Technical Assistance to support the Rwanda Development Board to enhance business environment and attractiveness of Rwanda for investment Contract related to: Technical Assistance to support the Rwanda Development Board to enhance business environment and attractiveness of Rwanda for investment - The action will contribute to Rwanda¿s ambitions to foster investment and further enhance private sector-driven growth. In this regard, the action will focus on (i) supporting entrepreneurship and youth employment, and (ii) supporting an improved business environment for trade and investment. The latter objective will combine on the one hand horizontal interventions with the Ministry of Trade and the Rwanda Development Board with, on the other hand, a dedicated sectoral focus on the mining industry and the pharmaceutical sector.The first component of the action will support business creation, medium and small enterprises (MSMEs) growth and youth employment, in a highly complementary fashion alongside recently launched EU support for incubation hubs under the European Development Fund (EDF) 11 NIP. The intervention will address existing support gaps alongside the entrepreneurship journey, including through a partnership with the Tony Elumelu Foundation that will expand their Entrepreneurship programme in Rwanda. This will increase the creation and growth of youth-led MSMEs, with a strong emphasis on inclusion of young women and persons with disabilities. Complementary interventions will include the organisation of entrepreneurship awareness campaigns and supporting the organisation of YouthConnekt ideation and pre-incubation competitions.The second component will be focusing on fostering investment and improving the business environment, including through enhanced trade and regional linkages. The horizontal dimension of this component will include support for the domestic implementation of Rwanda¿s commitments under international trade agreements, in particular the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), mainly through strengthening the capacity of the AfCFTA unit at the Ministry of Trade and Industry. The action will also include support for the capacity of the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) to design incentives and improve aftercare for foreign investors. The sectoral dimension of this component will focus on the mining and the pharmaceutical sectors. Interventions on the mining sector will encompass a holistic approach, including: support to the professionalisation and modernisation of operators, digitalisation of licenses and procedures, labour rights and social protection, training and implementation of international standards on environment and traceability, and skills upgrading. These interventions will aim to reinforce the attractiveness of a high potential economic sector notably in terms of the creation of decent jobs. Interventions on the pharmaceutical sector will focus on support to the regulatory environment, business climate and skills base, thereby enhancing the attractiveness of Rwanda for pharmaceutical investments. These interventions will work complementarily on two important tracks to enable local manufacturing of vaccines, namely upgrading of the maturity level of the Rwanda Food and Drug Authority (RFDA)/strengthening regulatory and policy frameworks and improving the skills of the workforce to be employed in the sector.The action will focus on the following four specific objectives of the MIP: (i) Inclusive entrepreneurship and research &amp; innovation support, (ii) supporting access to and quality of TVET (iii) Support to economic governance in order to promote investment and a conducive business environment, and (iv) Measures in support of civil society.