As part of the integration of the IGIRA KU MURIMO workplace learning support programme among the partners' interventions, the programme supported the organization of the 3rd African Youth Summit 2019 in Kigali, Rwanda.
YouthConnekt Africa Summit is an annual conference that brings together young people from different countries on the African continent to discuss projects related to strengthening their capacity as well as their contribution to development. Through this summit, the objective is to create 10 million sustainable jobs by 2020 in emerging industries and 25 million opportunities through workplace training across the continent.
This summit also provides a platform where all partners involved in youth development have the opportunity to create synergies around policies, programmes and partnerships to foster the contribution of young people to Africa's economic transformation.
This third edition brought together more than 10,000 young people and high-level representatives to engage, discuss, design and accelerate youth empowerment efforts across the continent under the theme "Stimulating an industrious young Africa".
With funding from the Belgian Development Cooperation (DGD), APEFE's current intervention in Rwanda focuses on the implementation of the 5-year "IGIRA KU MURIMO" programme to support learning in the workplace (2017-2021), in partnership with the Ministry of Public Service and Labour (MIFOTRA) and the Private Sector Federation (PSF).
This pilot programme was initiated to support the implementation of the Workplace Learning Policy approved by the Government of the Republic of Rwanda in 2015. This policy aims to reduce the mismatch between vocational training and the skills required by the labour market, as well as the unemployment rate among young people in the country. In 2017, statistics showed that out of 11.6 million Rwandans, about 6.7 million were of working age (16 years and older) while youth unemployment reached 21% according to the Labour Force Survey Report, published by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda in 2018. In this regard, the Workplace Learning Policy commits to collaboration between technical and vocational training institutions and the private sector in skills development to facilitate young people's access to the labour market.
On the occasion of the Third African Youth Summit 2019, BIOHAP Ltd, a local company specializing in bio-horticultural and apicultural products, participating in apprenticeship training as part of the IGIRA KU MURIMO programme, displayed its products during the event. Also, Ms Aline NIYIKIZA, one of the beneficiaries of the programme, shared her experience about the skills she acquired, particularly in fruit processing, during her apprenticeship at BIOHAP Ltd.
"I was very happy to participate in the African Youth Summit 2019. I had the opportunity to expose the products to the public, which strengthened my communication and marketing skills. I have received customer feedback about the products of the company in which I completed my apprenticeship during my training and I have made contacts with various employers who can offer me work. It is of the utmost important that the programme offers such opportunities to apprentices," said Ms. Aline NIYIKIZA.