Every month, *Jerome Kimenyi* used to watch HR managers and accountants drown in paperwork—juggling Excel sheets, calculating social security deductions, and making endless trips between offices.
Now, thanks to “Ishema”, a new digital platform launched by the Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB), that time-consuming routine is being replaced by a five-minute, paperless process—giving thousands of professionals across Rwanda more time to focus on what really matters: people, productivity, and progress.
Launched this May 22, 2025, this platform aims to save 3,000 hours of HR time every year that is typically spent by employers filing for payroll taxes, social security benefits, and submitting maternity leave paperwork.
Ishema is an innovative and transformative digital system developed in Rwanda to simplify and streamline the filing process, allowing employers to complete it in just 5 minutes with no paperwork, no trips, and no hassle, ultimately saving time and money.
The system has already collected Rwf865.7 billion and onboarded 11,000 employers, with a goal of reaching all 28,000 employers in Rwanda.
The CEO of RSSB, Regis Rugemanshuro, said this is one of the many products in the pipeline to be unveiled next year and in the future, adding to the already existing two zero-paper, zero-trip products – maternity leave and ejo heza savings scheme – which are done electronically.
“This is time-saving efficiency, and we hope that the extra time we save for our clients can be used for more productivity,” Rugemanshuro said.
Lionel Ngendakuriyo, the head of the RSSB Digital Innovation Center, said that Human Resource Managers and Accountants will no longer need to prepare five excel sheets per month or do the calculation.
“We are only asking the employer to do one thing – to break down the salary – with a single upload, everything is computed and done by machine. This will be done in 5 minutes,” Ngendakuriyo said.
Ngendakuriyo added that for government HR managers, they will no longer have to touch anything or think of complex files because the Ishema system is integrated into the national financial system.
“That means zero paper, zero miles, zero thought, and no more movement,” Ngendakuriyo added.
RRA Commissioner General, Ronald Niwenshuti, said that the coming of the Ishema platform will take away the previous practice of having double paper and double trips done back and forth between the employers and the authority.
“For our taxpayers, this is one of the solutions built to provide efficient service delivery, save travel costs, but also ensure taxes are paid on time. This innovation comes at the right time when we are also considering adding other services such as pay as you earn on the digital platforms,” Niwenshuti said.
Niwenshuti noted that this platform is going to be a solution for Rwandans to focus on doing business instead of multiple paperwork.
“So much is going to be done since this is an in-Rwanda built product, and we can integrate it with other institutions without having to incur extra vendor costs,” Niwenshuti said.
The Minister of Labor and Public Service, Amb. Christine Nkulikiyinka, said that Ishema will enable the government to implement its agenda of legally obliging all employers to pay employees’ contributions and taxes, and the bigger plan is to have this platform adopted on a mandatory basis.
