Officials, including development partners, who launched the digital platforms
The Ministry of Labor has launched digital platforms which will enable employers and employees to find required information on the current job market, skills needs and gaps to address.
The four platforms, launched this August 21, 2024 include the Labour Market Information System (LMIS) to show the labor market needs and skills development gaps and needs to inform policy and strategies.
The National Professional Internship Program-an internship portal which will allow the reduction of time management in contract management which were also formerly written manually- will go digital
The Graduate Tracking System (GTS) plus the Kora Job Portal which will respectively track employment progress after graduation and link job seekers to available job opportunities.
“Those platforms are designed to improve operational efficiency towards coordinating labour market information and employment promotion. Also, they will offer numerous benefits to users (job seekers, employers, policymakers, researchers) by providing streamlined access to labour market-related information,” said Francois Ngoboka, the Chief Skills Officer (CSO)
These will include information on job vacancies, labour force participation, employment statistics, requirements for skills demand and supply, available training programs, current and future labour market trends, labour market disparities.
Francois Ngoboka
David Rurangirwa, the Mastercard Foundation Country Director, Rwanda Programs said that these platforms tie-in with their Young Africa Works strategy to create 30 million dignified jobs for young people on the continent by 2030.
“This ties in very nicely with our young Africa works strategy focus areas such as creating skills, leverage technology to drive growth and enable entrepreneurs to access finance,” Rurangirwa said.
Rurangirwa stated that the foundation is happy that Rwanda was chosen as the first country to implement this strategy which seeks to create a skilled workforce in Africa by leveraging technology and that the foundation values this partnerships that is so far contributing to this goal.
USAID Chief of Party – Hanga Akazi Employment and Entrepreneurship Project, Timothy Shumaker asked the government to consider the need to bring on board communities in rural areas which are at risk of being left behind in a digital era.
“I encourage you to bring on board these communities because they are going to be the drive for economic development and if left out, it will affect development strategies,” Shumaker said.
Timothy Shumaker
Similar digital platforms like Innovative Digital Platform (INNODIP) – an Industrial-based job database developed by University of Tourism, Technology, and Business Studies (UTB) -have been tried out even when the project didnt mature for an official launch.
This development is expected to further enhance Rwanda’s plans to create more off farm jobs for the youth as the country faces a high level of unemployment which stood at 13.2% as of 2017.
Through the National Strategy for Transformation (NST1)- (2017-2024) Rwanda had set a goal of creating 1.5million jobs by 2024 and according to the recent Prime Minister’s reports more than 1.37 million jobs were created.
The latest Labour Force survey (2024 Q1) reveals a significant decline in Rwanda’s unemployment rate, dropping by 4.3 percentage points in quarter 1 of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.
This remarkable improvement has brought the unemployment rate back to the pre-COVID-19 estimate of 13.1%. In 2024 (Q1), the unemployment rate stood at 12.9%, indicating a positive trend where approximately one person was unemployed for every eight in the labor force.
Jeanne Komezusenge
Jeanne Komezusenge, a University student at the Kigali Independent University (ULK) and young entrepreneur who owns a florist business, said that such platforms are timely and will resolve the issue of unemployment among many graduates who lack key information on the job and labor market.
