Youth constitute a large percentage of the population, not only in Rwanda but across the world. With an increase in population poverty, inadequate unemployment and substance abuse have become evident. On August 12, 2016 Never Again Rwanda joined the world in celebrating the international day of youth on the theme; The Role of Youth in poverty alleviation and achieving sustainability. As highlighted by youth one of the methods to mitigate poverty is through entrepreneurship and innovative practices. Interventions from young entrepreneurs who owned businesses clearly stated that in order for you to start a business you begin by developing an idea of what kind of business/innovation you would like to implement, research, networking and knowing as much as you can about the market.
However being equipped with the right information is not a gate way to success. Some of the challenges highlighted by youth were lack of skills in project development, lack of funds/startup capital and mentorship. As a departing message for the younger generation youth should not wait for opportunities to come to them, they should instead go out of their way to look for opportunities which in the long run will address some of the challenges faced by youth and promote sustainable development.
Both Never Again Rwanda’s Country Director Dr. Joseph Ryarasa and Chairperson Mr. Albert Nzamukwereka emphasized that Passion, understanding what you are good at, confidence and practicing a culture of saving are vital in developing any business/initiative. The event brought around 80 participants comprised of young professionals, students, media houses and a representative from BDF.