The 2021 Rwanda Labour Force Survey, indicated that 87 per cent employment and earning opportunities exist in the informal sector in Rwanda. This reality means that for young people, who may face additional barriers entering the formal employment sector, starting a small business is one of the most viable opportunities for them to earn an income.
However, navigating the different regulations, support services, and ecosystem of stakeholders involved in the youth micro-entrepreneurship space can be overwhelming for most youth. The sector is growing and requires comprehensive, sequenced solutions and collaboration to create an ecosystem that supports young people to thrive in micro-entrepreneurship.
To boost coordination among training institutions, government authorities, capital lenders, and market linkers, a Youth Micro-enterprise Learning Exchange was held on September 30th. Hosted by Harambee, Inkomoko, Akazi Kanoze Access and Prince’s Trust International, the event brought together key stakeholders including government and private sector representatives, youth-serving organisations, micro-financing institutions, and young micro-entrepreneurs to discuss the barriers and best practices that can boost youth micro-entrepreneurship and support businesses to flourish.
Participants highlighted that although training and skills development programmes and funds are available, young people still struggle to get accurate and timely business information, which hinders their decisions throughout business operations and growth.
In addition to market and capital access challenges that hinder most young people who are looking to join the sector, another key challenge addressed is the skilling programmes that can lock-out young entrepreneurs. For instance, some programmes’ eligibility requires the business to have operated for more than a year; however, data shows that 59 per cent of youth businesses are less than one year old. Young people need immediate interventions that are designed based on their realities in order to thrive.
At the exchange, some solutions proposed included creating innovative market ecosystems, fostering collaboration among all parties involved in the sector, strengthening communication models, and working closely with the local authorities and Private Sector Federation offices to support young entrepreneurs to access credible information and resources for them to grow their markets and businesses.
In addition, creating content relevant to young people, introducing a platform for business information in the informal sector, collaborating with skills providers like Digital Opportunity Trust, African Management Institute, Harambee, Akazi Kanoze Access and the Rwanda Development Board to offer up-to-date and inclusive training programmes were among the solutions recommended.
Noella Akayezu, Program Development Manager at Digital Opportunity Trust, stresses on the role of such discussions and the next steps to support young entrepreneurs in their business journeys.
"Learning about the issues young people are facing helps us look at how we can design programmes that are matching what is available and be able to target a wider pool of young entrepreneurs. It also gives us the opportunity to co-design solutions with other partners so that we can support the young entrepreneurs in our market,” she says.
The micro-entrepreneurs attending also networked and learnt about the incentives offered by financial institutions and organisations like the Business Development Fund, Rwanda Development Board, and Reseau Interdiocesain de Microfinance.
Sandrine Nabaramije, a micro-entrepreneur, is a testament to the impact that learning and exchange can have on young people and their businesses.
"The pressing challenges were lack of business information and enough capital to grow my business. But thanks to this event, I now understand how I can tackle these challenges to succeed, and who to reach out to for support,” says Sandrine.
Participating institutions at the Learning Exchange pledged to collaborate more regularly and to work together to ensure products and services are designed with young peoples’ realities centred. This event was the first in a series of stakeholder meetings focused on youth micro-entrepreneurship and there is a commitment across the ecosystem to continue to engage on this topic to ensure higher levels of success in entrepreneurship for young people.
Learn more about the Learning Exchange from these highlights