Private Sector Development and Youth Employment Strategy (PSDYES) 2018-2024

Being a country in rapid development, Rwanda faces increasingly complex challenges.Economic growth averaged 7.9% since 2010. Off-farm jobs are being created at a rate of 146,000 per year. Export growth has averaged 10.8%, finally reversing the trend in the growth of the trade deficit and driven in part by a 75% reduction in the time it takes for a container to reach the Port of Mombasa. However, improvements in data collection and analysis indicate that the quality of jobs is equally important to their sheer number, necessitating a focus on productivity, skills development, entrepreneurship facilitation and on-the-job training. In 2013, the rate of new firms being created was relatively low and the policy focused on accelerating it with great success. Now there is a need to focus on firm resilience, growth and productivity. Thus, the challenges identified in 2013 have begun to be addressed and this strategy in 2017 is focusing on transformation. Notably, certain market failures such as a lack of access to information and inefficient domestic markets are becoming more apparent and more challenging as the economy grows in size and complexity.