The Minister for Youth and ICT, Jean Philbert Nsengimana, has called upon young people to approach banks for financial services so that they can create their own jobs, rather than sit and wait for others to employ them.

Nsengimana was addressing young entrepreneurs during the YouthConnekt Hangout session on Wednesday.

The session, under the theme ‘Accessing finance for self-employment’, took place at the Innovation Village, on the roof of Kigali public library, Kacyiru.

"One of the objectives of the Ministry for Youth and ICT and indeed the Government, is to ensure that every young individual moves from one step to another, no one deserves to continue living in poverty, we want to completely fight unemployment. As young people, you shouldn’t be afraid of seeking support from financial institutions just because you have nothing to offer collateral,” he noted.

Nsengimana added that the government has partnered with different institutions to put in place policies that help young people easily access credit.

"In a bid to solve youth unemployment, the Government has partnered with some institutions like BDF (Business Development Fund) to easily provide credit to young people so they can be able to create their own jobs. We are sure that you have ideas and therefore, want to make sure you live your entrepreneurial dreams,” he added.

Representatives of BDF and Umutanguha Finance Company, a microfinance institution, shared the opportunities that were available for young people.

"We recently conducted a survey and discovered that the youth have potential, but, again, we realised that many of these young people fail because of not having access to finances.

‘‘We, therefore, decided to come up with different strategies to make it easier for them to access our products without significant collateral,” Jules Ndahayo, the CEO of Umutanguha Finance, noted.

Honorine Mukayisenga, a young entrepreneur, encouraged participants to seek credit from financial institutions"After graduating, it was really difficult for me to get a job, I searched for jobs but I could not get any. I, therefore, decided to try job creation.

‘‘I had ideas, but did not know where to get financial help. After a long time, I was connected to one of the financial institutions, which helped me a lot. All I can say is that never hesitate to seek financial asistance from institutions in charge as long as you have a business idea,” Mukayisenga noted.

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