City to embark on job tracking

With the Kigali employment service centre expected to start soon, city officials believe they will be able to help the growing number of job seekers by identifying job opportunities from the local the private sector.The new centre will help people like Bosco Hakolimana, an accountant operating from Muhanga District, who sat for more than 20 exams after his graduation early last year before he landed his first job.Hakolimana has kept memories of three exams which showed him that there is unemployment concern in the country.Late last year, he recalls, Nyarugenge District was obliged to take job seekers to Nyamirambo stadium to sit for an exam while selecting 12 accountants for sectors. “We were around 500 candidates,” he said in amazement.Another day it was with Bank of Kigali selecting 100 staff early last year. He said there were two exam sites, SFB hall hosting around 1000 people and ULK hall, yet at every site, candidates sat in two sessions because they were in thousands.The third Integrated Household Living Conditions Survey (EICV3) carried out in 2010/2011 suggested that the unemployment rate in Kigali was the highest of the country, standing at 13.1 percent, while it stood at 1.8 per cent in Western Province and 0.6 percent in Eastern Province.Kigali’s unemployment rate was slightly the same in Kampala, Uganda, where the latest National Household Survey Report showed the city’s unemployment rate stood at 11.4 percent in 2010.Officials at Kigali City understood that there are people who miss out on opportunities for lack of awareness, which at some point leads to inactivity by giving up their search for jobs.Last year, the city commissioned the social committee to mitigate unemployment concerns, which started its work by consulting institutions that have employment in their attribution like the Ministry of Public Service and Labour (MIFOTRA), Rwanda Development Board, and the Private Sector Federation in order to get an idea of how the unemployment issue was being tackled.The committee realized that there was no exclusive body in the country addressing the issue.That’s how the city came up with an idea of Kigali Employment Service Centre in August 2012.It will identify existing job opportunities in the country and also prepare job seekers.While such centres exist in other countries, the Kigali one is the first of its kind in the country and the City will use examples from other countries to inspire its work.“We wanted to get inspiration from the Singapore model at first, but we were advised to start and then learn from others while operating,” said Hope Tumukunde, the Vice Mayor in charge of social affairs in the City of Kigali.According to Professor Pierre Rwanyindo Ruzirabwoba, an economist and Rwandan social affairs expert, employment service centres exist in developed countries like Belgium, Canada and England.But he added that the centre coming to Rwanda should not be taken lightly and there was need to for qualified staff to be able to orient the job seekers to fitting jobs, which requires a lot of research.Rwanyindo suggests that the staff should compile a yearly report that should help both policy makers and the employers to address gaps between employment and skills.“I know that Fina Bank has been coming to university at graduation day to find the best students in management for their vacant posts. Let’s have the centre that should be helping everyone instead,” he said.With a budget of Rwf 82 million from MIFOTRA and the German Technical Cooperation, four permanent staff members have already hired been at the centre, including the coordinator, an IT specialist, a career advisor and a public relations officer.