Efforts to establish the first ever Rwanda Labour Market Information System (LMIS) are gaining momentum, officials from the Workforce Development Authority (WDA) have said.

It is hoped that LMIS will help provide the critical labour-related information to various segments of the society such as policy-makers, investors, curricula developers and students.

"We have taken the initial steps towards the establishment of the system, including building an LMIS website with basic applications,” Lucie Kabatesi, the LMIS Marketing and Communication Specialist, told The New Times.

"While we continue to mobilize the necessary technical expertise to run a fully-fledged and dynamic LMIS system, we have in the meantime established a website that provides key labour information to users, and also helps promote interaction between employers and job-seekers”.

She said the applications that are already operational on the LMIS website (www.lmis.gov.rw) include; industry guide, job seekers, employers and CV-vacancy matching service.

The industry guide will provide information to prospective investors, Kabatesi explained. "In addition, job seekers can be able to post and regularly update their resumes on the website through the ‘job-seekers’ link, while companies post vacancies through the ‘employers’ link.”

Nonetheless, WDA knows that the ultimate objective of LMIS will begin to materialize once the system starts to influence policy-makers, investors and other users, to make informed decisions on labour and investment issues.

Just over a month ago, two WDA employees went on a two-week study tour in Germany as part of GTZ’s technical support to WDA in LMIS activities.

One of them, Stephen Mugabi, said that the tour gave them a practical experience on how Germany’s LMIS operates. "That gave us a clear picture on how Rwandan LMIS can be designed and implemented.”

Speaking during the celebrations to mark the International Labour Day this year, President Paul Kagame called for fast-tracking of LMIS to help in the process of national development.

The Minister of Public Service and Labour, Anastase Murekezi, said recently that given the significance of LMIS in national development, the Government was considering establishing an autonomous LMIS agency.

Presently, LMIS is a department under WDA, a Government institution charged with empowering Rwandan workforce with employable and entrepreneurial skills through integrated Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system. 

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