After an uncommon visit by Trade and Industry Minister on Tuesday, local cooperatives could quickly see their tears wiped away.
Several cooperatives are struggling to obtain accessible room from which to operate, while others are struggling to locate their buildings occupants and the puzzle has long been around.
For years, cooperatives have engaged officials to discover a solution, a concern that led Minister Soraya Hakuziyaremye to visit some cooperatives in Kigali and to determine the nature of the scenario on the ground.
She also wanted to inspect successful businesses and hear their stories.
One of them, Gatsata’s Icyerekezo Cooperative, like other cooperatives, expressed concern about the shortage of occupants.
The minister visited them because they are a role model for other cooperatives, says Icyerekezo Cooperative management.
The cooperative has achieved considerable strides in generating employment, operating a skilled business, and complying with environmental protection laws compared to other cooperatives that sometimes struggle with problems of embezzlement.
Icyerekezo Gatsata Cooperative consists of vehicle repairers, owners of garages and traders of spare parts.
It began in 2007 in Gatsata wetland, with 66 members and the Rwf3 million core capital.
After the government’s call for wetlands to be vacated as a way to preserve the environment, space becomes a scarce resource for working businesses.
Icyerekezo cooperative members started mobilizing funds to build commercial complexes that would accommodate auto mobile spare parts stores, garages and laundry bays.
It began expropriation in 2008 and was subsequently recorded by the Rwanda Cooperatives Agency and accredited in 2010.
In 2012, the Phase One cooperative began constructing a three-story commercial building with 132 rooms.
It was finished in 2015.
In 2018, the second stage of which building began in 2016 was finished.
There are presently 99 members in the four-story construction with 88 rooms, of which two-level house garages.
In the meantime, the minister also toured other cooperatives, including ADARWA whose members are running carpentry workshops.
She later toured COCTRAMAVK, which consisted of freight carriers.
The minister also had conversations with cooperative members and shared opinions on how to expand and flourish.
She encouraged them to consider expanding and start looking out on foreign markets.