The new home and away jerseys were unveiled this Friday, April 30, at the Police FC residential training camp in Rebero.
The event was presided over by Commissioner of Police (CP) Bruce Munyambo, who urged the players to focus, be competitive and exhibit a winning spirit.
The 2021 Primus National League kicks off this Saturday, May 1 as a tournament with clubs now placed in four groups.
Police is placed in Group C with AS Kigali, Musanze FC and Etincelles FC.
The law enforcers will kick off their first match against Etincelles FC this Saturday at 3pm at Amahoro Stadium.
Segun Ogunsanya will join the Board of Airtel Africa plc with effect from 1st October 2021.
Segun Ogunsanya joined Airtel Africa in 2012 as Managing Director and CEO Nigeria and has been responsible for the overall management of operations in Nigeria, the telecom’s largest market in Africa.
Segun has more than 25 years of business management experience in banking, consumer goods and telecoms. Before joining Airtel in 2012, Segun held leadership roles at Coca-Cola in Ghana, Nigeria, and Kenya (as MD and CEO).
He has also been the Managing Director of Nigerian Bottling Company Ltd (Coca-Cola Hellenic owned) and Group head of retail banking operations at Ecobank Transnational Inc, covering 28 countries in Africa. Segun is an electronics engineer and a chartered accountant.
Raghu Mandava will be retiring as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, as a Director of Airtel Africa plc and as a member of the Market Disclosure Committee on 30 September 2021. Arrangements have been made to ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities.
Following his cessation of employment at Airtel Africa, Mr. Mandava will be available to advise the Chairman, the Airtel Africa Board and the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer for a 9-month period.
An announcement naming Segun Ogunsanya’s successor as Managing Director and CEO Nigeria will be made soon.
Commenting on the development, Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman said: “We are delighted to appoint Segun Ogunsanya as the Group’s next Chief Executive Officer. He has displayed significant drive and energy in turning around the Nigeria business by focusing on network modernisation, distribution, and operational efficiency. It is this commitment, together with his industry experience, strategic vision, constant customer focus and proven record of delivery that will enable him to continue to deliver our strategic objectives and to lead the Group in the next stages of its development.”
“On behalf of the Board I would like to thank Raghu Mandava for being instrumental in successfully leading and transforming Airtel Africa into a powerhouse telecommunications and mobile money company. Throughout that time, Raghu has worked tirelessly first to repair and then to strengthen Airtel Africa’s business and to champion our stakeholders. As we look forward to Segun assuming his new role in October 2021, we do so from a position of great strength as a result of Raghu’s highly effective stewardship. Raghu will retire from the Board with our very best wishes and sincere appreciation for everything he has achieved,” he added.
Raghu Mandava also expressed gratitude to Airtel Africa for providing him and his team the opportunity to transform the business and fulfil our responsibility to the countries in which their operate.
“It has been a privilege to serve in the African continent and I cherish my time here. Airtel Africa is a remarkable business with fantastic people. Having been at Bharti Airtel for 13 years and at Airtel Africa for 5 years as Chief Executive Officer, I feel now is the right time to take a sabbatical,” he noted.
“The last five years have been an exhilarating journey where we have been able to turnaround and transform the business into a strong high growth and profitable company. We have been able to build the business with our unique management and problem solving approach to bring in substantial performance improvement. I am very proud of what we have achieved over the past 5 years in Africa, and I look forward to seeing the Company make even greater progress over the coming years,” added Mandava.
Segun Ogunsanya expressed delight for the new appointment.
“Having been part of the Airtel Africa journey for the past nine years, I am looking forward to taking up the role of Chief Executive Officer. On a personal note, as an African, I feel honoured to have the opportunity to lead a Group that continues to make a difference to millions of people, bridge the digital divide and expand financial inclusion. This is an exciting opportunity to position Airtel Africa for further success in a dynamic continent full of potential. I look forward to building on the achievements of the last five years during Raghu’s leadership, “he said.
{{About Airtel Africa}}
Airtel Africa is a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services, with a presence in 14 countries in Africa, primarily in East Africa and Central and West Africa.
Airtel Africa offers an integrated suite of telecommunications solutions to its subscribers, including mobile voice and data services as well as mobile money services both nationally and internationally.
The Group aims to continue providing a simple and intuitive customer experience through streamlined customer journeys.
www.airtel.africa
The report made by the East African Business Council (EABC) has indicated that revenues from tourism and tourists arrivals Rwanda dropped.
Figures show that Rwanda generated US$374 million in 2018 from 1,711,000 international tourists.
The revenues were estimated at US$549 million in 2019 whereby the country registered 1,632,000 international visitors.
Due to COVID-19 effects, Rwanda received 494,000 international tourists at Kigali International Airport generating US$ 110 million. Created jobs in the tourism sector also reduced to 165,600 from 331, 200 of the previous year.
Before Coronavirus emerged, tourism sector was among top contributors to national GDP.
For instance, tourism contributed 10% to the 2019 GDP amounting to Rwf 9.15 billion.
The sector had contributed 12.7% to GDP after generating US$ 438 million in 2017 up from US$227 million in 2011.
The gradual increase revenues prompted Rwanda Development Board (RDB) to project doubled tourism revenues from US$438 of 2017 to US$800 in 2024.
The goal was however affected by Coronavirus preventive directives in 2020.
The study indicated that EAC partner states may have recorded a loss of US$4.8 billion in international receipts in 2020 while 4.2 million foreign tourists were not able to travel to their preferred EAC destinations.
International tourist arrivals in Rwanda dropped by 69.7% in 2020, which indicates a huge gap in the sector.
Visitors to national parks also declined significantly by 68, 7% in 2020 compared to the previous year.
EABC report released in April 2021 also indicates that visitors are classified in different segments including leisure, visiting friends and relatives and business as well.
Travel for leisure in Rwanda dropped by 50.3% compared to other segments. For instance, travel for business (with MICE) dropped by 74.5% while Visiting Friends and Relatives segment was most affected as it dropped by 76.7%.
Chantal Kagame has been appointed as its Chief Executive Officer to drive business development, strategy, innovation, and day to day operations of the company.
The setting up of Mobile Money Rwanda Ltd is in line with MTN Rwanda’s strategy to lead digital solutions while contributing to the national economic strategy on enhancing cashless transactions that offer convenience and security to all Rwandans.
Speaking about the new standalone firm, MTN Rwanda CEO, Mitwa Ng’ambi said: “We are very glad to announce the establishment of Mobile Money Rwanda Ltd as a wholly owned subsidiary of MTN Rwanda. One of the key pillars in our strategy is to establish platforms that our customers find valuable. This restructure will ensure that the Mobile Money business remains agile, well poised for future growth and accelerated innovation. Mobile Money has matured over the last ten years in Rwanda, and this marks a pivotal milestone in our journey toward a cashless economy.”
Commenting about her appointment, Chantal Kagame said, “I am really excited to be given this opportunity to lead Mobile Money Rwanda Ltd. The prospects for future growth and expansion of Mobile Money services in Rwanda are immense. Our commitment is to enhance the MoMo user experience and keep innovating products and services aligned with our digital ambition. The transition process to a standalone business has now kicked off and we look forward to cementing Mobile Money Rwanda Ltd as a key FinTech player in the Rwandan market.”
Prior to Chantal’s appointment, she held the role of Chief Business and Corporate Affairs Officer since she joined MTN in 2018.
She is a senior Telecom Executive with over 19 years of experience in Multinational Telecommunications.
She has a track record of excellent achievement in areas of Executive Leadership, Sales and Distribution, Mobile Financial Services, Strategy Development and Execution, Corporate Affairs and Credit Management. Prior to joining MTN Rwanda, Chantal was the Deputy CEO/COO at Tigo Rwanda for 3 years and Head of Sales, Distribution and Corporate Affairs at the same company from 2011 to 2015.
The establishment of Mobile Money Rwanda Ltd does not in any way affect nor change the delivery of services to current Mobile Money customers. Mobile Money customers will continue to enjoy access to the wide range of MoMo products and services, the over 30,000 Mobile Money agents and 60,000 MoMoPay merchants across the country.
MTN foresees an even brighter future to further expand and deepen its offerings to the public in line with Rwanda’s vision to become a fully cashless economy.
{{About MTN Rwandacell }}
MTN Rwandacell Plc (MTN Rwanda) is the market leader in mobile telecommunications in Rwanda. Since 1998, we have continuously invested in expanding and modernising our footprint and are the country’s No 1 network. MTN Rwanda offers various innovative services to consumers and enterprises, including personalised voice, data, home and fixed connectivity solutions. The company is also the front runner in mobile financial services in Rwanda delivered through its FinTech subsidiary, Mobile Money Rwanda Ltd.
{{About Mobile Money Rwanda Ltd }}
Mobile Money Rwanda Ltd is MTN Rwanda’s FinTech subsidiary, established on 27th April 2021 to provide and manage Mobile Money services in Rwanda. The company has over 30,000 Mobile Money agents and 60,000 MoMoPay merchants across the country. The penetration of Mobile Money has seen a continuous rise with the enhancement of existing offerings such as MoMoPay, MTN m-Ticketing as a digital user-friendly ticketing solution, Tap&Go payments for bus services, Bill Payments, Bulk Payments, Electricity purchase, Payment of Government services, Bank Push & Pull, MoKash Loans & Savings, and more.
It has been revealed by Office the Presidency via Twitter handle but didn’t provide details on topics of discussions.
On the same day, Minister Lord Ahmad met with Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Vincent and held discussions revolving around bilateral matters as well as ongoing preparations for CHOGM 2021 in June.
Tariq Ahmad is visiting Rwanda for two-day working visit on 29th and 30th April as the country prepares to host Commonwealth leaders in June.
Minister Tariq Ahmad told the media UK commends Rwanda’s work on its planning for a safe and secure meeting of the Commonwealth family at CHOGM 2021.
After the meeting, UK will hand over the reins of the rotating chairmanship to Rwanda for the period of two years.
UK has chaired the organization for two years due to COVID-19 restrictions that prompted the postponement of CHOGM that was initially scheduled in 2020.
UK has been long-standing bilateral development partner with Rwanda since 2005.
Minister Ahmad revealed that the UK is committed to supporting Rwanda’s development and helping to build on the significant economic and social progress that has been made since the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.
Kagame was speaking at the opening of High-Level Dialogue on Feeding Africa on Thursday 29th April 2021 discussing how to the continent can transform agriculture and attain food sufficiency.
President Kagame said that Africa’s food situation is fragile due to numerous challenges including low productivity, climate change among others and stressed need for urgent action to transform the sector.
“Africa’s food situation is already fragile due to low productivity and trade barriers. Climate change is making the challenge even more difficult, as rainfall patterns shift and desertification worsens. And, of course, the Covid-19 pandemic is an added burden that we are still confronting,” he said.
“However, solutions to these challenges are known and within our means. Transforming agriculture in Africa is an urgent task. No one can be satisfied with subsistence. Agribusiness can be a pathway to prosperity for African families,” added Kagame.
Kagame also pointed out areas of focus for the African continent to address existing challenges.
“First we need to improve our research capacity. Agriculture may be humanity’s most ancient economic activity, but modern food production is based on science and technology, just like the smartphones we all use,” he noted.
Kagame emphasized that African countries need to strengthen partnerships to tap into successful innovations to produce more food, at affordable prices, and with less environmental impact.
To this end, he reminisced on Rwanda’s practices where the country is investing in climate-smart technologies and collaborating closely with regional institution, development partners and the private sector.
“Second, we need to trade with each other. The African Continental Free Trade Area widens the scope of opportunity for African agribusiness to reach its full potential. For too long, our continent imported food that we are capable of producing ourselves, simply because our internal trade barriers, among others things,” he noted.
“Third, we need to convince our youth that agribusiness is a good career. In Rwanda and elsewhere in Africa, we have been encouraged to see an increasing number of young graduates dedicating themselves to agriculture, and making good money out of it. Sustaining this trend, requires the support of leaders at all levels, as well as easier access to finance and insurance products,” added Kagame.
The President emphasized that paving the way for partnerships through similar dialogues and giving the attention ad investment the sector deserves will make the agricultural economy, the foundation of Africa’s future prosperity for decades to come.
The dialogue was also attended by other Heads of State including the President of Zambia, Edgar Lungu; Sahle Work Zwde of Ethiopia, Bah Ndaw of mali and Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana. Other participants include the President of African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina and former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair.
During the opening session of a two-day, high-level dialogue entitled, “Feeding Africa: Leadership to Scale Up Successful Innovations,” 18 African heads of state pledged their political and financial commitment to scale up technologies and innovations to transform agriculture in their country. Each leader detailed their shared commitment, as well as national priorities related to agriculture and even their plans for agricultural investment in the coming years.
The virtual High-Level Dialogue on Feeding Africa is co-hosted by the African Development Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), in partnership with the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), the CGIAR System Organization and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa.
The seized smuggled goods include seven bales of second-hand clothes commonly known as Caguwa, 20 garments of a traditional fabrics called Kitenge and over 1700 pieces of assorted banned skin whitening lotions.
Three people including two drivers of the trailers and the owner of some of the smuggled goods, were also taken into custody.
The separate successful operations were conducted on Wednesday and Thursday, by the Revenue Protection Unit (RPU), a Rwanda National Police (RNP) unit attached to Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) to fight smuggling and fraud.
The foreign registered trailers were en-route to City of Kigali, Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Bonaventure Twizere Karekezi, the Police spokesperson for the Western region, said.
He said Police had information that transit vehicles are being used by smugglers to sneak goods into Rwanda, which prompted the operation.
“RPU first stopped a Congolese registered truck on April 28, at Kamembe border point but the driver identified as Raphael Mushonga declined to stop.
“A road block was mounted in Ntendezi where the truck was intercepted, searched and 968 pieces of assorted outlawed skin bleaching lotions recovered under the car seats. The driver was also arrested and the vehicle impounded,” CIP Karekezi said.
Another Kigali-bound Tanzanian registered vehicle driven by one Abdallah Kaberwa, was intercepted at about 6am on Thursday in Karambo Village, Kacyangugu Cell in Kamembe Sector with seven bales of second hand clothes, 20 pieces of Kitenge and 723 pieces of skin whitening lotions.
Kaberwa disclosed that he was hired by one Emmanuel Mbabajende, also arrested, to transport the clothes and banned lotions to Ruyenzi trading centre in Runda Sector, Kamonyi District.
Kaberwa was to be paid Rwf150, 000 upon delivering the goods.
CIP Karekezi warned that RNP has strengthened operations against smugglers.
He added that four transit vehicles have been impounded since February for transporting smuggled goods.
Article 266 of the law relating to offences and penalties in general, states that “any person, who produces, sells or prescribes the following prohibited substances: a drug; harmful products; cosmetics or body hygiene substances or any other products derived from plants; commits an offence.
Upon conviction, he or she is liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than one year and not more than two years and a fine of not less than Rwf3 million and not more than Frw5 million or only one of these penalties.
Under the East African Community Management Act, which is also applicable in Rwanda, the vehicle and seized smuggled goods under article 199, are auctioned while the driver is fined US$5000.
The statement released last night shows that 107 people have caught the virus, 31 have recovered while 4 are critically ill.
Rwanda confirmed the first Coronavirus case on 14th March 2020. Since then, 24 995 people have been tested positive of whom 23 206 have recovered, 1456 are active cases while 333 have succumbed to the virus.
The majority of new cases were found in Karongi: 53, Nyamagabe: 11, Gicumbi: 9, Nyaruguru: 6, Muhanga: 6, Kigali: 5 and Ruhango: 5.
The DIGP made the remarks on Thursday, April 29, while meeting Police handball and athletics teams at the RNP General Headquarters in Kacyiru.
The Police teams won nine trophies in the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
The Taekwondo club won four trophies, namely; Senior Taekwondo championship ( December 2019), Genocide Memorial Tournament (June 2019), National Taekwondo championship (July, 2019) and Heroes Day Taekwondo Cup (January, 2020).
Police Handball Club also added five trophies in the cabin during the same period.
They include the East and Central Africa Handball Federation Cup (ECAHF) (December, 2019), National Championship (July 2019), two Heroes Day cups (2019 and 2020) and the Genocide Memorial Tournament (2019).
RNP also won the Senior National Track and Field Championship cup, recently.
DIGP Ujeneza applauded the teams for their triumph but challenged them to always look ahead.
She recognized the “individual efforts and team spirit” as some of the key factors towards their success.
“On behalf of Rwanda National Police, I congratulate you for this success, not just in the last two years but also the victories registered over the years. Keep up the winning spirit; RNP will continue to support you to further ensure competitiveness in various sports disciplines,” DIGP Ujeneza said.
Discipline, she said, should always define their image and that of RNP in general.
Sports, she added, is important for one’s health but also a social factor especially as it partly drives the ideology of community policing since it brings together the Police and other institutions as well as the general public.
RNP athletic clubs have over the years won eight trophies while Police Handball Club has won 49 cups since it was formed in 2001.
SAVE is a digital wallet for collective saving schemes that can be downloaded from Google play or Apple store as well as be accessed by dialing *777#. The users will be able to save collectively and get interest of 6% per year on their funds deposited into Access Bank Rwanda. Beyond savings, SAVE enables the users to lend each other at affordable rates and conveniently manage their loan repayments.
“Access Bank Rwanda is committed to delivering steady economic growth by leveraging digital solutions to drive financial inclusion and improve access to finance through innovative offerings.” said Oluseun Onasoga, the Executive director of Business Development. He added that the partnership with EXUUS aims to foster the development of digital solutions that will cater to the financial needs of the underserved and unserved in the Rwandan Community.
“Looking back in 2016 when the first countrywide map for informal saving groups was published by BNR & Access to Finance Rwanda, little was known about their reach and impact.
It is gratifying that not only the same groups that were almost financially excluded are now linked with Telcos (MTN Mobile Money & Airtel Money) but even better linked with a world-class commercial bank like Access Bank.
We are forward-looking, as millions of Rwandans access a wide variety of formal financial services that were previously inaccessible and become more financially resilient as a result of this partnership” said Shema Steve, the CEO of EXUUS.
Saving within the SAVE app will enable the users to sustain themselves and their families. The minimum contribution of savings and social fund is Rwf 500.
