Research Cooperation with Rwanda in Applied Macroeconomics
A Project funded by German Federal Development Cooperation (GIZ)
The faculty of Society and Economics of the Rhine-Waal University of Applied Science has been participating in the higher education cooperation project “Research Cooperation with Rwanda in Applied Macroeconomics” from November 2015 until June 2017. The project has been financed and commissioned by German Federal Development Cooperation (GIZ) and aims at capacity building in Rwandan economic policy institutions and universities.
The role of the Rhine-Waal University of Appled Sciences was mainly to contribute to capacity building in chosen Rwandan higher education institutions, by designing academic workshops, seminars, tutorials and lectures, tailored to the specific needs and challenges of advanced graduate students and professors. To that aim a needs assessment has been conducted, in order to identify academic training needs, knowledge gaps and challenges in the higher education system and policymaking institutions.
The training needs analysed serves as a basis for the design of course outlines and individual training modules in macroeconomic analysis and investment planning. The number of post-graduates (incl. PhD holders) is currently too low to satisfy labour needs of academic and policymaking institutions. Therefore, the object of the programme is to increase the number of PhD holders in order to improve the teaching quality of Rwanda’s universities, enhancing overall education quality in Macroeconomics in the long run.
In October 2016 a so-called ”bridge-programme” designed by Rhine-Waal University for Rwandan graduates in collaboration with the Economic Policy Research Network Rwanda (EPRN) started. These seminars are intended to prepare students to pursue their academic career in ensuing PhD programs and take place at the University of Rwanda. In addition, the programme should foster collaboration and strengthen the partnership between the Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences and the University of Rwanda. Future collaboration could for instance take place through the exchange of university staff as well as through cooperation in joint research projects and events.
The higher education cooperation project is an integral part of the GIZ programme “Macroeconomic Advice for Poverty Reduction”, that is implemented from 2010 to 2018 in Rwanda and financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The programme is active countrywide and supports government institutions (mainly the Ministry for Finance and Economic Planning MINECOFIN) with advice on policies, as well as technical, organisational and process advice.