Focus Media (Kigali)
Timothy Kisambira
10 January 2009
The regional Jua Kali / Nguvu Kali informal sector trade fair, the first ever organized in Rwanda, has not been a major success.
The yearly trade fair attracted exhibitors from around East Africa. The exhibition serves as a showcase to the mainly arts and crafts, but also other products, made by the informal sector, which is the single largest employment creator in the region. Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) constitute the driving force for poverty reduction, wealth creation and the promotion of social responsibility among the EAC member states and the entire EAC population.
According to Emanuel Hategeka, the secretary general of the Private Sector Federation, most exhibitors did sell two-thirds of their products, but he noted that one of the major challenges of the exhibition was the sale of the many similar products, which made it very difficult for people to sell. Adjacent stalls often sold the same goods, he said, so a visitor buying something would not bother to go to the other stalls.
He also said that another biggest challenge was the language.
"Many people both the exhibitors and the visitors failed to understand each other because they could not negotiate, and understand each other. So we need to also address this problem so that we have a common language of business," Hategeka said.
Jua Kali activities engage a big part of the Rwandan population that is organized in MSMEs. In 2008, the sector's size is about a third of the Rwandan economy in terms of GDP and it provides more than 80% of off-farm jobs.
However, the sector faces a number of challenges such as poor management and organization, lack of access to credit, lack of market, inadequate technology and lack of innovation, among others.
Poor coordination of support service
Monique Nsanzabaganwa, the Minister of Trade and Industry says that the Jua Kali business also faces infrastructure-related constraints that increase their costs of production and negatively impact on the competitiveness of their products and services. She further said that poor coordination of support services targeting the industry has also limited their efficiency.
However, she assured that now the government is aware of the issue and has put in place mechanisms, plans and institutions to find appropriate solutions to the matter.
Minister Nsanzabaganwa added that the economy depends largely on the agricultural sector that currently provides 80% of occupations. According to Vision 2020, however, on-farm and off-farm jobs should be at par by 2020.
"Our task is not only to generate the required new jobs, but to ensure that those businesses survive and thrive. I therefore call upon all the actors in the development of this sector to assist and encourage Jua Kali people, especially by helping those who are still operating in an informal manner to formalize their business in order for them to be able to enjoy the benefits offered by support programs such as training, market access and marketing, partnerships as well as access to finance," the Minister said.
Epaphrodite Binamungu, the chairman of the PSF Chamber of Arts and Crafts, concurred that solutions for the sector's problems are being worked out.
"We are trying to add skills by training our members to make high-quality products. We are also creating access to markets, and this exhibition is a good example; as we participate in the exhibition, our people are not only selling their products but they are also learning more from others on how to run their business and getting more skills. Above all, they have a chance to exchange their experiences with people from the entire East African region," Binamungu said.
He added that in order to attract customers, they encourage people to be creative in order to have new products on the market, and also have quality produc
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