{"id":21423,"date":"2015-11-26T23:32:17","date_gmt":"2015-11-26T23:32:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/local-govts-call-for-more-investment-support\/"},"modified":"2015-11-29T00:29:58","modified_gmt":"2015-11-29T00:29:58","slug":"local-govts-call-for-more-investment-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/local-govts-call-for-more-investment-support\/","title":{"rendered":"Local govts call for more investment support"},"content":{"rendered":"

{Local governments have called on the central government support in attracting investment in local economic development projects.}<\/p>\n

\u201cWe call for further public and private partnership in order to promote \u2018Local Economic Development\u2019 (LED) investment. We are exploring untapped opportunities in districts across the country and some potentialities have already been identified. We want to implement LED strategy and this discussion intends to mitigate gaps affecting that implementation,\u201d said Local Government minister Francis Kaboneka.<\/p>\n

Kaboneka was speaking in Kigali, yesterday, at the first conference on Local Economic Development Investment, which was organised by Local Administrative Entities Development Agency (LODA), under the theme, \u201cExploiting LED opportunities,\u201d<\/p>\n

The Governor of Northern Province, Aim\u00e9 Bosenibamwe, said districts should be provided with more capacities to boost investment.<\/p>\n

\u201cConsidering what they have done, districts are already motivated and ready to engage the private sector, but funds are insufficient to lay the ground for investors to operate. Let\u2019s improve further access to finance systems and empower districts by putting in place adequate infrastructure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Trade and Industry minister Francois Kanimba said concerted efforts are needed to spur local development investment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is need for operational framework to ensure that central and local governments work closely to build modern infrastructure to provide a conducive environment for the private sector. Waiting for private sector to do everything in local development causes unnecessary delays in the implementation of many projects,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u2018LED could reflect national devt\u2019<\/p>\n

The Minister for Cabinet Affairs, Stella Ford Mugabo, said LED investment is a a crucial topic that requires a thorough discussion to come up with an implementable strategy which engages all stakeholders.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should identify challenges and devise ways to mitigate them. This initiative will surely lead to a sustainable solution and we need to engage all actors on the ground. Promoting LED investment will reflect national development,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Rulindo mayor Justus Kangwagye said districts have identified opportunities for investment but lack of capital remains a challenge, adding that focusing on local investment would create more jobs.<\/p>\n

Kangwagye\u2019s Nyaruguru counterpart Francois Habitegeko said the available investment opportunities are not exploited, citing Kibeho religious site that lies idle because of lack of infrastructure despite its potential to attract tourists.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe identified cross-border trade market as an opportunity for Nyaruguru residents but funds became an issue for the implementation of the project. With central government intervention, we shall be able to provide an enabling environment for the private sector to invest in development projects,\u201d Habitegeko said.<\/p>\n

The private sector has asked the government to provide evidence on investment opportunities in order to avoid losses and appealed for space in decision-making.<\/p>\n

Yan Kwizera, the director of business development at RwandaOnline, said they are attracting local investment by highlighting opportunities and providing space for investors to sell their services online.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are partnering with the government on public and private partnership in improving service delivery and promoting cashless economy by using ICTs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Francis Gatare, the chief executive of Rwanda Development Board, commended the initiative of engaging all actors in LED investment, saying it is a government policy to promote local investment.<\/p>\n

The conference also saw the awarding of the best five LED projects with focus on agro-processing, small production and handicrafts, and eco-tourism sectors.<\/p>\n

Gisagara District emerged the best with the project on construction and extension of Rwanza Handicraft Centre, while Nyanza District\u2019s project was first runner-up.<\/p>\n

Rulindo, Rutsiro and Nyagatare districts emerged the second, third and fourth runners-up, respectively.<\/p>\n

The best projects will receive Rwf500,000 funding from LODA and technical support for implementation.<\/p>\n

\"Kaboneka<\/figure>\n

Source:The New Times:[Local govts call for more investment support->http:\/\/www.newtimes.co.rw\/section\/article\/2015-11-27\/194771\/]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

{Local governments have called on the central government support in attracting investment in local economic development projects.} \u201cWe call for further public and private partnership in order to promote \u2018Local Economic Development\u2019 (LED) investment. We are exploring untapped opportunities in districts across the country and some potentialities have already been identified. We want to implement […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2000070411,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[2471],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-21423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-homenews","byline-the-new-times"],"bylines":[{"id":2471,"name":"The New Times","slug":"the-new-times","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"contributors":[{"id":2471,"name":"The New Times","slug":"the-new-times","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"featured_image":{"id":2000070411,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton21423.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton21423.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton21423.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton21423.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton21423.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton21423.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000070411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21423"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=21423"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=21423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}