Rwanda private enterprise development

(TNS) to support the development of small, private enterprises in Rwanda by providing business advisory services (BAS) and training. PES covers the period 8/84-5/86. The project is basically proceeding according to plan. Implementation got underway in 7/85. During the remainder of that year, the number of client contacts exceeded target by 37%: specifically, discussions with potential clients were 38% over target, client requests for services were 113% over, and actual provision of services stood at 70% of target. During the first 3 months of 1986, requests for services continued to exceed plan, as did the number of initial contacts, although the latter was due to a somewhat unfruitful outreach effort to rural cooperatives. Some 17% of planned client services for 1986 took place during the first 3 months in the form of accounting and management systems design and planning. Also, a potential management assistance program (MAP) client was identified; two such clients are to be signed up in 1986. Client selection criteria have been appropriate and flexible. The training and institutional development component is also generally on target. The long-term certified public accountant (CPA) training effort began in 1985 (occupying far more of the training specialist"s time than expected), training relationships with local institutions were established, and a scope of work was defined for the institutional needs assessment. During the first quarter of 1986, requests for training services came in at a high rate, signed training agreements were on target, and one of the 3 planned collaborative seminars was held. However, none of the 3 TNS seminars or the 2 training consulting services to be arranged during the year took place, mostly due to the commitment to the CPA training. Efforts to build local BAS capacity suffered a setback when one of the project"s 3 Rwandan staff members (vs. 6 targeted) left for a better job. The 9 months of project experience indicate that the Rwandan business environment may be less developed and the small and medium enterprise sector less extensive than was thought. Project implementation - and private sector development in general - face several constraints: a shortage of educated personnel; the subsistence nature of the agricultural sector; low market demand; and huge transportation problems. Problems in locating a MAP client may be due to the paucity of private agribusiness and manufacturing firms. Recommendations accepted by the Office of the A.I.D. Representative (OAR/R) include, inter alia, expanding the BAS to serve commercial and service industries and extending the project following the next evaluation.