The Rwandan government envisions to create a middle-income, knowledge-based society with a
middle class of entrepreneurs as the backbone of development processes in which women and men
equally participate. As a result, many women have been starting businesses and the percentage of
female owned enterprises in the capital currently is 43.1 percent. Nevertheless, a lack of education
and skills has been identified as performance barrier of women owned enterprises and across
Rwanda self-employed women have indicated a need for education and training in order to improve
their business practices. This study investigates the exact nature of these education needs and
identifies what entrepreneurship education programmes are currently offering to look for similarities
and discrepancies. In addition, my intention has been to clarify the development impacts made by
women’s self-employment activities in light of current challenges in the SME environment to specify
if and how women entrepreneurs contribute to the country’s development processes.
Women entrepreneurs in Kigali identified a lack of knowledge about financial management,
business management, business innovation, resilience in doing business and market information.
Entrepreneurship education programmes only partly cater to these needs by offering business plan
writing which incorporates financial- and business management skills, but they pay limited attention
to business innovation, resilience in doing business and market information. The preferred ways of
learning by women are sharing experiences, expert talks and mentoring, which were all used by
education programmes though to a lesser extent than wished for by women. Training programmes
often make use of classroom presentations given by a teacher or business expert, while women
entrepreneurs are looking for more interactive ways of learning that combine theory and practice by
means of interaction and discussion, for example through mentoring. Additionally, women prefer
participating in education programmes that take into account their business and home
responsibilities by offering flexible schedules and additional services such as child care. Programmes
do not seem to take this wish into account but aim to include after-training care and the local,
Rwandan context throughout their programmes in order to ensure a better balance between theory
and practice. Following these findings, it has been recommended that education programmes should
be clear about the contents, ways of learning and programme design of their trainings in order to
ensure beneficiaries are well informed about what to expect before choosing to participate, and that
once participating both women entrepreneurs and programme staff hold the right expectations.