Editor,

RE: "Should the labour ministry be handling employment issues?” (The New Times, November 2).

I agree with your approach Mr Ntwari — I don't think we have the luxury of simplifying unemployment as the sole responsibility of the ministry in charge of labour.

While the minister's comments were unfortunate, our focus on them is even more tragic. No doubt unemployment is an issue, but questioning the qualification of the minister will do nothing but waste time.

Rwanda's economic growth has been nothing short of remarkable considering a GDP total of naught 22 years ago. And that is not PR as a few social media commentators are quick to point out. The reality is that it’s a small economy and with that will inevitably have its challenges.

Solving unemployment has to be a concerted effort, the aforementioned National Employment Agency would improve efficiency in the labour market, but we also need to demand more from government agencies like Rwanda Development Board, tasked with wooing investments (why isn't Rwanda a booming hub for telecommunication, financial, hospitality and other service related industries that are labour intensive?).

The Private Sector Federation has been actively seeking partnerships that look to boost ICT capacity of Rwandans, with the aim of providing software programmers for Tokyo based corporations, for example.

We need to see a similar effort on the employment front.

To summarise:

1. Yes, we should look across the board and prioritise this problem (and all the relevant parties need to be involved). In the same vein, practical and actionable points must be drawn up immediately with clarity on short-term and long-term objectives.

2. A lot is being done for the development of this country, no form of shortsightedness should obscure this reality. Sustainable economic growth though will require Rwanda's collective vision and continued hard work. 100 per cent employment will not happen overnight (or at all), even though it's an admirable ambition.

Barrington Levi