O
ff-farm employment in Rwanda has more than trebled over the last decade, reaching 1.4 million in 2011.
This is according to the latest household survey conducted by the National Institute of Statistics, which shows that 28% of all jobs in the country are now outside of agriculture. Now the Government of Rwanda, following the annual Leadership Retreat held in early March, wants to see this figure rise to 50% of all jobs by 2020, equivalent to 1.8 million new jobs. The significant drop in the national poverty rate - 12 percentage points since 2005 – has been linked to Rwandese moving into more skilled, higher value added sectors of employment, in turn the key drivers of recent economic growth. Rwanda’s industrial and service sectors are currently flourishing, having averaged annual growth of 9% and 11% respectively over the last five years. Industrial growth has been spearheaded by construction and manufacturing, both labour intensive industries, and are projected to lead job creation over the next decade. In the service sector, the expansion of finance and insurance services across the country as well as growth in the tourism and ICT sectors are playing a key role in employment outside of agriculture. Meeting the ambitious new Vision 2020 targets for job creation, will require continued investment in the skills demanded by emerging sectors. Higher Education as well as Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) will be vital in this regard. Enrolment rates for TVET in secondary schools reached almost 30,000 in 2010, and more than 73,000 students were enrolled in tertiary education for 2011. Nonetheless, these figures need to rise further, especially in courses with a strong link to the job market.
MINICOM 3.2 million off-farm
jobs targeted by 2020 The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MINICOM) has fostered the link between skills development and job demand through the Rural Apprenticeship Training Programme, a key service of the Rural and Micro Enterprise Promotion Project (PPPMER). This responds to the huge demand of many young women and men for professional skills development in Rwanda, and has trained over 10,000 individuals since 2004. It has enabled the start-up of 2,347 enterprises and created 5,281 jobs Another key initiative being pioneered by MINICOM and Rwanda Development Board (RDB) is fostering an entrepreneurial mind-set amongst the population. This is being championed through initiatives such as the new Hanga Umurimo program, which focuses on sensitisation for mind-set change but also encourages prospective entrepreneurs to submit business plans for their ideas in the nationwide Hanga Umurimo business competition. Assistance is at hand from the district-level Business Development Centres, and the best ideas are selected for financing by banks and other financial institutions. Over 16,000 applications were received
during the first rollout of the scheme from all parts of the country, and now financing will be extended to 600 firms in the first phase following significant interest from the financial sector. Key partners include the International Finance Corporation (IFC), BRD’s Business Development Fund (BDF) and districts through the Access to Finance Forum (AFF). This decentralisation to the district level is key to the success of the program, helping to mobilise stakeholders and inspire communities alike. This concept forms the basis of the Small & Medium Enterprise (SME) clustering programme designed by MINICOM, which identifies the most competitive SME sectors per district across the country for targeted support. 22 unique SME product clusters emerged countrywide across all the 30 districts, including areas such as ICT, essential oil, diary, furniture, wine, meat, pineapple and fishing. Strategic interventions are then designed in areas such as cluster organization, access to finance, market information, skills development and production technologies. A strong entrepreneurial class of Rwandese can lead the way in off-farm employment and economic growth, and in the process help to shift from the mind-set of ‘job-seeking’ to ‘job-creating’. www.facebook.com/InspireAfrica |35