Up to 200 youths are set to benefit from this year's edition of "Igire”, a vocational programme founded by BPR Bank Rwanda Plc, aimed at equipping them with technical skills.
ALSO READ: Over 170 youth urged to create jobs after BPR Bank’s IGIRE programme
On Thursday, May 18, the BPR Bank Foundation, in partnership with the National Youth Council, launched the 2023 intake for the programme, which will be its sixth cohort since it was established in 2018.
Currently, "Igire” has graduated over 500 beneficiaries, equipped with various vocational skills.
This year’s students will receive training in various fields at different institutions. These include plumbing at IPRC Kigali, culinary arts at IPRC Musanze, repair and maintenance of electrical devices at IPRC Tumba, masonry at IPRC Karongi, welding at IPRC Huye, wood technology at IPRC Kitabi, domestic electrical installation at IPRC Gishali, and tiling at IPRC Ngoma.
The studies will take place for a period of six months.
According to Patience Mutesi, the Managing Director of BPR Rwanda, the bank has been involved in multiple community development initiatives over the years through the BPR Bank Foundation and will continue in the same direction.
"As a responsible corporate citizen, we pledge to continue implementing this philosophy to drive our agenda of empowering local communities. Through the "Igire” programme, we believe there will be a ripple effect in building economically sufficient societies,” she said.
"Through the foundation, we have seen the creation of SMEs, adding to the cascading benefits of youth employment. It is our hope that more youth will enroll in this programme as we transition job seekers into job creators,” she added.
According to a statement from BPR Bank, the disciplines selected for the training programme are in line with the skills gap in the country and the personal preferences of the applicants.
The selected students will be taken through an accelerated training program, where they will be monitored and trained in various practical skills. They are also expected to prepare project proposals; the best projects will be given seed capital to initiate their own businesses.
Daniel Byiringiro, one of the students who benefited from a previous edition of "Igire”, says the programme plays a role in fighting unemployment among the youth by providing them with the skills they can use to start their own businesses.
Byiringiro’s leather products company, Uruhu, made in Rwanda, received both training and seed funding from "Igire”, which has been important in pushing it to expand its factory and hire more employees.
He believes that the project is a good example that the government cannot fight problems such as unemployment alone, but needs partners from the private sector, such as BPR.
The Executive Secretary of the National Youth Council, Robert Mwesigwa, urged the students participating in the programme to take it seriously, so that they can acquire the skills necessary for their respective businesses at the end.
Parfait Busabizwa, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth and Culture, thanked BPR for reaching out to the youth in a visible manner, lauding the Rwandan youth for their readiness to sharpen their knowledge in order to develop themselves, their country, the African continent, and the world at large.