Rwanda should have a more efficient manufacturing sector

Editor, RE: “Rwanda registers progress in competitiveness index” (The New Times, October 3). Let us congratulate ourselves but we can do much better. However, I will not dwell on the topic because the picture of the women working while seated triggered some thoughts in my mind. A couple of months ago, The New Times also wrote an article about gin makers worried about the imminent closure of their plants, because the deadline for switching from plastic bottles to glass bottles was approaching, and they did not think that the authority concerned had given then enough time. The picture in the article also showed women working while seated. As I can recall from my childhood, our parents discouraged us from doing anything while seated because they thought it encouraged laziness. Do not misunderstand me, women in both pictures I referred to are not lazy, they are simply in a working environment set up by their employers. So, how do the employers of both groups of women employees expect to increase their production if their processes are still set up in such an inefficient manner? Everyone knows that working while standing is more efficient than working while seated. In most cases, it is not easy to put the blame on our manufacturers since they are probably people with capital to invest, but may not have the knowledge that can help them improve their production processes. Why then, can’t Rwandan engineers come up with some innovative ideas and create products which they can sell to our manufacturers and also create new industries in the country rather spending much of their time looking for non-existent jobs? When I looked at the picture of women seated preparing bottles for gin packaging, I wondered why a Ghanaian preacher was able to manufacture a car, and yet our engineers are not able to manufacture a conveyor belts that can be used for sorting coffee and other agricultural products in an efficient manner. I believe that our engineers, with the help of our graduates from vocational institutes, have the ability to manufacture a conveyor belt made in Rwanda. Even a wooden, manually operated conveyor belt, can greatly improve the process. If you think our engineers cannot produce one, I will challenge you to find out how the Ghanaian preacher was able to manufacture a car and now is improving his production process to make more models you will not believe they were made in Africa by an African. To see the video of the first car being manufactured, please google the following: 100% made in Ghana cars by Dr. Kwando Sarfo. The car name goes by the preacher’s last name, which is Kantanka. Kelly

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Rwanda should have a more efficient manufacturing sector