81259106 — Promotion of Economy and Employment (Eco-Emploi)

The National Industrial Research and Development Agency (NIRDA), has the mandate to improve the competitiveness and to upgrade technological operations of existing industries, including wood sector. The bilateral Economy and Employment Promotion Programme (EcoEmploi), as part of the Rwandan-German Development Cooperation, aims to increase growth and employment in selected Value Chains (VC). The scope of this project, supported by GIZ EcoEmploi, is to create a twin incubator/accelerator facility (I/A) hosted by NIRDA as a tool to move the Rwandan wood industry towards higher capacity, innovativeness and new investments as well as via a feedback mechanism to the market and Government institutions. The I/A aims to: — strengthen the knowledge and competencies of entrepreneurs and management teams, provide insight on what entrepreneurs and management teams should expect as they evolve/develop through Incubation and acceleration; — support the growth and technological upgrading of more mature start-ups and SMEs via the provision of structured and studied interventions through an acceleration program to prepare them to meet the requirements at specific stages of capital raising (seed stage, early stage, venture capital stage, later growth stage capital) as well as scaling the individual companies; — strengthen the capacity of national institutions involved in the Wood Value Chain development to light up and broaden their vision in decision-making processes for modernisation of the wood sector in Rwanda; — facilitate the business networks and linkages of local PS operators with foreign legal timber suppliers and wood products markets.