AfDB provides US$84.3 million to support SMEs and Co-ops in Rwanda

The Inspirer

African Development Bank (AfDB) has pledged to provide US$84.3 million loan to finance SMEs and Cooperatives in Rwanda.

The support is under AfDB’s high five priorities with the Skills and Business Development Programme (SBDP) that will support 100 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and 500 cooperatives by 2020 that are expected to increase and improve the quality of their products, and generate much needed revenue.

In a statement released by the AfDB, the program will promote reforms, boost domestic production and create about 200,000 jobs annually.

Rwanda’s economic performance remains strong averaging 6.8% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth per annum since 2013. The country has also made progress in creating 150,000 off-farm jobs every year since 2014.

However, the private sector which is the engine for job creation is not creating enough jobs to absorb the 200,000 youth entering the labour market annually because of the proliferation of unproductive businesses with low survival rates.

The Government of Rwanda is keen on developing a competitive private sector and create jobs for young people in order to achieve its ambitious development agenda.

Women and youth who constitute about 52% and 27% of the population respectively, will benefit through the Savings and Credit Co-operatives (SACCOs), the main source of financing for rural Small and Medium Enterprises, and productive cooperatives which serve over one million women and youth.

SBDP was jointly developed by the African Development Bank and the Government of Rwanda in close consultation with the private sector and other key development partners (Germany, Sweden, USA, European Union, DFID, World Bank, JICA and MasterCard Foundation).