Figures released today show that Urban CPI increased by 12.6 percent on annual basis (May 2022 and May 2021) and increased by 1.9 percent on monthly basis (May 2022 to April 2022). The annual average inflation rate between May 2022 and May 2021 was 3.5 percent.
In May 2022, Food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by 24.2 percent on annual basis and increased by 5 percent on monthly basis. ‘Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels’ increased by 8 percent on annual basis and decreased by 0.3 percent on monthly basis.
Transport increased by 7.7 percent on annual basis and increased by 1 percent on monthly basis. Restaurants and hotels increased by 14.3 percent on annual change and increased by 0.1 percent on monthly basis.
Released statistics also show that the “local goods” increased by 11.5 percent on annual change and increased by 1.6 percent on monthly basis, while prices of the “imported products” increased by 15.9 percent on annual basis and increased by 2.8 percent on monthly basis.
The prices of the “fresh products” increased by 17.7 percent on annual change and increased by 3.1 percent on monthly basis.
The prices of the “Energy” increased by 17.6 percent on annual change and decreased by 1.3 percent on monthly basis.
Prices are expected to continue rising this month due to revised fuel prices to go into effect from 10th June to 31st July 2022.
The Government of Rwanda has announced that a liter of fuel costs Rwf1460 from Rwf1359 while a liter of Diesel costs Rwf1503 from Rwf1368 in line with adjustments on international market.
The new prices are likely to affect the cost of transport cost and the global supply chain.
The Global Africa Youth Dialogue (GAYD) is an intergenerational dialogue that was initiated to advocate for diaspora African youth engagement in the continent’s development agendas, policy and decision making process.
Global Africa Youth Dialogue was founded by Humuza Gisa Roick, a Pan Africanist, Youth Activist and a Rwandan pursuing his education in Global Governance at the University of Rome Tor Vergata. The dialogue is aligned with the African Youth Charter adopted on July 02, 2006 and African Union (AU) agenda 2063.
The recent dialogue was held as an open moderated panel discussion composed of Embassies of African countries in Italy, CEOs, Professors, Researchers, African diaspora and friends of Africa, Focusing on the role of African youth in transforming Africa into a global powerhouse.
Speaking at the event, Humuza said that Africa’s greatest resource is its youthful population where its active and full participation can help Africans to surmount the difficulties that lie ahead.
“Actions count now. African youth in diaspora can play a central role in development and growth. They need to be invested in, given opportunities to be engaged and fully active in development plans across the continent. Our generation is curious and passionate to learn, explore knowledge and navigate possible solutions that can benefit our continent and the world amicably. This is why we are here now. The Africa we want is where we value the core concerns of its youth,” he stated.
The first Guest speaker, Ambassador Salah S. Hammad, touched on the continental framework AU agenda 2063 and the strategies that are being implemented to achieve it.
Specifically, Amb. Salah talked about the steps being taken by the African Union to establish youth facilitation mechanisms including AU Youth Engagement Strategy (YES), the African passport in order to ease the youth mobility across the continent.
As in regards to the engagement, the ambassador concluded his speech by inspiring the youth to actively participate in the AU agenda implementation and not stay in the corner for they have a role in building Africa.
Mrs Gwendy Omijeh, Minister of Political and Economic affairs, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria reminisced on how the strength of the youth in Africa should not only be reflected in numbers but also in the motivation they get wherever they are.
She used Nigeria as an example to explain the importance of creating an environment for young people to thrive.
Mrs Gwendy also stressed the importance of youth engagement in building Africa and the tremendous progress African countries have made in increasing youth participation.
Amb. Kombo of the United Republic of Tanzania to Italy, first addressed the challenges in the African education system. His main emphasis was on the extreme importance given to a pass mark in academic exams for African students, rather than in acquiring knowledge in their specific fields.
The possible solution for this, Amb. Kombo said, ‘would be about rethinking our education system and shaping it in a proper way’. He also communicated the need of having the appropriate practical approach and closing the entrepreneurship gap for Africa to thrive and evolve.
In addition, the ambassador challenged the youth to plan actions needed to achieve the 2006 Africa Youth charter at the end of the dialogue as a step to come forward.
The CEO of Fondazione Aurora, reminded the African diaspora of their responsibility in developing their continent by using competent skills and exposure they acquired from the international environment.
The dialogue was very interactive with insightful questions from different Rome based university students and other participants. The overall closure recapped the role of African youth to make Africa a global powerhouse through acknowledging available privileges, claiming what the continent wants and being brave enough to reach out to elders for insights.
According to Royal Central, Prince Charles who will represent Queen Elizabeth II at the meeting has welcomed around 500 guests from across the Commonwealth who are now based in the United Kingdom (UK).
These include the High Commissioners of some countries and representatives from the arts, charity, educational, health and business sectors among others.
Prince Charles has already confirmed that he will come to Rwanda along with the Duchess Camilla.
Ahead of their visit to Rwanda later this month, Prince Charles has announced that he is eager to come to Rwanda for the first time.
“My wife and I much look forward to meeting Commonwealth leaders and, for the first time, being able to visit Rwanda,” he said.
Prince Charles stated that he has learned a great deal from the ideas, concerns and aspirations which people across the Commonwealth have so generously shared over the years.
He highlighted that too many members of the Commonwealth are amongst the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries. It is among issues that will be discussed during CHOGM 2022.
Prince Charles indicated that two out of three Commonwealth citizens are under the age of thirty noting that there is a pressing need to find opportunities for ‘our young people’.
“Taking shared responsibility to solve problems like these, means the Commonwealth has the potential to make a profound difference in the lives of its citizens and, in so doing, to be an unparalleled force for good in our world,” he said.
Clarence House announced on 9th June 2022 that Prince Charles and Camilla will undertake engagements that focus on issues facing Commonwealth countries, like “climate change; supporting biodiversity and the regeneration of land; economic development; opportunities for the young; and gender equality.”
Prince Charles, the first born to Queen Elizabeth II was designated as her successor in 2018.
Prince Charles has attended similar meetings five times since 1997.
On the margins of the ITU-WTDC 2022, the high-level meeting took place on Wednesday 8th June 2022 at the first-ever Digital Transformation Center launched in Rwanda in 2019.
It was held under the theme “The EU Digital Global Gateway: An Internet Open to All” with a view to discuss and share a global overview of the EU Digital Global Gateway and the rationale behind the initiative.
The Global Gateway launched in December 2021 is a strategy of the EU to boost smart, clean, and secure links in digital, energy, and transport and strengthen health, education, and research systems across the world.
It stands for sustainable and trusted connections that work for people and the planet, to tackle the most pressing global challenges, from climate change and protecting the environment, to improving health security and boosting competitiveness and global supply chains.
The Global Gateway also promotes sustainable approaches to development and infrastructure needs and comes with guiding principles revolving around democratic values and high standards, good governance, and transparency, equal partnerships, promoting circular economy, focusing on security, and catalyzing private sector investment.
According to Peter Mariën in charge of Digital Governance at EU’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships, the EU Global Gateway seeks to mobilize up to €300 billion in investments between 2021 and 2027 to underpin a lasting global recovery by considering partners’ needs and EU’s own interests. Of the €300 billion to be mobilized, €150 billion will be allocated to Africa.
“The European Union identifies the deployment of digital networks and infrastructure as a key international investment priority in the Global Gateway, mobilizing up to €300 billion by 2027 for developing the infrastructure,” said Peter Mariën.
The Global Gateway strategy constitutes an offer to partner with countries around the world to accelerate their twin green and digital transitions and a sustainable offer to meet infrastructure needs, anchored in the 2030 agenda for sustainable development.
Digitalization, with a view to promoting human-centric digital transformation, is raised as key pillar of this strategy, to safeguard digital sovereignty in tackling the global digital divide, ensure free internet access, promote EU assets and services across the globe, foster cooperation on research and digital innovation, and minimize risks while using artificial intelligence.
Under this theme, the Global Gateway also offers digital economy packages by establishing physical infrastructures like submarine cables, terrestrial backbones, last-mile access, and data centers coupled with soft elements such as data governance, digital businesses, digital skills, and regulatory environment.
Speaking at the event, Wim Degezelle, Stantec Expert of the EU-funded project “Promotion and Development of the Open Internet in Africa” emphasized that “the Open Internet is not and should not be taken for granted“.
“We need to invest in the right opportunities to increase internet penetration. It is much needed to make people use the potential and possibilities of the Open Internet,” he noted.
“The Open Internet drives growth and development. Key to its success is the decentralized architecture, built on stable, open standards and protocols developed in consensus-driven processes and underpinned by a multi-stakeholder model of Internet governance,” added Wim Degezelle.
Dr. Thomas Zielke, the Head of Division for the National and International Standardization Policy in the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action in Germany and Candidate for the position of ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau director, has also stressed that digital transformation needs cross-border and cross-sector coordination to provide full benefits to society.
“The Open Internet provides the condition for responding to all kinds of challenges” he noted.
Tomas Lamanauskas, the Managing Partner of Envision Associates and candidate to the position of the Deputy Secretary General of the ITU stressed the need to create digital opportunities observing that the Open Internet is a key driver to tackling challenges and achieving growth and socio-economic transformation.
“Great to see that Europe is living up to the spirit of global solidarity by helping to develop digital infrastructure everywhere,” he noted.
The statement released by Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) reads that fuel prices have been revised based on adjustments on the international market.
New prices will go into force from Friday 10th June to 31st July 2022.
Despite the price hike; the Minister of Infrastructure, Dr. Ernest Nsabimana has said that the government exonerated taxes and subsidized public transport fares to avoid heavy burdens on passengers.
The latest price changes in April this year saw the cost of petrol increased by Rwf103 and diesel by Rwf167.
Speaking to RBA, Minister Nsabimana has said that the increase in petroleum products mainly emanated from effects of the war between Russia and Ukraine.
“The war between Ukraine and Russia broke out in February this year as people embarked on the path to economy recovery. Many European countries import 40% of oil from Russia. This caused adverse effects because Russia is among largest oil producers globally,” he said.
Dr. Nsabimana has disclosed that the government allocated Rwf29.3 billion to subsidize fuel prices from October 2020 to October 2021 and injected more Rwf5.2 billion from November 2020 to March this year to prevent higher prices.
“The government has allocated more Rwf10 billion from March to November this year. There will be no changes regarding the transport of people and goods because the government will continue its subsidy program,” he stated.
The first batch of 123 displaced headed to their homes where the Rwanda Security forces provided escort to their homes in Nanduadwa village. The District’s Municipal Council Leader Mr. Momba Cheia Carlos chaired the event accompanied by other local leaders.
In total 3,556 people will be returned to their homes from Quitunda IDP camp.
The Eastern region Police spokesperson, Superintendent of Police (SP) Hamdun Twizeyimana, said that Nizeyimana, who was arrested at about 3am, was reported by a resident.
He added that Nizeyimana had buried the narcotics in his farm in Karenge I Village, where they were recovered.
“A resident called the Police in Nasho Sector reporting a local resident (Nizeyimana), who had sneaked into Rwanda sacks of cannabis from Tanzania and buried them in his farm,” SP Twizeyimana said.
“An operation was conducted on Thursday to dig the exact spot where the narcotics were suspected to be buried and where indeed three sacks of cannabis weighing 42kgs, were recovered leading to the arrest of Nizeyimana,” he added.
SP Twizeyimana thanked the resident, who reported the criminal act and to facilitate national efforts against drugs.
The suspect and exhibits were handed over to RIB at Nasho station for further investigations.
The Ministerial order No. 001/MoH/2019 of 04/03/2019 establishing the list of narcotic drugs and their categorization classifies cannabis in the category of “very severe narcotics.’’
Article 263 of law No 68/2018 of 30/08/2018 determining offenses and penalties in general states that any person, who unlawfully produces, transforms, transports, stores, gives to another or who sells narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, commits an offence.
Upon conviction for “very severe narcotics,” the offender faces between 20 years and life imprisonment, and a fine of between Rwf20 million and Rwf30 million.
The development was announced by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr. Uzziel Ndagijimana during a consultative meeting organized by the Upper House of Parliament to discuss persistent challenges hindering easy access to financial services among citizens.
Pointed out challenges include high interest rates ranging between 16% and 24%.
Another discussed issue is the low percentage of funds loaned to the agriculture sector (five percent) yet it constitutes 70% of the labour force.
The low percentage is mainly attributed to risks associated with the sector and lack of collateral to be presented to banks.
Sometimes, it can take long for farmers to repay the loan yet lenders need to provide loans to other clients.
Noël Muhawenimana, the Chief Executive Officer of Umutanguha Finance Company Plc has said that 35% of its loan portfolio was allocated to farmers last year.
Muhawenimana revealed that waiting farmers to repay the loan after harvesting time takes long time and might affect operations.
He pointed out an example of the agriculture of Irish potatoes which might take up to five months to reach the harvesting time yet the bank needs the money to serve more clients.
“In such situation, we seek loans from foreign banks which are offered at high interest rate like 13%. That is why we also offer the loan to the farmer at 20% or 22%. With such rate, the farmer cannot generate expected profits,” observed Muhawenimana.
Minister Ndagijimana has said that the anticipated Rwf300 billion project will leave farmers accessing cheaper loans as they will be subsided by the government.
“It is a new project. Funds have not yet been released for the project to begin but we have identified requirements and hope that implementation will start in the near future,” he disclosed.
Once the project begins, Minister Ndagijimana explained, the funds will be channeled through financial institutions to provide loans to farmers.
“With this project, the interest rate might reduce from 24% currently charged by institutions like Umurenge Sacco to 10% or below the percentage,” he stated.
Preparations in different parts of Kigali City including the upgrading and construction of new roads are in final phases while more efforts are underway to make Kigali City more attractive.
Among others, signposts welcoming guests expected to attend the meeting and giving a glimpse of the country’s progress in preparations have been erected in Kigali.
However, construction works for some infrastructures including roads in Kacyiru, Kicukiro and Nyabugogo Bridge are ongoing.
Kigali City Vice Mayor in Charge of Urbanization and Infrastructure, Dr. Merard Mpabwanamaguru has told RBA that efforts are ongoing to finalize all preparations.
“We have built roads in Kigali. We encourage residents to use them appropriately to avoid traffic congestion,” he said.
The infrastructure development is part of Kigali City’s project to build more than 200-kilometer roads in four years.
The first phase drew emphasis on urgent roads to be used during CHOGM while the second phase will be launched after the meeting.
“The first phase drew much attention on urgent roads to help us reduce traffic jam in the city. They were given priority because the meeting was on the agenda by the time we started the project,” said Dr. Mpabwanamaguru.
As the meeting draws near, Kigali dwellers have expressed worries that construction activities might not be completed before and asked relevant authorities to expedite the projects.
Dr. Mpabwanamaguru has revealed that roads under construction will have been finalized by the beginning of the meeting.
“Many roads including the one in Kacyiru and Kimicanga are being finalized. Some parts have been already tarmacked. Others will have been completed between 10th and 11th. The remaining work will be predominantly about creating gardens and other activities to be done between 12th and 14th June 2022,” he noted.
“We are optimistic that these infrastructures [roads] will be used with lights installed along them,” added Dr. Mpabwanamaguru.
Residents in buildings along roads have been also urged to expedite renovation works and spray new paints to make them look attractive.
Dr. Nkurunziza Joseph Ryarasa, the Spokesperson of the Civil Society Platform has said that a lot has been done but stressed the need to do more to improve the smartness of Kigali.
“Residents need to be updated on the meeting lest they are improvised. There is a need for sensitization to keep reminding them to maintain hygiene as a routine not only during the period of meetings,” he noted.
{{Smart Bus Shelters in final preparations}}
At least 20 Smart Bus Shelters are being constructed along the road from Kigali International Airport to the city centre. The facilities built at bus stops will shelter passengers awaiting buses.
The smart bus shelters will be equipped with facilities like LED advertising and entertainment screens, LED lighting, WiFi and other accessories like charging ports.
Dr. Mpabwanamaguru has said that these facilities will be installed gradually.
“All required facilities will not be ready during CHOGM but they [smart bus shelters] will be used,” he said.
“We are going to expend much effort to get them completed. We want these shelters set up in all parts of Kigali where passengers using them will access information regarding the next bus to pick them and available seats among others,” disclosed Dr. Mpabwanamaguru.
{{Nyabugogo and Kicukiro bridges near completion}}
Nyabugogo and Kicukiro bridges are among infrastructures being upgraded and expected to be used during CHOGM 2022.
The rehabilitation of Nyabugogo bridge is meant to contain floods occasioned by Mpazi drainage overflow which used to destroy houses and wash away cars among other valuables.
Dr. Mpabwanamaguru has assured that the bridge might be ready for use in 14 days.
Construction of a flyover in Kicukiro is underway while side roads have been also upgraded.
More preparations are ongoing in parts of Kigali designated as Car Free Zone in Nyamirambo and Gisimenti in Remera.
Public latrines will be also built in these places before CHOGM.
The campus was launched on Tuesday 7th June 2022 at the outskirts of Virunga National Park in Kinigi Sector of Musanze District, Northern Province.
The Head of State hosted them at Urugwiro Village on Wednesday 8th June 2022. He was along with the Minister of Environment, Dr. Jean d’Arc Mujawamariya and the CEO of Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Clare Akamanzi.
Ellen DeGeneres who built the campus is an American television personality and comedian renowned for his talk show dubbed ’The Ellen DeGeneres Show’.
DeGeneres was gifted with the campus by her long-time partner Portia de Rossi considering her love for Diana Fossey, a celebrated gorilla conservationist who died in 1985.
Construction of the multimillion-dollar facility was completed at a cost of US$15 million.
The Ellen Campus established to foster gorilla conservation efforts is an eco-friendly facility which includes three main buildings—the Sandy and Harold Price Research Center, the Cindy Broder Conservation Gallery and the Rob and Melani Walton Education Center—as well as housing for visiting students and researchers.
The official inauguration of Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund was graced by Prime Minister, Dr. Edouard Ngirente and the CEO of Rwanda Development Board (RDB) among others.
Premier Ngirente said that the launch is an important milestone in conservation of our mountain gorillas, which remains at the heart of Rwanda’s priorities.
He thanked Ellen and Portia for their dedication to Rwanda and long-term passion for the conservation of the mountain gorillas and for continuing the remarkable work of Dian Fossey.
DeGeneres also expressed delight for seeing her dreams becoming a reality.
“I have looked up to Dian Fossey since I was 12 years old, and this past week in Rwanda, I was able to tour the Ellen DeGeneres Campus. It has been so emotional and so incredible to see the impact it has already had,” she said at the event.
