Kigali, Rwanda, November 9, 2009
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is helping increase quality education opportunities in Rwanda by training representatives from private schools to help improve their management skills and business models.
IFC’s Africa Schools Rwanda Program, in collaboration with IFC’s Rwanda Entrepreneurship Development Program (REDP), conducted two workshops in October to train representatives of 16 private schools. The first workshop was the Strategic Planning and School Vision three-day session. This was followed by a four-day session on Financial Management and Accounting.
The trainings have helped schools write long-term business plans, increasing their chances of accessing finance. The IFC training sessions featured specially-designed tools, including IFC’s Small and Medium Enterprise Toolkit and Business Edge, which are interactive learning programs that help managers run more efficient businesses.
Cyprien Rwabigwi, legal representative of Complexe Scolaire “Les Petits Poussins”, said, “The training sessions were very valuable and will have a dramatic impact on improving the way our school is run.”
Private schools in Rwanda face many hurdles to growth, including lack of long term local currency financing, inadequate facilities and weak management information systems to track daily operations. IFC and the Banque Rwandaise de Développement (BRD) have developed a Risk Sharing Facility to support the growth of private schools in Rwanda.
The Risk Sharing Facility is an integrated package of financing and advisory services available to qualifying private schools and education service providers that will help them expand teaching facilities and services and improve their management skills.
Ignace Bacyaha, IFC’s REDP Program Manager, said, “With improved management, and with IFC’s support, Rwanda’s private schools hope to increase enrollment by an average of five percent in 2010.”
IFC has invested up to US$ 4.8 million in this facility and provides advisory services to strengthen eligible schools’ financial management and the quality of their education services. Schools can submit sound business plans to BRD, which has increased its education portfolio to approximately US$ 13 million with the assistance of IFC.
Rwanda’s government is seeking to increase quality education opportunities in the country and is backing private education to support the public education system. Rwanda’s Ministry of Education has provided BRD with US$ 3 million to further expand the private sector education portfolio.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, creates opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives. We foster sustainable economic growth in developing countries by supporting private sector development, mobilizing private capital, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. Our new investments totaled $14.5 billion in fiscal 2009, helping channel capital into developing countries during the financial crisis. For more information visit
www.ifc.org
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About Banque Rwandaise de Développement (BRD)
BRD was established in 1967 as a development finance institution with a mission to promote economic development in Rwanda. Its shareholders comprise the government of Rwanda, local public institutions, international development financial institutions, and the private sector. BRD provides long term and medium finance and significantly facilitates the emergence of different productive enterprises in the private sector.
