Abstract:
Private sector engagements and women empowerment has been developed to promote gender equality in the sector and enhance inclusive and sustainable economic transformation of Rwanda. This study aimed to assess the contribution of private sector engagement to women empowerment, a case study of PSF-Chamber of Women Entrepreneurs to empower business women in muhoza sector of Musanze district. The study is referred to mixed research design approaches, data were collected by using interview and questionnaires. To select the sample of population, purposive sampling was used to get 133 respondents who joined chamber of women entrepreneurs before 2023 or during this period. Descriptive statistical analysis especially inferential statistics which used frequencies and percentages was applied to display and analyze the collected data in tables with the help of SPSS. The findings of the study revealed that gender mainstreaming strategies and practices made PSF-chamber of women entrepreneurs to empower women entrepreneurs in muhoza are capacity buildings as represented in table 2 where majority respondents 57.9% strongly agree, 54.9% of respondents agree that gender mainstreaming advocacy is provided to them, strengthening women business access to the market, 100% of respondents strongly agree that promotion of gender equality is among comprises gender mainstreaming strategies and practices adopted by PSF-Chamber of women entrepreneurs to empower women and access to finance. The findings show that women were economically, socially and politically by increasing job opportunities where The findings in table 3 shows that 90.2% of respondents at very large extent and 9.8% of respondent at large extent PSF-Chamber of Women Entrepreneurs have empowered women by increased job opportunities for them, improving their financial independence, enhanced creativity and innovation, reduced unemployment, Table 5 shows that 100% of respondents at very large extent rated that PSF-chamber of women entrepreneurs has increased women entrepreneur’s representation in policy-making, removing traditional gender stereotype in community. The study recommended that due to the lack of collateral makes it difficult for women business owners in Musanze to launch and expand their enterprises. In order to market their enterprises, women entrepreneurs should reach out to and utilize the organizations designed specifically for them, such as the microfinance Sacco-Umurenge, COOPEDU, Africare, RDB, PSF, RCWE, and REG, among others.
