NFT Consult, a Ugandan based personnel service firm has established an office in Kigali, Rwanda. According to company officials, the firm’s expansion to Rwanda is intended to take advantage of the country’s growing economy with untapped human resource services. Fiona Kirabo, the firm’s Country Manager said that NFT Consult provides human resources management and expertise to businesses. “Our focus is in the corporate and Small to Medium Enterprise (SMEs) businesses that are strategically positioning themselves to remain competitive within the local economy,” she explained. She added, “Human resource development is an organisation’s most valued asset that collectively contributes to the achievement of the objectives of the business.” Kirabo continued that under this portfolio, NFT Consult offers recruiting, outsourcing and training solutions that manage Human resource functions. However in Rwanda, NFT provides a wide range of services, including permanent, temporary and contract recruiting, organisational restructuring, individual employee assessments, training packages, team building programmes and outsourcing of company staff as well as departments. With only two months of operation in the country, the firm provides services to Rwandatel and other corporate companies. This comes at a time when a recent survey carried out by Private Sector Federation (PSF) on the capacity needs of the SMEs among 21 districts of Rwanda indicated that about 80 percent of the 2,100 total sampled businesses lack entrepreneurship skills such as customer care and after sales service. This was said to be greatly affecting their competitiveness, not only on the local market but also in the region. As stated in the country’s Vision 2020 one of the identified development pillars is the Human Resource Development (HRD), which lies in the empowerment of individuals through developing their skills. The results of independent evaluation of Poverty Reduction Strategy Programme (PRSP) 1 revealed that capacity constraints constitute a major impediment for the realisation of programme’s targets. Kirabo also disclosed that NFT Consult is currently creating a database for professionals employed and seeking for employment. The company’s expansion to Rwanda comes after it registered unprecedented levels of growth within the Uganda market in 2008. Established in 2006, NFT today partners with international and local rganisations in both the public and private sectors with emphasis on the telecommunications and financial industry. The firm focuses on raising productivity for its clients through improved quality, efficiency and cost-reduction thereby enabling their customers to concentrate on their core businesses. Ends
