Invest in 1.000 small enterpreneurs!

Lease program and fund for SME’s in Rwanda

Context
Inclusive Trading Initiative (ITI) has developed a lease product with a local team of Rwandans and set up a lease company Equip Rwanda. This company gives start-ups and existing mini-companies the opportunity to shape their businesses. The focus on the so called Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s)

Situation
For the last two decades, Rwanda is a very stable country with good governance in place. The population in Rwanda is extremely young and the majority still lives in poverty. The average age is 23 years while 78 percent of the population is under 35 years of age. This results in many newcomers to the labor market. Forced by the high unemployment, many young people start their own business. Only a limited number survive the first years and manage to set up a stable company. Often these companies have great difficulty accessing capital to finance the growth of their business. Banks are hesitant and charge high interest rates or require personal guarantees to cover their risk.

Approach
To change this situation, Equip Rwanda offers a lease program with the aim of supporting promising entrepreneurs. After a pretty strong pre-selection, all entrepreneurs must attend a full-week business training, develop a business plan and are assessed by a credit committee.

If the process has been completed successfully, a lease contract is offered for the required capital goods of max. €5,000 with a maximum term of 3 years. In addition, the opportunity is offered to become a member of the business network, through which the entrepreneurs in small groups are offered monthly training to continue developing their entrepreneurial skills.

Within Equip Rwanda, a young passionate team is engaged in marketing the product and following up on the clients. From Inclusive Trading Initiative we provide management support to the team and we take care of the management of the fund.

Impact
As from 2021 the aim of the program is to grow within 3 years to a situation in which 400 companies are trained annually, of which approximately 300 are offered a lease contract every year. This not only gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to improve their income position, but additional jobs are also created.

Since I have been able to lease professional equipment, I have been able to expand my services considerably. As a result, my career has taken off and my income has increased significantly. – Christian, photographer

Investment
Looking at the opportunities, we are seeking a total amount of € 600.000 loan capital in the course of next few years. Because of the aim of this initiative, we are looking especially for investors with a focus on making social impact. MissionInvest offers you the opportunity to participate in two ways:

• As a strategic donor for € 150.000 (or 3 years € 50.000)
• As a strategic investor with a 5-year interest-free loan of € 100,000 or more (due to AFM regulations in The Netherlands) to finance the loans to the young people.