Rwandan women have had an outstanding impact on our economic growth and societal development.  According to the Ministry of Trade and Industry, women comprise 74 per cent of informal trade in Rwanda, which in turn contributes 30 per cent of GDP.  Interestingly, a considerable portion of this trade occurs at border points – where women, many of them mothers and wives, are breaking through cultural barriers, leaving their homes and travelling long distances to sustain their families as they facilitate the growing demand for consumer goods.

Women have actively taken up the Government policy encouraging clustering of women in cooperatives that have common development goals and this has greatly impacted local communities. Rwandan women have captured the hearts of international consumers with women now running businesses and cooperatives securing deals with reputable wholesalers such as Starbucks and Macy’s.

The Government has also made deliberate efforts to promote women in governance and, today, Rwanda is an exemplary global model for inclusion of women.

Up to 63.8 per cent of parliamentarians are women, the women highest representation in parliament anywhere in the world. Today, it is the norm to find women occupying key decision-making roles in government institutions. This was no overnight miracle – it all happened by design, with the government deliberately implementing policies that have prioritised significant involvement of women in various sectors of public administration.

It is universally known that women are a sure bet when it comes to inclusive economic growth. Their sense of responsibility is reflected in their business ethic.  For instance, women will more often than not reinvest in their business, because they have a keen sense for community development and have generally high repayment rates on loans. It’s no surprise that the foundation of micro finance was built on lending to women. Other financial institutions have similarly taken heed, with customisation of products to suit the woman entrepreneur.

Despite all this progress, challenges still persist.

Most women in business are limited to practicing informal trade and subsistence farming due to socio-cultural barriers, inadequate education, lack of relevant skills, limited exposure to international markets, and insufficient capital.

While many girls are getting into schools, not enough are staying the course. According to the Ministry of Education, Rwanda has achieved gender parity in primary education, with Net Enrollment rates of 98 per cent for girls and 95 per cent for boys; however completion and final exam scores are still marginally lower for girls. These disparities are more apparent in secondary and higher education institutions. In 2012, 90 per cent of boys passed their lower secondary school leaving exams versus 80 per cent for girls. Suggested reasons for these low promotion rates are teenage pregnancies, Gender Based Violence, cultural ideologies that encourage girls to stay home and take care of family, lack of gender sensitive facilities, etc.

Remarkably, the entrepreneurial spirit in Rwandan women continues to persevere. According to a 2008 IFC Report, 49 per cent of SME’s are headed by women – specialising mainly in agriculture, handicrafts, IT, communications and, recently, petroleum.  It’s great to have women-run SME’S, as these enterprises are the backbone of the economy, but we must also advance women up the corporate ladder based on their merit, and eliminate any existing prejudices.

 It must be a priority for us all to encourage betterment of the girl child. While the foundations have been laid, we need to build further on this progress to truly unleash the full potential of women.

As a community, we have the biggest responsibility. We owe it to our children to encourage them so they can pursue any opportunity that will develop them mentally. This will no doubt provide a bright economic future for themselves and the country as a whole.

The writer is the Manager, Communication and External Affairs, GTBank (Rwanda) Ltd

albert.akimanzi@gtbank.com