The Ministry of Public Service and Labour, has announced plans to create 1.5 million jobs in seven years.
The jobs will be created through the support and promotion of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

The announcement comes soon after the graduation of 750 students from the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) and 1800 from the Kigali Independent University (ULK). Not all the graduands will find employment.

By focusing on SMEs, the government is not only going to create employment for the Rwandan people – including the graduands - but will also give the economy a boost, as a result of the additional entrepreneurs and businesses.
However, for these SMEs to survive in today’s competitive environment, it’s is imperative that barriers to their creation and growth are eliminated.

Access to finance remains a major challenge to SMEs, yet they have the potential to be among the top drivers of the economy.

Banks and other financial institutions should work out a formula to enable this key sector meet its potential.
With fully functional and profitable SMEs, the financial institutions stand to benefit, just as the economy and the entrepreneurs.

The graduands should take advantage of the existing policies that support the SMEs to start up their own enterprises.

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