Germany and Rwanda have agreed to work together in the areas of job creation, skills development and investment, following an agreement that was signed in Kigali yesterday.

The agreement was signed by visiting German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Dr. Gerd Müller and Rwanda Development Board Chief Executive Clare Akamanzi.

The MoU outlines the planned partnership with RDB under Germany’s new "Special Initiative on Training and Job Creation”, which intends to support the government in its efforts to implement its reform agenda set out in its National Strategy for Transformation (2017-2024).

Rwanda’s National Strategy for Transformation aims at creating 1.5 million decent jobs by 2024, which is slightly over 200,000 off-farm jobs per annum.

Over 90 per cent of the workforce is set to employed by the private sector, hence the need to develop relevant skills that respond to employers demands.

The MoU is expected to foster economic development in Rwanda and create training and job opportunities, especially for young people, with a view of driving the Rwandan economy towards middle-income status.

The government is targeting to create 235,525 extra jobs in the current fiscal year according to the Ministry of Public Service and Labour.

Some 197,495 job opportunities are expected to be created by the districts while 38,030 jobs will be generated under the interventions of National Employment Programme (NEP) by June next year.

editor@newtimesrwanda.com