A US-based non-profit organisation, Global Relief and Development Partners (GRDP), has embarked on a mission to help build Rwanda’s entrepreneurial and private enterprise capacity.

The organisation held a half-day workshop at the Mille Collines Hotel in Kigali on Tuesday in which it revealed its long-term commitment to help build Rwanda’s private enterprise capacity.

The workshop entitled, "Building Private Enterprise and Public Sector Capacity in Rwanda through Business Relationships,” focused on presenting GRDP’s vision, introducing its executives who will be coaching and mentoring Rwandan entrepreneurs, among other things.

"This is to build relationships between US business executives and Rwandan entrepreneurs to share expertise, experience and skills,” explained the Chairman of the GRDP Board of Directors, David Ormesher. Rwanda has put much emphasis in the capacity building sector after recognizing its importance.

"We have most of these ideas,” the Director of Capacity Building and Employment at the Rwanda Private Sector Federation (RPSF), Molly Rwigamba, observed.

However, she was quick to point out that Rwandans still stand to benefit from GRDP’s new products, especially their training workshops.

"We need to partner with them,” she said.

"There are some ideas we can borrow from them.

Ormesher told The New Times  that GRDP’s capacity building programme is a three-pronged model. First of all, seasoned US business executives will provide one-on-one coaching to Rwandan entrepreneurs, he explained.

The executives have made a one-year commitment to provide coaching, intellectual capital, and access to their network of resources to enable Rwandan entrepreneurs to grow and expand their companies.

The second component is based on assessment of high priority needs in conjunction with discussions with Government officials, faith-based organisations and the business community. GRDP plans to conduct intensive three-day workshops in Rwanda every three months, beginning July 2008.

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