The Minister of Trade and Industry, Francois Kanimba, has urged the youth to unite and work together in cooperatives to fight poverty and contribute to the country`s economic growth.

Kanimba made the call during a Rwanda Cooperatives Agency (RCA) event to mark the 17th UN International Day of Cooperatives.

"Encourage your colleagues to combine efforts in whatever they do to embrace the national programme on cooperatives,” Kanimba advised the youth.

During the event, best performing cooperatives were rewarded.

ADARWA, a cooperative dealing in furniture at Gacinjiro, a Kigali suburb, emerged winner at the national level, walking away with a Rwf 1 million cash prize.

Speaking to The New Times, the head of the cooperative, Justin Gashaija, said that forming the cooperative helped them carry efficiently out their activities.

"As a group, we have a voice that is respected by others in various businesses as well as financial institutions, something that has helped us to get access to finance,” Gashaija said.

He explained that the cooperative started in 1998 with only16 members but now employs150 people.

RCA rewarded Rwf 500,000 each to  five other cooperatives at provincial level while at the district level, 30 cooperatives walked away with Rwf 200,000 each.

The Director General of RCA, Damien Mugabo, called upon other cooperatives to work hard so as to benefit from national programmes.

 "We considered many factors to select the winners that included financial management, work plan, governance and activities carried out among others,” he said.

 This year, the Cooperatives Day is marked under an international theme, "Youth, the future of cooperative enterprise”.

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