The discussions have been held on the second day of Kagame’s visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where he went to participate in the 14th World Policy Conference (WPC).
The conference is organized by Swiss foundation known as ‘WPC Foundation’. This international conference acts as a forum for discussion and reflection about the global economy and international relations.
Kagame is among participants of the conference scheduled from 1st to 3rd October 2021.
The President has also met with Khedaim Abdulla Saeed Faris Al-Darei, the Co-founder, Vice Chairman and CEO of Al Dahra Holding LLC to discuss various investment opportunities.
Al Dahra Holding LLC is a company involved in the processing of agricultural produce.
Primary leaving candidates sat for national exams that lasted for three days from 12th July 2021.
A total of 254 678 was expected to participate but some of them missed exams due to different reasons related to effects of COVID-19.
Among others; a total of 122, 320 students including 67,685 boys and 54,635 girls were expected to sit for ordinary level.
MINEDUC has via Twitter handle revealed that results for primary leaving and ordinary level national exams will be released on 4th October 2021.
The next 2021/2022 school year is expected to begin on 11th October 2021 to close on 15th July 2022 as per timetable released by MINEDUC.
The calendar also shows that the first term to begin on 11th October will end on 24th December 2021; the second will run from 10th January until 31st March while the 3rd term will begin from 18th April through 15th July 2022.
The elections will be held in compliance with COVID-19 containment measures on different dates in October and November 2021.
As per released calendar, aspirants seeking to join districts’ advisory committees will submit credentials from 11th to 20th October 2021 while eligible candidates will be announced 26th October.
The aspirants on district councilors’ positions will hold electoral campaigns virtually between 3rd and 12th November before participating in elections scheduled on 26th November 2021.
Meanwhile, districts’ executive committees will be elected on 19th November 2021.
Among others; village committees will be elected on 23rd October, cell advisory committee on 30th October while elections for sector advisory committees will coincide with members of councils for special interest groups at sector level on 6th October.
Elections of members representing special interest groups at district level will be held on 9th November while voting members of councils for special groups namely women and the council of people living with disabilities at provincial level and Kigali City are scheduled on 22nd November.
On 23rd November, there will be elections of councils for special interest groups at national level.
Elections results at district, provincial and national level will be released not later than 26th November while the final election report will be submitted before the end of 2021.
Local leaders’ elections will cost Rwf3 billion as NEC announced recently.
Newly elected local leaders will assume office effective from February 2022 for five year tenure.
Qatar is making inroads into the African economy and Rwanda is a key focus of interest. Sub-Saharan Africa is the final frontier for state-owned investors (SOIs), offering potential large rewards – but also significant challenges. For patient investors capable of honing in on good deals, the region offers significant long-term returns that could generate big yields.
While the country has enjoyed political and economic stability since the end of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi, the low level of banking sector penetration limits the ability of the financial sector to provide credit to the private sector. Yet, Rwanda is determined to overcome these constraints and is looking to foreign investment, with Qatar firmly at the top of its potential partners.
Rwanda Finance, which runs Kigali’s financial center, made a visit to Doha earlier last month as it seeks to establish President Paul Kagame’s vision of the capital as Africa’s financial hub. Africa Intelligence states that Donald Kaberuka, formerly Rwanda’s finance minister and ex-chair of the African Development Bank, is acting as intermediary between Qatar and Rwanda and is advising QIA on the new fund’s structure.
Qatar’s interests in Rwanda include a 60% stake in Bugesera International Airport, currently under construction, and a 49% stake in RwandAir. QIA’s portfolio companies are also supporting the Rwandan government’s efforts to make the central African country a global tourism destination. African interests outside Rwanda include a US$200 million investment in Airtel Africa’s mobile money business in August.
Earlier this year, the Qatari investor forged a joint venture with Italian utility Enel – Enel Green Power – to finance, build and operate renewable energy projects in Sub-Saharan Africa. The deal gave QIA a 50% stake in projects in operation and under construction in South Africa and Zambia, amounting to around 800MW of capacity.
The growing relationship between Kigali and Doha could lead to co-investments between QIA and Rwanda’s Agaciro Development Fund. As Global SWF reported in July, the government has overhauled the sovereign wealth fund’s board, appointing foreign and domestic asset managers and government officials. The inclusion of international experts suggests the government could be seeking FDI partners in strategic sectors, as well as firming up governance and investment strategy. The appointments also indicate that Rwanda is seeking to leverage the fund to advance venture capital investments.
The strategy adopted by the fund is likely to chime with the government’s focus on investment in boosting agricultural productivity and developing digital infrastructure. Rwanda is also heavily investing in its human capital with a heavy emphasis on ICT, which the government wants to utilize to diversify the economy.
Agaciro also owns 67% of the Development Bank of Rwanda (BRD) which is aligned with Rwanda’s economic transformation plan, the National Strategy for Transformation. It has supported the BRD with capital injections to deliver development, including an important role in delivering stimulus in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Rwanda’s drive towards economic development and the status of “Singapore of Africa” favour QIA’s goal of expanding its footprint in a high growth region, while benefitting from the stability and security of the central African state. No doubt we will see relations between Kigali and Doha grow ever closer, with the likelihood of joint ventures between QIA and Agaciro.
The double tax avoidance agreement (DTAA) serves as an incentive for businesses and investors in both regions as it eliminates the double payment of taxes on both income and capital, but also aids transparency as it serves as a deterrent against tax evasion and avoidance.
The agreement was signed by the ambassador of Rwanda to Luxembourg (who is resident in Brussels), Dieudonné Sebashongore, and finance minister Pierre Gramegna (DP) during a short ceremony in Luxembourg City.
“This agreement will allow both Luxembourg and Rwandan economic actors to go further in their mutual exchanges. For those who are willing to invest in Rwanda, including the diaspora, this agreement will increase their motivation and facilitate business,” Sebashongore told Delano, adding that the relations between both countries have been cordial and interactions have so far been marked by mutual respect.
Bilateral relations between the countries, up until December 2013 when Luxembourg reassessed its list of official partner countries for development cooperation, was mostly based on development aid with an emphasis on the health and agriculture sectors. It was led by Luxembourg’s development agency, LuxDev, which was at the time also present in Rwanda, said Ndoli Pierre, senior communications and public affairs advisor.
He added that the countries’ relationship has more recently taken more of a partnership format, with knowledge transfers and trainings by the Luxembourg House of Training and its Rwandan counterparts–the Rwanda Revenue authority, the ministry of finance and economic planning, and the National Bank of Rwanda–being organised specifically in relation to banking and finance.
Beyond double taxation, on which the countries have had a breakthrough with the signed agreement, Pierre noted a concern regarding the reluctance of banks to provide loans to companies looking to invest on the continent. This reluctance has eased up following the 2016 launch of a financing facility–the business partnership facility (BPF)–which was initiated and financed by the Luxembourg government with an annual budget of €1m to co-finance up to 50% of development, job creation and knowledge transfer projects led by Luxembourg and European private sector partners in developing countries.
“Our agreement is another building block of the economic success that we wish you. On the surface, the signing of this agreement may seem to be something administrative, but for all the countries with which Luxembourg has signed agreements on double taxation, the interest and the will is to strengthen bilateral relations, to make them easier, clearer and more transparent. In this way, we will be able to trade with each other and forge links that go beyond the framework of development aid,” noted Gramegna.
The agreement, which intends to attract Luxembourg investors in Rwanda, is also in line with Rwanda’s ambition to attract international investors on the African continent through its Kigali International Financial Centre, and to position itself as an ideal location for pan-African investments thanks to the AfCTA framework.
The first-ever trade mission by the grand duchy to Rwanda took place in 2019 with top-level representatives from Luxembourg in attendance. About four projects were initiated during this mission, including a hotel project in Rwanda by Luxembourg-based group Onomo. Due to covid-19, discussions stalled for a bit, but this will once again kick off, noted Pierre, starting with an e-banking project together with a Luxembourg company which was not disclosed.
Discussion on the DTAA was first initiated by Luxembourg in 2019 with the first round of negotiation taking place in January 2020 in Luxembourg City. The second round of negations followed online from 26 November to 2 December 2020. The final negotiation round, also held online, took place on 27 April this year. The agreement will enter into force following its ratification by both countries.
The statement released by US Embassy in Rwanda reads that the next batch expected to arrive towards the end of this week will bring the total number of vaccines delivered to Rwanda to 1,239,830.
US Ambassador to Rwanda, Peter H. Vrooman has said that the vaccines are meant to save lives of citizens giving them protection against COVID-19 as the world continues to beef up efforts to defeat the pandemic.
He also revealed that the vaccines will support the country to recover the economy shaken by effects of COVID-19.
In June this year, US President Joe Biden announced the U.S. Government’s commitment to procure and donate an additional 500 million Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses to up to 100 countries supported by the COVAX Advance Market Commitment and member states of the African Union.
On 22nd September, he also announced that US will donate more 500 million COVID-19 vaccines with a target to reach 1.1 billion vaccines to be donated by 2022.
Rwanda has so far received 3,658,310 COVID-19 vaccines. The Ministry of Health recently announced that 21% of the target population of 7.8 million people (representing 60% of the Rwandan population) is fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Monthly data bundles that once offered 4GB at Rwf5,000 and 12GB at Rwf10,000, now offer 7GB and 30GB respectively at the same price. Customers can enjoy this offer by dialling *345# and selecting option 4 to purchase a 4G data bundle.
MTN Rwanda’s objective of driving the digital transformation of customers’ lives through this initiative is motivated by the belief that everyone deserves the benefits of a modern connected life.
“The last two years have illuminated the essential need for good internet connectivity, further feeding into how access to the internet is no longer a privilege but a necessity. At MTN, we strive to ensure that affordability and value go hand-in-hand. This revamp to our 4G bundles gives our customers a great experience with much more data for browsing, streaming and downloading,” said Yaw Ankoma Agyapong, MTN Rwanda’s Chief Consumer and Digital Officer.”
Customers with 4G devices on the MTN network who are currently not enjoying 4G service on their phones, can dial *456*1# to check if they have a 4G SIM card. All 4G device owners who do not have a 4G SIM card are entitled to a FREE SIM swap at any MTN service centre.
Customers who have 4G devices and 4G SIMs but cannot enjoy 4G service need to enable 4G/LTE data usage in their phone settings by following the steps at www.mtn.co.rw/4G-settings.
Customers without 4G-capable devices can visit any service centre to trade in their current device for a new 4G-capable smartphone to enjoy this great offer and amazing internet speeds.
{{About MTN Rwandacell PLC}}
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.
The ring was arrested on Thursday, September 30, in Rukoma and Ngamba sectors following credible information provided by residents.
The Police spokesperson for the Southern region, Superintendent of Police (SP) Theobald Kanamugire said that five of the suspects were arrested in Rugarama village, Kazirabonde cell, Ngamba sector.
They are Evode Kirezi, 30, Martin Segatwa, 40, Jean Pierre Niyigaba, 28, Vianney Sibomana, 42, and Gaspard Twagirimana, 60.
Two other members of the ring; Adolphe Rugira, 45, and Xavier Maniraguha, 36, were arrested in Nyenge and Rugarama villages, respectively, in Rukoma sector.
“The group armed with traditional weapons including machetes, were ambushing people, assaulting them and violently robbing them,” SP Kanamugire said.
The suspects were handed over to RIB at Rukoma station for further legal process.
Article 166 of law determining offences and penalties in general states that, any person convicted of theft is liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than one (1) year and not more than two (2) years and a fine of not less than Rwf1 million and not more than Rwf2 million, a community service in a period of six (6) months or only one of these penalties.
In article 167, however, the penalty for theft doubles if the act was carried out at night or by more than one person.
The statement released last night shows that 159 people have caught the virus out of 11641 sample tests while 12 are critically ill.
A total of 1,671,718 people have been fully vaccinated while 2,122,645 received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine since Rwanda began countrywide inoculation program on 5th March 2020.
Coronavirus symptoms include coughing, flu, and difficulty in breathing. The virus is said to be transmitted through the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract.
Rwandans are urged to adhere to COVID-19 health guidelines, washing hands frequently using soaps and safe water, wearing face masks and respecting social distancing.
The international conference organized by Swiss foundation known as ‘WPC Foundation’ acts as a forum for discussion and reflection about the global economy and international relations.
Kagame is among participants of the conference scheduled from 1st to 3rd October 2021.
This annual conference revolves around debates gathering economic and political leaders, diplomats, representatives of civil society, experts and journalists from all over the world. It aims at reflecting, debating, and offering constructive solutions to major regional and international issues, in an atmosphere of respect and tolerance.
The World Policy Conference was launched in 2008, by Thierry de Montbrial, President and Founder of the French Institute of International Relations.
