Kigali faces an influx of young people from different parts of the country all seeking better job and living prospects. Most of them find themselves jobless and turn to the streets.

According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), a major cause of rural to urban migration is the lack of jobs in their area of learning.

Many of the jobs available in the rural areas are agricultural based, which forces many young people to leave in search of work in urban centres.

According to the report, the lack of jobs could lead to the young people turning to begging and prostitution.

To stem the high unemployment rate in Kigali, the city council has established the Kigali Employment Service Centre. Its objective is to connect employers and jobseekers by evaluating their needs and capacities, job fairs and internships, mentorships and industrial attachment.

Martin Sibomana the public relation officer of Kigali Employment Service Centre said that within the past one year, since the institution was established, it has helped many different young people get jobs and acquire skills that will help them in the job market.

“We get people with different qualifications such as those with university degrees or those who have secondary certificates and even school dropouts,” said Mr Sibomana.

“We get between 40-60 people each day and 187 people have found jobs with the help of Kigali Employment Service Centre. Our services are all free.”

Mr Sibomana said the most preferred workers are those who come from Technical and Vocational, Education and Training schools and those who have done accounts.

According to the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Youth and ICT Rosemary Mbabazi the government has plans of establishing Udukiriro centres in all districts and young people will be trained on different skills.

“At least Rwf12 billion is used to support youth activities in all districts and we hope that these Udukiriro centres will help the Hangumurimo programme as the youth will have enough skills to create their own businesses,” she said.

“At least 125,000 people go to the labour market every year while only 104,000 jobs are created and most of them are from private institutions but we are working on plans to create jobs for the youth in rural areas,” said Mrs Mbabazi.

The ILO report said that young people aged between 15 and 25 represent more than 60 per cent of the continent’s total population and account for 45 per cent of the total labour force.