Over 5,000 direct new jobs are set to be created by factories that are opening shop at the newly created Rwamagana Industrial Zone in Mwulire Sector, district officials say.

According to Rajab Mbonyumuvunyi, the Mayor of Rwamagana District, three manufacturing plants are already up and running in the industrial park, while seven others at near completion.

This, he said, will trigger economic activity in a district that hosts the headquarters of Eastern Province.

"We envisage over 5,000 direct jobs in the medium term not to mention the business ecosystem that will sprout around the establishment,” Mbonyumuvunyi said during an interview.

Over the next three years, he said, they expect over 50 factories to set up shop in the park, the majority of which will be in the agro-processing sub-sector.

This, he said, will constitute a new business window for farmers in Rwamagana and neighbouring districts, adding that they are not limited to agro-processing.

He said that, for instance, a textile firm that will soon open shop in the industrial zone, and it has already recruited 400 people aged between 18 and 25 who are currently undergoing a month-long training programme before they can start work.

"If just one factory is creating more than 400 jobs, you can imagine the impact it will have on the community living in that area. Employees will need to eat, drink, lodging, transport, and more,” he said, adding that the country’s economy will boost as the new businesses will pay taxes.

"It’s a good opportunity for our citizens; the factories will be processing tomatoes, producing banana wines, biscuits, and much more. I think the factory owners must have brought their plants here because they knew there were raw materials here,” he says.

Mbonyumuvunyi said Rwamagana residents may not supply the factories with enough raw materials in the beginning, but the demand will trigger increased supplies.

A multiplier effect

Célestin Munyaneza, the chairman of Private Sector Federation in Rwamagana District, said the anticipated jobs will have a multiplier effect including inspiring the emergence of new business persons in the district.

"Such industrial operations require hiring a large number of people. The more jobs for the residents, the more economically empowered they become and the higher their purchasing power,” he says. "This district is dominated by farmers, but they are involved in the kind of agriculture that’s not productive enough because it is not practiced professionally, agriculture is also highly prone to climate change.”

"But if many people here start making good money as a result of this industrial zone, they will start to go into other sectors and that business will grow.”

Herbert Kwizera, a shareholder and managing director of an animal feed processing factory, AfriSol, previously known as Pafi, said his company faced a number of challenges in the beginning especially because they were among the first to set up shop at the zone when there was no infrastructure.

"In the beginning, this area was a bush; there was no water, no electricity. There was only a master plan of the industrial park,” said Kwizera.

The company started in 2012 and the first products from the factory went on market in 2014, he said.

The firm employs nearly 50 people depending on the available work, with 10 being permanent workers.

"The factory may not give jobs to many people but we are certainly creating a business opportunity to more people. There’s also a plan to promote poultry farming, especially for the youth and women,” said Kwizera.

"Very soon more industrialists will be joining us here, construction works are ongoing and this industrial park will change the face of Rwamagana, it will create linkages and new opportunities,” he said.

Jean Marie Vianney Hatangimana, a technical sales officer at AfriSol, said more factories in the area will give the businesses a bigger voice when it comes to efforts to have challenges addressed. "Before 2017, there were frequent power outages, but when others joined us we amplified our voices and now we have stable power supply,” he said.

Hatangimana, however, cited the lack of accommodation for the growing number of factory workers and urged the business community in the area to rise to the occasion and construct homes for the employees.

Anticipation, excitement

Donatille Mukakaromba, 57, a resident in Bushenyi cell, Mwulire sector, Rwamagana, who lives in the environs of the industrial zone, said, thanks to these developments, she sees better living conditions for younger people in the area in next few years.

"For those who have energy, these factories which are being set up will avail them with jobs, "she said. "I hope our children, especially those who finished secondary school and couldn’t have chance to go to university, will get employed there.”

Mukakaromba said: "I will also get market for my produce because factory workers will be living nearby and yet they won’t be eating from their workplace.”

"They will need sweet potatoes, they will need beans, they’ll come to me and give me money to get what they want,” she said. "Where there are people jobs are created, and young people who are able and ready will seize the opportunity.”

Other residents are also embracing for a new dawn, she said, adding that with a banana wine processing plant expected to start soon, some have started growing banana plantations to be able to supply their produce to the plant once it’s in operation.

However, Amina Nyirasafari, a tailor who works from a few meters from the perimeter wall of the industrial park, said it is hard to expect a lot from the yet-to-be-established factories "because we are yet to know what kind of products they will be producing and thus can’t tell what raw materials we will be selling to them.”

But she’s confident the factories will improve their lives nonetheless. "As a tailor, it is good to hear that there will be a textile factory here, there could be some chance for me.”

Alice Umutoni, 21, from Kigabiro sector, is one of the lucky youths who selected for employment at a textile firm that is set to start soon.

She’s attending training organised by the company ahead of operations. "I am grateful and excited.”

"We will make money but we are also learning new skills, which can help one to get new business ideas or even start a factory in the future, who knows?” she said gleefully.

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