which has mainly been driven by financial institutions setting up special departments in agri-financing and women-tailored products.
Some of the successful Kigali women who have worked with the Bank of Kigali (BK)
Local Commercial banks like the Bank of Kigali (BK),Access Bank were able to pitch some of their products in this regard, and according to Anne Marie Giraneza, the BK SME department official, the achievements of the WfW-R project is an opportunity to tap into immediately to facilitate women’s businesses.
For instance, BK has some products specifically for women where they provide three products-unsecured facilities (unsecured stock loans, capital facilities and equipment loans).
“We are currently running those three products and really focusing on how we can create other different products for women-led businesses,” Giraneza said.
Winners: Rural women business owners who have worked with Bank of Kigali
Giraneza added that BK is looking forward to partnering with Women for Women to reach more women and introduce these products but also let them know they are welcome in order to create financial inclusion.
The project also showed that through training on agricultural practices and quality standards and connection to various buyers including exporters, women benefited and this enabled them to increase their productivity with enhanced quality, allowing their product to effectively compete with other products on the market.
Imbereheza Musha cooperative emerged the 2024 overall winner after failing two previous years in a row due to lack of certification
However, women’s cooperatives and WfW-R raised a concern over delays in acquiring legal certification from the Rwanda Cooperative Agency (RCA) which creates a setback in securing supply and market deals or contracts with international buyers.
In response, the Ministry of Agriculture and RCA said that this issue will be resolved and made easy to apply for certification
The financial fair also held a ‘Startup Capital Awards’ ceremony in which the top 15 women’s business pitches received startup capital, providing a crucial boost to the most promising ventures.
Ezekiel Rukema
“This initiative underscores WfW-Rwanda’s commitment to not just educating but also empowering women entrepreneurs with the financial support they need to succeed,” said Ezekiel Rukema, Economic Empowerment Head at WfW-Rwanda.
“We are committed to creating a supportive environment where women can thrive as entrepreneurs and leaders in their communities,” he added.
Some of the successful women business owners trained under the WfW-R programs
