MAKAMBA/CANKUZO, March 26th (ABP) – Women from the new provinces of Burunga and Buhumuza have been attending training courses on drawing up business plans organised by the Youth Economic Empowerment and Employment Programme (PAEEJ), since Tuesday 18 March 2025.
In Burunga province, around 19 women from the provinces of Makamba, Bururi, Rumonge and Rutana, which make up the new province of Burunga, have been receiving training in drawing up business plans since Tuesday 18 March 2025.
The training will culminate in a competition on Friday 21 March 2025 to select four projects to be financed, one for each of the current provinces, as ABP observed on site. The facilitator, Serges Bigirimana, indicated that each current province is represented by 5 women, except for Bururi province, which was represented by 4 women due to the personal convenience of the representative of a cooperative. Bigirimana also indicated that each selected cooperative will receive an interest-free loan of 9 million Burundi francs. The first 4 finalists from Burunga province will meet their counterparts from the other provinces in Gitega on 25 March to select 10 more innovative projects. The first three of those projects will be financed to the tune of 15, 13 and 12 million Burundi francs respectively, following a competition to be held in Bujumbura on 28 March 2025.
In Cankuzo province, in a month dedicated to women, 15 women from the new province of Buhumuza have been benefiting from a 3-day training course on drawing up business plans as part of the “Ladies Impulse” competition since Tuesday 18 March 2025. The training, organised by PAEEJ, is taking place in the provincial capital, Cankuzo.
Egide Nkurunziza, a trainer sent by PAEEJ, said that six women, two from each of the current provinces of Buhumuza, would have access to PAEEJ funding to implement their submitted projects.