Marriot International Hotels, coming to Kigali says it would prefer to employ Rwandans, and this Akilah Institute is working to provide them (Photo: Margaret Cappa)

Kigali: Ten years ago, Rwanda earned $50million from tourism but that rocketed above $200million last year. The disturbing trend however is that its foreigners who are dominating the hospitality industry - the driving force behind the sector. Now, as RNA reports, the war against this worrying situation is starting from an unlikely place.

“Before starting lessons I’d like to do a small activity,” said Irene Kagoya, a leadership and ethics instructor at the Akilah Institute for Women in Kigali, Rwanda.

“Have you all seen magazine covers before?”

“Yes,” said her class of about 20 young women, all students of leadership and hospitality at this post-secondary school dedicated to empowering women and training them to work in the tourism industry.

“I want you to imagine a magazine has been released in Rwanda and you are appearing on the cover, I want you to draw yourself and a title,” explained Irene on this lazy August morning.

“Imagine why you’re on the cover and what you’ve done to deserve this recognition. It’s not easy for someone to appear on a cover you know, you have do something.”

The class was silent.

“I don’t understand,” whispered one woman.

Nods of agreement from the others followed the innocent confession. The idea of having such a dream for yourself, one that would land you on the cover of a magazine, is a new concept for most of these women. Most live below the poverty line, are genocide survivors and just have never been taught to believe they could have thriving careers and well-paying jobs.

“Okay,” eased Irene, “this week we are focused on developing a vision for ourselves, so, why don’t you think of the exercise as, ‘where you see yourself ten years from now?’ ”

The class was once again silent, but, this time you could almost hear minds whirring. Smiles of understanding flooded the room, and with crayons and pencils in hand, the women began sketching their future-selves.

Forced to hire Ugandans, Kenyans or South Africans

Since the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, where much of an entire generation of professionals and skilled workers were wiped-out, Rwanda has been working tirelessly to replenish itself. The growth is noticeable and recognized internationally. Many forces have contributed to the country’s transformation, but it’s the tourism industry which is becoming Rwanda’s economic darling. Amidst major growth in tourism though, is a sharp gap in the number of skilled Rwandans who can reap the benefits. 

“Most hotels have to hire Ugandans, Kenyans or South Africans since there aren’t enough skilled Rwandan workers in the hospitality industry,” said Elizabeth Davis, Co-Founder and CEO of the Akilah Institute for Women which trains women in leadership and hospitality.

Locals should benefit from the growth in tourism, she said, and hospitality jobs are not only profitable, they’re sustainable.

“The government has such great goals of moving from an agricultural society to a knowledge based one,” she said. “But Rwanda needs people with real skills.”

Poor services

The gap between Rwandan human capital and the number of workers needed to fill the country’s tourism jobs is vast. In 2009, the Ministry for Public Service and Labour conducted a National Skills Audit Report and found a 69.4 per cent gap between demand and skilled workers in the hospitality industry.

The problem lies in the fact that many Rwandans, especially those living in poor, rural conditions, don’t have access to professional skills training outside of high school. It is simply too expensive and scholarships are not easy to come by.

“The severity of the shortage, especially at the professional and supervisory levels, no doubt impacts on the quality of service offered,” stated the report.

Ranked by the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) as the fastest growing industry in the country, revenue from tourism has continued to balloon since 1994. The industry brought a revenue of about $60 million USD in 2000, and by 2008, Rwanda’s tourism revenue broke the $200 million mark.

Akilah class: Trying to fill up the hospitality industry (Photo: Margaret Cappa)

Proof of more tourism expansion comes with the fact that major international hotel chains, including Marriott Hotels International, will break ground in the next few years. And with this, comes the hope that Rwandans will be able to fill the jobs.

“Kigali is a super location for our first hotel in East Africa,” said Jeff Strachan, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Marriott Hotels’ Middle East and Africa division.

“The attitude is conducive to investment and the entire strategy is focused around driving tourism numbers, therefore it makes complete sense to bring an international hotel to the city.”

Marriot Hotels just wants Rwandans

The gap in skilled hospitality workers has not gone unnoticed by Marriott though, he said.

“In other cities we would usually be able to tap into larger numbers from a trained labour pool,” he said. “We would tap into that pool and further refine the service standards to our Marriott standards.”

However, the Marriott Kigali will aim to hire as many Rwandans as possible to fill its 200 or so job openings in the coming years, said Strachan.

“It is important that visitors enjoy meeting with the local population and interacting with them,” he said.

“Secondly, we form part of a larger strategy that is designed to bring employment and revenues to the economy, [so], it is important we embrace that strategy and invest in the local population.”

Investment in the local population is the hope of Rwandans like Gisele Bahati, a 20-year-old hospitality student at the Akilah Institute for Women. She hopes to start her career at a hotel like the Marriott.

When she graduated from high school she couldn’t find a job for over a year, so she helped out around the house. This gave Bahati no income though. Some of her friends found jobs as street cleaners, making $40 a month - or just over a dollar a day.

“Then someone told me about Akilah,” she said. “So I wrote the English exam, passed and got a scholarship to attend the school.”

Without the scholarship Akilah provides to its students, Bahati said she would not have been able to attend.

“My dream now is to have my own business or manage many hotels,” she revealed.

This complex will be Marriot Kigali (RNA photo)

According to the school’s founder Elizabeth Davis, young women like Bahati will be able to attain wages anywhere from $200 to $800 a month with professional hospitality training.

They just need to be given the opportunity.

Opportunity and hope for this dream was alive in Irene Kayonga’s classroom. The visions of her students coloured mock-magazine covers on rows of wooden desks.

“And what does your title say,” Irene asked the young woman in the far left corner of the room.

“It says,” she answered, while picking up the paper to show the class.

“Coming out from poverty.”