At least 146,000 off-farm jobs were created in the country annually since 2011.

According to the latest Integrated Household Living Conditions Survey (EICV4) report released Monday, the country was well on track to achieve its target of 200,000 every year by the year 2018. This is in line with the Second Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS 2),

"The 146,000 new off-farm jobs created over the last three years give hope that the target of creating 200,000 off-farm jobs every year is achievable,” said State Minister for Economic Planning, Dr Uzziel Ndagijimana shortly after the launch of the EICV4 findings.

He pointed out that if Rwanda was able to create 146,000 off-farm jobs every year while the EICV4 was conducted a year after the implementation of the EDPRS 2, it meant that there was potential for the country’s economy to create much more jobs in the next four years.

The survey pointed to a 24.4 per cent increase in business enterprises between 2011 and 2014, which created 34.5 per cent new jobs. 47.9 per cent of the new jobs were established in rural areas while 22.4 went to urban areas.

The new businesses were created in various sectors, including agriculture, forestry and fishing, mining and quarrying, as well as in manufacturing, energy and air conditioning.

Other sectors where jobs were created include water supply, sewage and waste management, construction, motor vehicles repair, transportation and storage, as well as wholesale and retail trade, accommodation and food service activities, information and communication technology, and financial and insurance activities.

Businesses were also created in the areas of real estate management, professional, scientific and technical activities, administration and support service activities, private formal education, as well as human health and social work activities and arts and entertainment.

The Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Claver Gatete, said new jobs and businesses were created partly because the Government invested heavily in programmes that promote employment at the same time investing in the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme.

"It is clear that the programmes have yielded results. There has been significant improvement,” Gatete said.

According to François Ngoboka, the director of labour, research and employment promotion at the Ministry of Public Service and Labour, that Rwanda’s economy was able to create 146,000 new off-farm jobs every year was "good progress”.

Before the new findings on job creation, the capacity of the economy to generate jobs previously stood at an average of 104,000 jobs every year.

The numbers were not enough given that 125,000 new individuals join the labour market each year.

"We still need to look at the kind of sectors in which the jobs were created. Knowing the fast-growing sectors in which the jobs were created means that we would know the quality of jobs that are available,” Ngoboka said.

The National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR), which conducted the EICV4, is expected to conduct further analyses to indicate details of which sectors new jobs were created every year as well as the quality of the jobs.

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