The Independent Institute of Lay Adventists of Kigali (INILAK) will, from the next academic year, add Cooperative Management and Accounting to its list of courses.

The development comes at the time when government has put emphasis on the formation of cooperatives as one way of fostering development.

Speaking to The New Times yesterday, the Rector of INILAK Dr. Jean Ngamije said that the course was introduced to help provide the required skills for proper management of the numerous cooperatives in the country.

"The number one role of universities is to seek solutions to prevailing problems. So we found out that there was a gap in the management of cooperatives in Rwanda and we decided to introduce the course,” Ngamije said.

He explained that a number of cooperatives in the country failed in the past while others are not gaining enough profits due to lack of skills in management and book-keeping.

The Rector said that the university would offer a four–year bachelors degree course and a one year certificate course.

"We put in place the certificate program to cater for the needs of the cooperatives that may need short training programs on the basics of managing their cooperatives,” he said.

In an interview, Joseph Habimana, chairman of TWISUNGANE Cooperative based in Kigali, welcomed the development and called upon the institute to sensitise cooperatives about the course.

"This course comes as a relief for most of the cooperatives including the one I belong to. We need the skills to make our cooperatives more profitable,” he said.

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