Michigan Radio Reports On Rwanda Projects
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Michigan Radio’s Jack Lessenberry interviewed WDI Executive Director Robert Kennedy about the Institute’s two projects in Rwanda. The piece aired Sept. 5.
Lessenberry, who contributes essays and interviews to the radio station, also recorded his thoughts on the project, Rwanda’s history and what the United States role should be in assisting the former war-torn nation.
Both pieces can be accessed
here.
After years of a bloody civil war, Rwanda now has a forward-looking government dedicated to social investment and economic growth. Two major challenges facing the country are creating a population of managers to build the private sector and creating administrative capacity among civil servants
In early June, WDI signed a five-year agreement to provide capacity building for the School of Finance and Banking (SFB) in Kigali.
Among the goals and priorities of the project are:
- Improving curricular and programmatic activities.
- Creating local faculty development mechanisms and strengthening the school’s academic staff.
- Identifying degree and non-degree educational needs for both the civil and business sectors in Rwanda and positioning the SFB to serve those needs.
- Creating a leadership and management structure to support the school’s mission.
- Working with SFB management to upgrade the school’s physical facilities and technological infrastructure.
The Institute also reached an agreement with the government to train 100 senior ministry officials. The first session, on leadership and executive skills, began Sept. 4. Other modules will include strategy and marketing, and financial management and budgeting. The program also involves a “train-the-trainers” component so that the program will be handed off to SFB faculty so they can continue to train additional government officials.
