The Government funded project Hanga Hubs has enabled a total of 500 unemployed but innovative youth of Musanze to get space and technical support for labor markets and adapt to innovative technologies and competitiveness since its establishment in 2020.
Hanga Hubs are tech enabled innovation and incubation hubs shaping digital employment in Rwanda, led by MINICT, the European Union (EU) and RISA.
Without considering the beneficiaries of Hanga Hubs in Musanze, there are other total of over 1,000 young entrepreneurs in Rubavu, Rusizi, Muhanga and Nyagatare set to benefit from the employment-readiness skills and accelerator programmes offered in the new incubation hubs.
Hanga Hubs of Musanze alone has milked out 50 projects to which majority of these hubs has continued to the national pitching and won awards.
The project adopted four years back to support the private sector development and job creation in Rwanda is financed principally by the Belgian cooperation, Enabel alongside other partners such as EU’s and Rwanda Information Society Authority in close collaboration with the ICT chamber and other sector players.
Commenting on the impact of the Hanga Hubs in the touristic district of Musanze, the Vice Mayor in Charge of Economic and Social Affairs, Clarisse Uwanyirigira said the hubs has changed much about the welfare of the youth communities in the district especially those that are unemployed.
She disclosed that the center accommodates a total of 200 to 300 on a daily basis seeking the employable services, training, and sports.
“Hanga Hubs has helped the youth to create jobs and excel in sports such as Kagame cup implying the youth are enjoying and tapping on the available opportunities which can be accessed here,” she commented.
As a beneficiary of the Hanga Hub in Musanze district Tantine Iradukunda has introduced the IOT powered smart energy meter theft detecting the cost management system aimed at reducing the conflicts arising out of payments.“We come here for free and make our own IT project through Hanga Hub. We have the challenge of the mentors who have left us who have helped us to know the working of the 3D printing design,” she noted.
The existing challenge with Hanga Hubs is that the mentors that would have bolstered the mentees skills have almost left them orphaned.
“Now we are only left with two mentors and the other five have left. By the time the mentors left we were planning to pitch our IT project but their departure has delayed our pitching,” Iradukunda laments.
“The mentors helped us to know how to create the 3D printing design but the challenge is that we now only have two mentors and the other five have left,” she disclosed.
Apart from the Hanga Hubs, Musanze Employment Service Center is a sister incubation platform whereby the unemployed youth are accessed to laptops and internet to search for the jobs and connect to potential employers.
The CEO Musanze Musanze Employment Service Center, Alain Ngamije said the youths who are able to sing or do artistry are supported too to reach their potentials.
“We make sure the talents of the youth’s potential are tapped, and after applying for jobs they are given the internship to upskill their skills,” he said.
Fortunee Uwimana, a fresh graduate from Institute of Applied Sciences (INES-Ruhengeri) attends Musanze Employment Service Center on daily basis where she accesses free internet to search for jobs. Majority of the beneficiaries of the Musanze Employment Service Center are unemployed youths without money to buy a computer. Yet when they get accessed with the computers they are able to do their job applications and other profitable things.
“I was delinquent but after I knew about the opportunity available I started to distance myself with the peer pressure,” she said.
Like others, Olivier Munezero is a beneficiary of Musanze Employment Service Center and having been a fresh graduate with bachelors in computer sciences at INES-Ruhengeri university is always busy scavenging for the available opportunities online applying for scholarships online and jobs.
“My computer skills have advanced and it is benefiting me. As a person who studied industrial IT I am able to help people get their machines worked on when they have complications.”
There are challenges of scammers though remain.
“There are scammers waiting for the job applicants. I know how to deal with them though. When I find that it is a scam the next time I have to ask. I consult my colleague if they know about the link I have accessed before I apply through it.”
The Hanga Hub is under the pledge of the president Paul Kagame to which he promised to the people of Musanze as a touristic town entertaining the incomers to feel entertained and hospitable while on stay or in their vacation in the town.