WIVP in Rwanda: Rebuilding After a Tragedy
Karen Wong and Chris Adams, WG'06
Issue date: 10/24/05 Section: Insider
At the request of Eric Kacou (WG '04), we went to Rwanda to assist the Rwanda Private Sector Federation (RPSF). Eric is a Country Manager for On the Frontier (OTF), a consulting firm that consults to governments in developing nations, and has been working with the Rwandan government for several years. RPSF is a privately funded organization whose charter is to grow the private sector in Rwanda. This year, the RPSF's major initiative is to develop a network of business development services (BDS) centers in every province to seed and nurture economic development in the rural areas. The vision is to create a network of one-stop business development shops for entrepreneurs, business owners and farmers to receive business and agricultural advice, training, and access to finance.
Despite initial agreement on the need for the centers, stakeholders, such as NGOs and microfinance providers, disagreed on how the centers should operate. The stakeholders will be using the BDS facilities to deliver their services in the provinces and our goal was to bring consensus to the stakeholders and develop an operating plan for the rollout of the BDS centers.
With such a big agenda, we hit the ground running. We spent the first week meeting with representatives from prominent NGOs, the World Bank, the United Nations, and heads of provincial governments. These meetings were valuable, as they exposed us to the issues facing Rwanda as it rebuilds, as well as to the numerous foreign aid efforts in place to facilitate the rebuilding. Meeting with organizations such as USAID and the above institutions, we saw first-hand the varied ways in which they operate and differ in their visions. It is easy to be cynical about foreign aid, but often we were impressed by their impact. At the minimum, external aid accelerates redevelopment by leaps and bounds compared to internal, organic efforts.
With an understanding of the various stakeholder needs, we began developing the operating plan. Leveraging our combined banking, consulting, 1st year MBA background, and with the help of OTF, we prepared a plan that included an outline of the services the BDS centers should provide, how the centers should be staffed, what equipment would be needed, a budget to build and operate the centers, and a timeline to roll-out 12 centers over 3 years. (For those skeptics amongst you, FNCE 602's lessons on a small open economy came up and MKTG 622's instructions on new product adoption came into play!) We presented the plan to the stakeholders, and after receiving their comments and approval, we presented the plan to the Chairman of RPSF, who is now using the plan to raise funds to build the BDS network. It was a pleasure to see immediate impact, as the Chairman urged us to give him a plan with which he could ply visiting dignitaries that week.
Despite initial agreement on the need for the centers, stakeholders, such as NGOs and microfinance providers, disagreed on how the centers should operate. The stakeholders will be using the BDS facilities to deliver their services in the provinces and our goal was to bring consensus to the stakeholders and develop an operating plan for the rollout of the BDS centers.
With such a big agenda, we hit the ground running. We spent the first week meeting with representatives from prominent NGOs, the World Bank, the United Nations, and heads of provincial governments. These meetings were valuable, as they exposed us to the issues facing Rwanda as it rebuilds, as well as to the numerous foreign aid efforts in place to facilitate the rebuilding. Meeting with organizations such as USAID and the above institutions, we saw first-hand the varied ways in which they operate and differ in their visions. It is easy to be cynical about foreign aid, but often we were impressed by their impact. At the minimum, external aid accelerates redevelopment by leaps and bounds compared to internal, organic efforts.
With an understanding of the various stakeholder needs, we began developing the operating plan. Leveraging our combined banking, consulting, 1st year MBA background, and with the help of OTF, we prepared a plan that included an outline of the services the BDS centers should provide, how the centers should be staffed, what equipment would be needed, a budget to build and operate the centers, and a timeline to roll-out 12 centers over 3 years. (For those skeptics amongst you, FNCE 602's lessons on a small open economy came up and MKTG 622's instructions on new product adoption came into play!) We presented the plan to the stakeholders, and after receiving their comments and approval, we presented the plan to the Chairman of RPSF, who is now using the plan to raise funds to build the BDS network. It was a pleasure to see immediate impact, as the Chairman urged us to give him a plan with which he could ply visiting dignitaries that week.