KACYIRU - The Central Bank vice Governor, Monique Nsanzabaganwa, yesterday, urged youth to reduce dependence and called upon them to take advantage of the services offered by financial institutions.

She made the remarks while addressing Kacyiru youth during their annual congress.

"There is a big percentage of dependants in Rwanda and you need to take a lead in cutting this trend. There are several packages within the financial institutions meant to empower the youth, you need to exploit them,” Nsanzabaganwa said.

She encouraged them to start saving with Umurenge SACCOs saying that statistics indicate that currently, less than 20percent of youth who have accounts in SACCOs are saving with the scheme.

"For those who are saving, you need to take a step further and invest, we need to see Rwandan youth investing in the country and beyond,” the vice governor added.

Nsanzabaganwa told the youth that Rwanda is performing well in agricultural production but the nation’s yields are being exported by foreigners to Southern Sudan.

The Coordinator of youth in Kacyiru, Adrien Nimubona, said that the youth he leads have developed a 2011/12 strategic plan that is mainly based on setting up cooperatives and sharing risks.

"There have been problems of not having collateral security for our projects but we have been assured by the governor that there are projects within financial institutions that have such packages,” said Nimubona.

He added that strategies have been laid to deal with issues related with poverty and unemployment among youth.

Idrissa Mugabo, a youth from Kacyiru, said that currently youth have to focus more on using technology for development.

The youth congress was attended by the Director of Labour in the Ministry of Public Service, Anna Mugabo. She pledged to equip youth with entrepreneurship skills.

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