Rwanda is set to begin training at the new Quality Academy in Kigali.
KIGALI – Rwanda is set to begin training the next generation of African standards professionals while strengthening its human capital and institutional capacity through the inauguration of a new Quality Academy in Kigali.
The Rwanda Standards Board (RSB) Quality Academy, unveiled on June 24, is expected to graduate more than 500 professionals annually, with the long-term ambition of becoming an African hub for standards training. The academy will attract trainees from across the continent and equip them with the skills needed to implement goods and services standards required under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The Government of Rwanda has placed standardization, metrology, and conformity assessment services at the center of socio-economic development and has undertaken significant efforts to strengthen the country’s quality culture through the establishment of an effective and efficient National Quality Infrastructure.
Officials launch the new Quality Academy in Kigali.
Streamlining the delivery of quality services, with strong participation from the private sector in industrial and trade development, is key to achieving the country’s sustainable development goals.
The RSB Quality Academy was launched in Kigali as part of an ongoing partnership with the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), which aims, among other priorities, to position Rwanda as a regional and continental quality hub.
The academy will serve as a national and regional Centre of Excellence for standards-related training and the development of certified quality professionals. It is expected to bridge existing skills gaps across various industries and strengthen conformity assessment services.
RSB Director General Raymond Murenzi said the academy will enable Rwanda to build the expertise required to meet international standards.
Offering both physical and online training programs, the academy will enable participants to acquire practical skills in quality management and standards implementation. It is also expected to reduce the costs Rwanda currently incurs in hiring international experts to train local professionals.
“We have been spending between $20,000 and $30,000 per week to hire an expert to train our professionals, but this cost will definitely reduce,” RSB Director General Raymond Murenzi said.
Murenzi said the academy will enable Rwanda to build the expertise required to meet international standards and called on all stakeholders to support the initiative.
At the national level, Murenzi revealed that the academy will increase the number of quality professionals from the current 50 experts to more than 8,000 within the next five years.
According to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Chantal Tuyishimire, these professionals will help Rwanda’s private sector access the skilled workforce needed to ensure compliance with local and international standards for goods and services.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Chantal Tuyishimire addressing journalists.
“The academy will enable us produce professionals who will serve Rwanda and more African countries to enable competitiveness on the global market in goods and services provided,” Tuyishimire said.
“This will also help us to cover the existing gap in lack of expertise, which has caused challenges of meeting required standards by the private sector, of which has implications to standards of life,” Tuyishimire added.
Young standards professional Rita Mahoro, a former RSB intern who now works as a processing technician at the Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture (RICA), said the academy presents an opportunity for professionals to gain practical knowledge in quality management and standards.
John Violet Neema, a food scientist at Terova Africa, a food processing company based in the Kigali Special Economic Zone, said the academy will help improve service delivery in areas where RSB has struggled due to overwhelming demand.
“For example, certification has been taking too long due to loads of applications, but now this will be no more because of having many professionals,” Neema said.
“The more professionals trained locally, the more awareness we will have and the easier it will be to develop standards at the private sector level,” she added.
Korean Ambassador to Rwanda, Jeong Woo-jin says that such testimonies of improved services justify Korea’s support for establishing the academy.
According to the Korean Ambassador to Rwanda, Jeong Woo-jin, such testimonies of improved services justify Korea’s support for establishing the academy.
“This is one way of enabling Rwanda to meet its vision of becoming a leader in standards compliance in Africa,” Woo-jin said.
Woo-jin commended the strong Korea-Rwanda partnership and pledged continued support aimed at strengthening the relationship between the two countries.
“We have walked together in this journey of transformation with mutual benefits and will remain like brothers and sisters,” Woo-jin stated.
