Effect of Women Economic Empowerment Projects and Permanence of Women Led Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in Rwanda: A case of Nyakabanda Sector, Kigali City

This study examined effect of women economic empowerment projects on the permanence of women-led Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Rwanda, using Nyakabanda Sector in Kigali City as a case study. The study was guided by three specific objectives: to examine the effect of entrepreneurial training on the permanence of women-led MSMEs, to evaluate the influence of policy interventions on the permanence of women-led MSMEs. The study adopted a descriptive and correlational research design using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Data were collected from 75 women entrepreneurs operating MSMEs in Nyakabanda Sector through structured questionnaires. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, regression analysis, and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used to analyse the data. The findings revealed that entrepreneurial training significantly improves the permanence of women-led MSMEs by enhancing business management, financial management, marketing, record-keeping, and decision-making skills. Women entrepreneurs who received training demonstrated greater confidence in managing their businesses and adapting to market challenges, leading to improved business sustainability. The inferential analysis established a strong positive and statistically significant relationship between women economic empowerment projects and the permanence of women-led MSMEs. The regression results showed that women economic empowerment projects explained 69.2% of the variation in business permanence (R² = 0.692), while the ANOVA results confirmed that the overall regression model was statistically significant (p < 0.001). Consequently, all the null hypotheses were rejected, indicating that entrepreneurial training, and policy interventions. The study recommends strengthening entrepreneurial training programmes, expanding access to finance, enhancing supportive government policies, and addressing socio-cultural barriers to improve the permanence and growth of women-owned enterprises in Rwanda.