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  • Nexus signs MOU for flight operations centre in Rwanda

    Middle East-based flight operations group Nexus is moving into Africa with plans to establish a flight operations center (FOC) in Kigali. Nexus has just signed a memorandum of understanding for the project with the Rwanda Development Board.

    “We are very excited about the new Nexus Africa, since it is the first step in our global expansion and we believe Rwanda to be the perfect place for our inaugural Africa base,” said Nexus chairman, Mohammed Al-Zeer. “Our ultimate aim is to be globally recognized as the leading African provider of flight operations services, employing the best, serving the elite, and being respected by industry leaders. This is just the first step.”

    The facility will be built in partnership with the government of Rwanda, which has been working through its Civil Aviation Authority to make the country a regional hub for air transport. The FOC will offer the same level of service Nexus currently offers at its centers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and Manama, Bahrain, catering to both local and international customers.

    “We are delighted to welcome Nexus into our country as their services will provide links for travelers all over the world, not just to Rwanda but to the whole of Africa,” said John Gara, CEO of the Rwanda Development Board. “This move is aligned with our vision as well as our initiatives to promote tourism and trade and to also improve aviation safety and security within the entire region.”

    Rwanda made headlines in the last decades due to its civil war, which officially ended in 2003. With its current stable political climate and central location, it is an ideal site for the FOC, according to Nexus. A date for commencing construction has not been set.

  • Kobagaya: Defence calls son as 1st witness

    The son of
    a man accused of lying to immigration officials about his participation in the
    1994 Rwandan genocide took the stand Monday to testify about their life as
    Burundian refugees in Rwanda and his father’s efforts years later to become a
    U.S. citizen.

    That testimony came as the defence team for Lazare Kobagaya began
    laying out its case. The 84-year-old Topeka, Kansas, man is charged with
    unlawfully obtaining U.S. citizenship in 2006 and with fraud and misuse of an
    alien registration card. The indictment also seeks to revoke his citizenship.

    Prosecutors have said the case is the first in the U.S. requiring
    proof of genocide. An estimated 500,000 to 800,000 people, mostly ethnic
    Tutsis, were killed by Hutu militias in Rwanda between April and July 1994.

    Jean Claude Kandagaye testified that his father is a Hutu and his
    mother is a Tutsi. Kandagaye told jurors that while he was growing up in
    Rwanda, his family was discriminated against because they were Burundian
    refugees. As refugees, they could not join political parties, attend public
    secondary schools or get some jobs and social services.

    Kandagaye told jurors that as a refugee his father was not a
    leader in the Rwandan village of Birambo where they lived — a key point as the
    defence team tries to counter the government’s allegations that Kobagaya was an
    influential community leader who led others during the genocide.

    Kandagaye, who filled out an immigration form in 2005 for his
    father, is considered a key witness as the defence tries to show jurors that the
    elderly Kobagaya did not understand English well and depended on others to
    translate documents and help him fill out immigration paperwork.

    Earlier Monday, prosecutors rested their case after putting on the
    stand the immigration official who interviewed Kobagaya during his citizenship
    application in April 2006.

    Adjudication officer Jeryl Bean testified that Kobagaya responded
    “no” when asked whether he had ever persecuted anyone or ever
    committed any crimes for which he was not convicted. Kobagaya also denied ever
    giving false information to immigration officials or lying to them to gain
    entry into the United States, she testified.

    Prosecutors used Bean to attack Kobagaya’s claim that he did not
    purposefully misrepresent to immigration officials that he was not living in
    Rwanda during the 1994 genocide because he was unfamiliar with the English
    language and may have misunderstood that question on the immigration forms.

    The defence has argued that it was one of his sons, Kandagaye, who
    actually filled out the paperwork because Kobagaya did not speak English at the
    time.

    However, Bean told jurors that Kobagaya spoke English and that no
    interpreter or family member was present during the 2006 interview for his
    citizenship.

  • BNR targets inflation at below 7.5%, Governor Says

    The National Bank of Rwanda will aim to keep inflation below 7.5 percent this year, lower than a previous estimate of 8 percent, newly appointed Governor Claver Gatete said.

    The inflation rate climbed to 5 percent in April from 4.1 percent a month earlier as food and fuel prices increased. Last month, former Governor Francois Kanimba said inflation may reach 8 percent this year. Gatete, who was appointed as Kanimba’s replacement on May 6, said the official estimate is that inflation will reach 7.5 percent by the end of the year.

    “We don’t want it to go that far,” he said in an interview after his swearing-in ceremony on May 13 in Kigali, the capital. “We are fighting inflation.”

    The National Bank of Rwanda kept its key lending rate unchanged at 6 percent last month, after three reductions in the past year, to help boost lending and support the economy’s expansion. Rwanda’s Finance Ministry has forecast economic growth in the coffee-growing country will slow to 7 percent this year from 7.5 percent in 2010 as poor rains curb agricultural production.

    The central bank hasn’t decided whether it will raise interest rates to curb inflation, Gatete said.

    Rwanda’s national budget will increase to 1.12 trillion Rwandan francs ($1.85 billion) in the 2011-12 fiscal year, from 984 billion francs a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Finance. The increase has been accounted for in the central bank’s inflation projection, Gatete said. Inflation advance last month largely because of higher food and fuel costs, he said.

    While food prices are still rising, the rate of increase has slowed, he said. In April, food prices climbed 6 percent, after jumping 8 percent in the previous month. Higher fuel prices are mainly due to political instability in the Middle East and are beyond the bank’s control, he said. Gasoline prices in Rwanda increased 14 percent between January and April, according to industry regulators.

    “We can only control the effects,” Gatete said.

    Gatete, a former ambassador to the U.K. and previously a deputy governor at the central bank, replaced Kanimba after his predecessor was named as the new minister of trade.

    Gatete said he plans to focus on modernizing communication systems, training staff and improving research capabilities at the bank during his tenure as governor.

  • Actis Weighs Sale of BCR

    Actis LLP, a London-based private- equity firm investing in Africa, Asia and Latin America, may sell its Rwandan bank to Kenyan lenders.

    Banque Commerciale du Rwanda, based in Kigali, the capital, is “a natural acquisition for one of the bigger East African banks wanting to expand their footprint,” Peter Schmid, Actis’s head of Africa, said in a May 12 interview at the firm’s London office. “That’s a probable exit scenario. ”

    Actis, which has $4.6 billion under management, bought an 80 percent stake of BCR in 2004 in a deal valuing the company at $6 million. The Rwandan government kept the rest of the previously state-owned bank. Kenyan lenders including Equity Bank Ltd. (EQBNK) and Kenya Commercial Bank Ltd. (KNCB) are expanding across East Africa, opening branches in Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and southern Sudan, as the region’s economies grow.

    The Rwandan investment was Actis’s first in the country. Gross domestic product has expanded an average 7.5 percent annually from 2004 and 2009, according to the World Bank. About 30 percent of Actis’s capital is invested in Africa, Schmid said.

    The Rwandan Stock Exchange “is a bit small for now” to list for an investment exit, Schmid said.

    Rwanda held its first initial public offering in November when the state sold 25 percent of Brassieries et Lemonaderies du Rwanda SA, a unit of Heineken NV (HEIA), the world’s third-biggest brewer. The stock is the only company listed on the Rwandan Stock Exchange, which started trading on Jan. 31. Kenya Commercial Bank and Nairobi-based Nation Media Group Ltd., East Africa’s biggest media company, are listed on an over-the- counter exchange.

    BRC increased profit almost four-fold in the nine months through September on reduced costs and higher revenue, Managing Director Sanjeev Anand said in December. Net income climbed to 1.7 billion Rwandan francs ($2.8 million) from 433 million francs a year earlier as sales rose 12 percent to 8.5 billion francs, he said. The bank expects full-year net income of 2.2 billion francs, Anand said.

    In 2004, Actis was spun out of CDC Group Plc, a U.K. government-owned investor in developing markets that was originally started 60 years ago as the Colonial Development Corp., to raise money from government, insurers and pension funds to invest in African and Asian companies.

  • HUAWEI to launch smartphones in Rwandan market

    Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei through its local subsidiary is soon to launch android powered smartphones in the Rwandan market through telco operators MTN Rwanda and TIGO.

    The smartphones to be powered by the popular android operating system offer a full range of remarkable features and applications. According to the Chief Operating Officer of Huawei Rwanda Adriaane Heine, the model expected to retail via the TIGO and MTN Rwanda operators is HUAWEI U8150 IDEOS.

    “Huawei will be dealing with provision and marketing of these products and ultimately, the operators will be selling to the markets,” says Heine,.

    Hein reveals that the Huawei smartphones have been well received in many countries across the world, a factor attributed to “the phones’ new, simple and incredible technology coupled with numerous amazing features.”

     “The handsets received a good response particularly in countries like Kenya where about 100,000 units were sold in the first few months. Since its release in January until February (2011), they (Huawei Smartphones) had already taken 45.4 percent of the market share surpassing that of even other more popular established brands such as Nokia with a market share of 33.3 percent,” Heine says.

    He says that the phones fitted with a range of powerful features from hardware to software.

    “The powerful android operating system will provide the user with categorised applications they can use, which are directly accessible from the android market feature on the phone,” he observes.

    During an exclusive interview with IGIHE.com, Heine demonstrated the brilliant applicability of the phone by opening Google Maps, an application that allows a user to trace topographic directions at their disposal via satellite communication.

    The phone’s uniqueness goes beyond the software and integrated hardware, It offers elements such as a capacitative touchscreen , powerful 3G connectivity and other powerful features such as a router.

    HUAWEI is a global telecommunication company specialising in the supply of a diverse range of telecommunication equipment. With its strong and broad network of around 110,000 employees worldwide, it has partnered with more than 470 operators in more than 130 countries. The company has been operating in Rwanda since 2005 and helped local telecommuinications firms like MTN to build the network infrastructure.

  • Indian firm to invest US$1b in Rwandan Gold, Diamonds

    Rajesh Exports Ltd., India’s largest jewelry maker and exporter, said it may invest as much as $1 billion in Rwanda over the next five years developing the country’s gold industry and building a diamond-trading business.

    The company, based in Bangalore, India, is in talks with Rwanda’s government about proposals that include establishing a gold refinery within six months, Ravi Chandra, the company’s chief executive officer for mining, said in an interview in Kigali.

    Most of the gold mined in Africa is currently exported to South Africa or Europe for processing, Chandra said. Rajesh Exports is seeking to make Rwanda a continental hub for gold processing over the next three to five years.

    “Our aim is to try to bring the gold from most of Africa to Rwanda,” Chandra said.

     Rajesh has begun exploring a 2,000 square-kilometre gold concession in Rwanda that it wants to increase to 15,000 square kilometres, Chandra said. Eventually the company plans to export products including jewelry and coins. It also intends to set up a diamond business that may involve importing and exporting the gems as well as cutting and polishing, he said, without providing further details.

    Talks between the company and the Rwandan government are “still very exploratory” and may take six months to complete, Clare Akamanzi, chief operating officer of the Rwanda Development Board, said in an interview. The projects envisaged by the company may cost $500 million to $1 billion, she said.

    Rajesh Exports is also working with the Rwandan government to establish a legal way to import gold from neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo. In March, Rwanda banned the purchase of so-called conflict minerals including gold, tungsten, coltan and tin from Congo after the U.S. passed a law aimed at halting the trade.

    The Dodd-Frank law will require American companies to report any purchases of gold, tin, tungsten and tantalum that might have come from conflict zones in Congo, according to a draft of the regulations on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s website. Fighting has raged in eastern Congo for more than 15 years and armed groups often support themselves by taxing or trading in minerals.

    “We are hopeful to find a legal solution,” Chandra said.

  • Czech Republic minister calls for closer ties with Rwanda

    The Czech Republic Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tomas Dub yesterday held discussions with Defense Minister Gen. James Kabarebe about strengthening defense ties between his country and Rwanda.

    “In the recent months, we signed a memorandum of understanding on defence cooperation” Dub said after the meeting. “Leaving aside the MoU signed recently, the two countries can exchange a lot of fighting techniques,” Dub said.

    He however noted that the pact between the two countries is not fully implemented hence the continuous visits and discussions on how to strengthen defense ties between Rwanda and Czech Republic.

    “I would like my visit to simply focus on continuing our cooperation,” he said.

    Defence and military Spokesperson, Lt. Col. Jill Rutaremara, told reporters that Dub’s visit at the ministry aimed at looking into how the Rwanda-Czech defence pact can be implemented.

    He added that Rwanda could learn a lot from the Czechs mainly in fighting techniques, particularly through its air force.

    Dub later invited the defense and foreign affairs ministers to the Czech Republic to pick out what Rwanda could learn from them.

  • Karugarama briefs US varsity delegation on Rwandan justice system

    The Minister of Justice, Tharcisse Karugarama, yesterday received in his office 15 students and three professors from the department of International Peace and Conflict Resolution of Arcadia University in Pennsylvania, the United States.

    The delegation is in Rwanda on a week-long study tour to gain a deeper understanding of the country’s conflict resolution management.

    “They are here to find out how genocide survivors managed to reconcile with the genocide perpetrators, “Minister Justice Tharcisse Karugarama told reporters.

    Karugarama told the delegation that the country’s judicial system during the pre-genocidal era was inept where to become a judge or prosecutor never required any academic qualification.

    “There was no fairness at all and to become a judge or prosecutor never required you to present your papers ; but through the will of the then President, he could appoint you (as judge or prosecutor) because he had full powers,” he pointed out.

    Minister told the US delegation that Rwanda’s justice system is today based on truth, equity, fairness and transparency, adding that the present government laid emphasis on training of judges and prosecutors to try the colossal backlog of genocide perpetrators in the country’s prison facilities.

    The minister briefed the delegation on the Gacaca courts system which had tried many perpetrators compared to the contemporary justice system which led to delays. He further attributed notable peace in the country to the unprecedented success of the Gacaca which resolved 1.5 million Genocide-related cases.

    Karugarama underlined that Rwandans today believe in forgiveness and tolerance where both perpetrators and survivors live in harmony.

    He allegorically underscored that though Rwanda has 1000 problems, it correspondingly has 1000 solutions.

    The delegation also nods in the agreement for the introduction of Gacaca courts. I think how we are told, if that’s how it works, it is then efficient,” Connor Moriaty a student part of the delegation noted.

    A member of the delegation and a student at the university Connor Moriaty lauded the role of Gacaca courts.

    “Basing on the account given to us, the Gacaca court system is efficient,” he said.

  • President Kagame meets U.S health experts

    President Paul Kagame yesterday at Village Urugwiro met with representatives from a consortium of 16 top medical, nursing and health management schools universities from the U.S through the Clinton Health Access Initiative.

    The delegation of 38 health experts is in the country on a week long study tour to explore ways of enriching the Rwandan health sector.

    Ira Magaziner, the Chief Executive Officer and the Vice Chair, Clinton Health Initiative (CHAI), who is the head of the delegation, said their discussions with the President centred on the benefits that would arise out of a partnership with the Ministry of Health.

    “We discussed with the President about the ways of promoting good health in Rwanda while analysing the cheapest means of bringing Rwanda’s heath sector to the top,” Magaziner pointed out.

    He revealed that through a Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Ministry of Health, the CHAI would work alongside their Rwandan colleagues to offer world class training.

    “By the end of seven years, Rwanda will have a world class health education system,” Magaziner said.

    He noted that the programme is in line with the vision President Kagame shares with Clinton – to build a quality, world class healthcare system in Rwanda.

    “The need is also to develop a base of highly educated people that can lead to the creation of research in health industries and the health economy of Rwanda, that is what we are working on with the leadership of the Ministry of Health,” Magaziner said.

    The group will focus on several areas of specialty such as dentistry, nursing, obstetrics, paediatrics and many others providing diverse expertise.

    The representatives were drawn from Harvard, Yale, Brown, Dartmouth, Duke, Virginia, Colorado, Texas and Maryland universities as well as leading nursing schools. 

    Chantal Kabagabo, the Dean of Students at the Kigali Institute of Health said that lectures based on the partnership would be instituted within a year. The training would be conducted in health training institutions and hospitals to equip local health workers like physicians and nurses with modern skills.

  • Swiss firm advances Rwf 591 million to Urwego Opportunity bank

    responsAbility Social Investments AG, an investment company based in Switzerland recently made local-currency loans totalling the equivalent of USD 2 million to microfinance institutions (MFIs) Middle East Micro Credit Company (MEMCC) of Jordan and Urwego Opportunity Bank (UOB) of Rwanda.

    rAMLF invested approximately RWF 591 million (USD 999,000) in UOB. Created as a result of a merger between Urwego Community Banking
    and Opportunity International Bank of Rwanda, UOB is a microfinance institution
    headquartered in Kigali, Rwanda. Its services include loan and savings
    products, business training, HIV/AIDS training and insurance coverage. UOB’s
    shareholders include nonprofit organizations Hope International, Opportunity
    International, World Relief and World Relief Canada. In 2009, UOB reported to
    US-based, nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) total assets of USD
    10.8 million, a gross loan portfolio of USD 6.4 million, return on assets (ROA)
    of -6.57 percent, return on equity (ROE) of -16.5 percent and 33,900 borrowers.

    Founded in 2003, responsAbility Social Investments AG is a Swiss investment company whose products aim to enable investors to earn a financial return while assisting people in emerging markets to access information and markets in sectors such as microfinance, small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) financing, fair trade and independent media. According to calculations based on data from the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) from 2009 and 2010, responsAbility manages approximately USD 800 million in total assets. responsAbility is backed by Swiss financial institutions and a social venture capital company as founders and shareholders including Baumann & Cie, Banquiers, Credit Suisse, Raiffeisen Schweiz, Swiss Re, Bank Vontobel AG as well as George Avenue.

    The responsAbility Microfinance Leaders Fund (rAMLF) invests in large microfinance institutions (MFIs) through debt securities and equity investments. rAMLF reported to the US-based, nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) that it had USD 160 million in fund assets as of 2010. LuxFLAG, an independent organization that certifies that microfinance vehicles actually invest in the microfinance sector, renewed rAMFL’s label in March 2011.