There has been a sharp increase in unemployment rate in rural areas over the past 10 years, forcing the population to migrate to urban centres.

This is according to a new report, Decentralisation and Human Development: Accelerating Socio-Economic Transformation and Sustaining Accountable Governance, yet to be adopted jointly by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the government of Rwanda.

The report, however, indicates that the unemployment rate in rural areas grew from 10 per cent in 2001 to 15 per cent by 2011 while there was a slight fall in urban areas from 22 per cent to 17 per cent over the same period.

The report states that Western Province leads in unemployment rate. The province recorded an increase from 8.8 per cent in 2001 to 15.5 per cent by late 2011.

Northern Province has the lowest unemployment rates after it recorded a slight increase from 8.4 per cent to 11 per cent.

The overall national unemployment rate remained at 3.4 per cent, while unemployment in informal sector stood at 46 per cent across the country.

“The focus is particularly important in areas which are food insufficient or have the highest concentration of poor people,” reads the report.

While Rwanda through its Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy has projected to add at least 200,000 jobs annually, the report states that most jobs created in the service and industrial sectors are in urban areas.

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“Agriculture is considered the worst employer as it offers the lowest wages and the shortest working period; as a result, the poorest Rwandans are most likely to be employed in agriculture either as farm workers or subsistence farmers,” reads the report.

A report by the National Institute of Statistics showed that the majority of the youth in the country aged between 16 and 24 are unemployed.

“Rwanda’s demographic structure presents opportunities and challenges in equal measure, youth unemployment may be a threat to national security and could undermine human development,” added the report.

According to Joseph Nkundabahizi, an aid worker at a construction site in Kigali, despite being in the category of employed people in the country, the cost of living in the city remains high.

“We cannot make any progress in life. We spend almost the whole of our salary to cater for basic daily expenses. It is impossible to access credit without security,” he said.
Experts said Rwanda needs an educated, skilled and innovative young people to realise the desired socioeconomic transformation.

According to Charles Bakwatsa, a consultant and a lead author of the report, in a country that is trying to grow its economy from agrarian to the industrial and service driven, emphasis should be placed on supporting small and medium enterprises.

“There is a need to develop entrepreneur potentials in the country,” Mr Bakwatsa said. “The government is still far in developing small and medium industries to employ large number of peoples.”

He added that there is a need for fair distribution of better paying jobs because currently large firms account for less than one per cent of jobs created.

“The purpose of this report is to ensure that in the balance sheet of development, we don’t just talk about figures of economic growth but rather on how it has translated into human development,” he added.

The report recommends that while the outcomes will depend on the options that the government takes, employment creation is the main factor that must be addressed.