On Thursday, the government of Rwanda signed a grant agreement worth $13.5 million with Sweden to combat unemployment. The money will be channeled through Rwanda’s National Employment Program which aims to create 200,000 jobs each year.
Rwandan Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Claver Gatete, signed on behalf of the government alongside Maria Hà¥kansson, Chargé d’Affaires at the Swedish Embassy in Kigali. Maria said:
Merely creating jobs is important but that in itself is not enough. Employment needs to be sufficiently productive to provide a sustainable source of income. We recognise that the youth make up 67 percent of the unemployed in Rwanda, therefore, our target also focuses on youth entrepreneurship and skills development.
We see the funding as a way to support the government’s work in promoting productive jobs that provide people living in poverty a sustainable way to self-reliance, he added added.
Rwanda’s unemployment rate, according to the 2012 national census stands at 3.4 percent, having skyrocketed from 1.2 percent in 2006.
