IGIHE

Tag: a_doingbusiness

  • Rwandair Showcases Rwanda as Business, Leisure Destination

    At a function organised by the Serena Hotel Group in Sandton, Johannesburg on the 31st August 2012, Rwandair showcased Rwanda as a tourism destination for East African travel.

    H.E Mr. Vincent Karega, the High Commissioner and Rwandair, worked together to make this themed event “Airline and Country” an outstanding success amongst all who attended.

    This close cooperation furthered both economic diplomacy and Rwandair as the preferred airline for tourism, promoting Rwanda’s tourism sector and its economy.

    More than 200 travel industry personnel who attended the event, were provided with Rwanda’s premier coffee brands such as Amaraba coffee and Kinunu coffee.

    Attendees included members of major hotel groups, travel agencies, airlines and car rental companies.

    Rwandair is receiving two new CRJ-900 aircraft, manufactured by bombardier – Canada’s leading aircraft manufacturer, known for its safety and performance characteristics.

    This addition to the Rwandair fleet will permit additional destinations and more frequent flights to the existing Rwandair network.

    “I commend Rwandair team led by Mrs Kanana Kau in South Africa for the demonstrated passion and the quality work they perform therefore giving Rwandair high visibility in South Africa” says the High Commissioner.

    When commenting on the event, Rwandair CEO John Mirenge said “the addition of these new aircraft means additional destinations and convenience for the travellers who expect modern aircraft and the best service, making Rwandair the airline of choice for each and every travel occasion where Rwandair flies.”

  • Rwanda 63rd on Global Competitiveness List

    Rwanda is ranked 63rd among 144 countries assessed in the 2012-2013 Global competitiveness Report.

    This proves there has been a great improvement by Rwanda which was ranked 70th in the 2011-2012 similar Rankings.

    This year’s Report features a record number of 144 economies is the most comprehensive assessment of its kind.

    The report contains a detailed profile for each of the economies included in the study as well as an extensive section of data tables with global rankings covering over 100 indicators.

    According to the report, Global growth remains historically low for the second year running with major centers of economic activity—particularly large emerging economies and key advanced economies—expected to slow in 2012–13, confirming the belief that the global economy is troubled by a slow and weak recovery.

    As in previous years, growth remains unequally distributed. Emerging and developing countries are growing faster than advanced economies, steadily closing the income gap.

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that, in 2012, the euro zone will have contracted by 0.3% , while the United States is experiencing a weak recovery with an uncertain future.

    Large emerging economies such as Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China, and South Africa are growing somewhat less than they did in 2011.

    At the same time, other emerging markets—such as developing Asia—will continue to show robust growth rates, while the Middle East and North Africa as well as sub-Saharan African countries are gaining momentum.

    The best ten economies include; Switizerland(1st), Singapore(2nd),finiland (3rd),Sweden(4th), Netherlands(5th), Germany(6th), USA(7th), UK(8th),Hong Kong(9th), Japan(10th)..

    In East Africa,Rwandan emerged top at position 63rd meanwhile Kenya scooped (106th) position,Tanzania(120th),Uganda(123rd) and Burundi also the last on the global rankings list at (144th).

  • Frw7 Billion Deposited in Agaciro Development Fund

    Frw 7 Billion has been already deposited into the Agaciro Development Fund, the Minister of Finance, John Rwangombwa has announced.

    This mentioned during a press conference at PrimeHoldings which was aimed at explaining the resolutions of a recent cabinet meeting.

    Rwangombwa has noted that contributions to the Fund are voluntary and that no public official should force citizens to contribute to the fund.

    The minister praised Huye, and Kicukiro districts for making the largest contributions to the Fund.

    The Diaspora is collaboration with Rwanda’s embassies abroad are studying a way they will make their contributions to the Fund.

    The Agaciro Development Fund (AgDF) was set up to raise more domestic resources to help accelerate economic development.

    President Paul Kagame previously noted that the Fund would not replace traditional sources of state revenues, including donor aid, but will supplement them.

    “Aid is never enough, we need to complement it with home-grown schemes,” He said, urging Rwandans and Africans, in general, to work harder with a view to sustain themselves.

    “We are not changing our relations with our partners, but rather adding value. More dignity can only help.”

  • Youth to acquire Essential ICT, Business SKills

    Digital Opportunity Trust Rwanda DOT is slated to train 11,000 youth in essential ICT and Business Skills.

    DOT will deploy a fourth team of 108 Interns who will reach out to over 11,000 youth and women in the next 9 months under the ReachUp! Program.

    The DOT Interns are fresh graduates recruited from local universities and colleges then offered the opportunity to empower their communities.

    Speaking at the Intern Learning Experience closing ceremony, on Friday August 31st 2012, the Head of the Human Capacity and Institutional Development Department at the Rwanda Development Board, Appollo Munanura, stated, “DOT is a unique organization because it is changing youth to go out and change others.”

    He added, “These young people recruited as Interns are going to bring about social economic change in their communities, and in the process identify opportunities from themselves.”

    “The interns have completed 3 weeks online learning experience and 10 days face to face where they have acquired skills in facilitation, coaching, project management, and advocacy.”

    “Throughout this learning experience the Interns have demonstrated great commitment to be lifelong learners and develop practices related to that in order to become leaders in their communities,” noted Ndekezi Maarifa, DOT’s Regional Learning Coordinator.

    The Intern Learning Experience (ILE) took place at the Kicukiro Integrated Polytechnic Regional Centre.

    Interns were introduced to the ReachUp! curriculum and equipped with facilitation techniques and approaches that they can model when empowering their peers in their communities.

    Violette Uwamutara, Country Director DOT Rwanda explains, “Technology is an asset to bridge the skills and information gap in developing communities.”

    She adds that technology gives people easy access to information, a voice to reach others, facility to create solutions for their own challenges and serves as a bridge between communities, which would have otherwise not been able to connect.

    Uwamutara said that DOT’s ReachUp! Program helps people adopt technology to their daily life needs and learn essential business skills.

  • Dr.Kaberuka: Intra-African Trade Significant

    The potential to grow intra-African trade is significant and, while it has more than doubled over the past five years, it remains a disappointing figure, says Dr. Donald Kaberuka, President of the African Development Bank.

    He was addressing the annual Conference of Speakers of African Parliaments in Johannesburg last week.

    The theme of this year’s conference, held at the Pan African Parliament in Johannesburg, South Africa, was on the role parliaments in promoting intra-African trade to achieve development and employment in Africa.

    Dr. Kaberuka said that trade still held tremendous unrealized potential as a driver of growth on the African continent, but that the opportunities for regional integration had not been fully exploited.

    In fact, he noted, intra-African trade accounts for only 20% of the continent’s overall trade.

    “The benefits of increased regional trade are not in any doubt,” he said. “They include improved food security, increased potential for regional value chains to drive exports, including to global markets and new opportunities through the growth of trade in services.”

    However, Dr. Kaberuka pointed to three pervasive challenges: “Firstly, Africa’s lack of adequate hard infrastructure, in particular transport; secondly, problems with the ‘soft’ infrastructure – the institutions and regulations to facilitate trade links which includes the overall business environment; and thirdly, a myriad of firm level challenges that affect our private sector, as well as the emergence and sustainability of exports such as quality, meeting standards, access to finance.”

    Dr. Kaberuka emphasized that while all aspects of infrastructure development across the continent needed attention, an aging railway network dating back to the colonial era and maritime ports with limited capacity were in urgent need of expansion and upgrades.

    The question Dr. Kaberuka posed to delegates was how legislatures could facilitate the process of economic integration. He said that Africa’s founders had laid the basis with political liberation. They had achieved much, including the epic struggle to free Africa of the last vestiges of colonialism and apartheid.

    “As we embark on a new era, there can be no question, there is much unfinished business politically: building peace, security and rule of law. However most people would now agree the struggle in Africa must be that of economic liberation through integration,”He stated.

    But training is just one part of the story, Dr Kaberuka told the conference. “What we need is the free movement of talent, to match up skills with opportunities.

    At present, movement of skilled Africans is limited from moving to those places where their skills are most needed and best rewarded. As a result, promising industrialization projects are unable to find the managers and technical specialists that they need.”

    He acknowledged the global competition for talent means African professionals, including doctors, engineers and accountants, are lured elsewhere, and steps must be taken to reverse this brain drain.

    “Our immigration laws and policies – at the regional and national levels – have to contain incentives to attract and retain the best and the brightest. This includes looking at ways to entice home our professionals in the diaspora”.

    Dr. Kaberuka reiterated his proposal for an Africa Infrastructure Bond that would ensure both security and high returns, while channeling resources into high impact investments that would dramatically impact African growth:

    “Let each Central Bank invest only 5 percent of its reserves in an Africa Infrastructure Bond. Managed by the African Development Bank, such an investment would in the first year total $22 billion – sufficient to make a major impact on some of the key very profitable projects.”

    He noted that the African Development Bank is willing to design such an instrument and to provide its expertise. “There is a whole range of technical issues around this proposal which I will discuss with Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors next month,” he said, adding:

    “But I want to count on African Parliaments to give full support to this proposal”.

  • Global Food Prices at Dangerous Levels

    World Food Prices have increased by nearly 10% in July the World Bank said Thursday.

    World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said in a statement. “Africa and the Middle East are particularly vulnerable, but so are people in other countries where the prices of grains have gone up abruptly.”

    He added, “Food prices rose again sharply threatening the health and well-being of millions of people.”

    The souring prices have largely been due to drought in the US and Eastern Europe crop centers, raising a food security threat to the world’s poorest people.

    Central US produces the world’s largest crops of corn (maize) and soybeans. the devastating heat wave swept through this region causing an extended drought affecting crop production in the region.

    From June to July, the prices of both corn and wheat jumped by 25% while soybeans were up 17%. Corn and soybean prices topped their previous record highs in the food price crisis of June 2008.

    Other key global staple, rice, was 4% lower. This has left the World Bank’s food price index 6% higher than a year earlier and 1% higher than the February 2011 peak.

    The surge in crop prices places in danger millions around the world, especially in countries dependent on imported grains, according to the World Bank.

    World Bank called countries in the Middle East and North and Sub-Saharan Africa the “most vulnerable to this global shock.”

    “They have large food import bills, their food consumption is a large share of average household spending, and they have limited fiscal space and comparatively weaker protective mechanisms,” the Bank said in its Food Price Watch report.

    “Domestic food prices in these regions have also experienced sharp increases even before the global shock due to seasonal trends, poor past harvests, and conflict,” it said.

    The World Bank said that the diversion of corn to produce ethanol biofuel — which takes up to 40 percent of US corn production — is a key factor in the sharp rise in the corn price.

  • Experts Warn on EAC Single Currency

    Before East African community adopts a single currency, regional Economic experts want concrete means established indicating how the regions central bank will be funded.

    The Experts also urged on clear policies on how accounting and reporting standards will be harmonised as the region plans to adopt a single currency.

    Bank of Uganda governor emeritus Leo Kibirango was quoted by Newvision saying, “Until concrete means are found to provide central banks with clear and efficient ways to assess trends and developments in domestic and external economies, it may be challenging to proceed with the 2012 deadline .”

    “The monetary union would render all players thinking East Africa and would restrict independent action in pursuit of national economic objectives,”he added.

    He explained that there is risk that smaller states with marginal projects could be sidelined in preference for states with more robust proposals in the absence of clear policies.

    State leaders in the East African Community (EAC) recently announced 2012 as the year of a common currency in Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya and Uganda, but central bank leaders in these countries may still lack the tools to implement the monetary union.

  • Rwanda, Uganda Cargo Auctioned at Mombasa Port

    Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) is auctioning uncollected Cargo at Mombasa port a major facility for products imported by Uganda, Rwanda and other inland countries in the region.

    The move aims at deconjesting the port but has in effect caused business losses to Uganda although Rwanda has not officially stated its position on the matter.

    Kenya Revenue Authority has in recent months embarked on an aggressive drive to clear congestion at the port after traders complained of inefficiency caused by excess cargo lying at the facility.

    KPA has started auctioning uncollected cargo after attempts to entice cargo owners using lower storage charges failed to yield much fruit.

    In February KPA had reduced the period of free storage of import containers at the port of Mombasa as part of a 100-day moratorium to clear their cargo.

    Free storage period for domestic import containers was reduced from five to four days while that for transit import containers was lowered to nine days from the current 11 days.

    The auctions, coupled with improved work flow at the container terminals, has helped ease congestion at Mombasa port substantially.

    Statistics by KPA showed that in July the container yard population at the port of Mombasa has dropped to a record 13,600 20-foot equivalent container units (TEUs) from 20,700 TEUs experienced during the infamous congestion period early this year.

    The terminal’s capacity is 18,500 TUEs terminal capacity.

    KPA managing director Gichiri Ndua, however, said Kenya was committed to serving the interests of all port users from the region.

    “In our strategic plan, we aim to drop the Kenyan share of total traffic from 70% to about 65% and increase the share of the transit traffic to more than 30%,” he said.

    The port is presently witnessing increased activity following improved economic conditions in the region.

    UGANDA REACTS

    Uganda is Kenya’s biggest export market. Rwanda is also reliant on Port Mombasa for major imports and exports. The auctions have simillary hurt businesses in Rwanda altho no official comment has been made.

    The government of Uganda wants the auctioning of overstayed cargo at the port in Mombasa reviewed, saying it was hurting its businesses.

    Uganda High Commissioner to Kenya Emmanuel Hatega claimed that some traders had lost fortunes after their goods were auctioned without their knowledge.

    “Auctions should be both legally and ethically sound,” he said during a stakeholders meeting in Mombasa.

    Hatega said some of the auctions were not carried out in “a proper manner”, leading to losses on the part of some businesses.

  • Africa Now Profitable Investment Destination –Kagame

    President Paul Kagame has said Africa has become a profitable investment destination.

    Kagame who was addressing participants at commonwealth business forum in Perth, Australia said that Africa had in previous decades not considered for these kinds of ventures due to several turmoil.

    He told the forum that many African countries have economically developed tremendously and have attained political stability which would now give security to investments.

    “My country Rwanda managed to grow by 8% economically in the past ten years.” Kagame said.

    The economy of Rwanda has for the previous years, recovered from sharp downturn from 2.1% in 2000 and finance Minister John Rwangombwa has predicted to will continue its growth by 8.8% due to increased exports, expansion in the growth of services and construction sector.

    “In many times Africa has been taken as unstable continent to invest in but most cases including exaggerations because there is nowhere you can’t find these kinds of problems. Africa has now stood up to confront all these economic development challenges and seeking way forward to the sustainable development,” Kagame added.

    Giving an example of African countries that have been ranked in better positions in the world’s ease of doing business report, Kagame said Rwanda was ranked the 45th best country in ease of doing business among 183 countries across the world.

    He continued to say that Rwanda was ranked 143rd nation in doing business report by 2009 and then shifted to 58th position last year 2010.

    Kagame noted that this kind of development needed all African nations; there is a need for strong partnership between governments and private sectors.

    “Partnership between governments and private sector is the way forwards for sustainable development. It has been vividly realized that governments alone or private sector alone cannot develop with support from each other,” Kagame said.

    About 1000 global government & business leaders have participated in Perth, Australia meeting of guest speaker included President Paul Kagame while international business leaders invited included speakers expected to James Gatera, CEO & Managing Director, Bank of Kigali, Rwanda.

    Many of the dignitaries including Nigerian President Jonathan Ebele Goodluck hailed Kagame’s leadership also welcoming Rwanda into commonwealth heads of governments meeting (CHOGM) since it was her first time to attend the high profiled meeting.

    After this commonwealth business forum which is expected to end tomorrow, it will be followed by heads of government meeting on Friday.

  • Electricity Tariffs Will Reduce- EWSA

    The operations officer of the national electricity utility agency (EWSA) Nathalie Muteteri has affirmed electricity tariffs will decrease as the ongoing extraction of methane gas in Lake Kivu contributes to the current energy in the country.

    Officials from Rwanda Energy, Water and Sanitation Authority (EWSA) are in awareness campaign explaining residents around Lake Kivu, issues related to the extraction of methane gas and its extraction.

    “By 2017, at least 300 megawatts will have been extracted and other study are being conducted to see how to increase energy in the country so definitely tariffs will have to drop down,” Muteteri said in Karongi.

    Muteteri also calmed residents on the fear that methane gas will explode or make Lake Kivu to overturn saying that water surface of the lake overweighs the gas to cause such incidents.

    The lake’s seeming lethal combination of methane and carbon dioxide has continuously made residents fear for their lives, however methane gas is also Rwanda’s vital and promising energy source.

    Reports have suggested that Lake Kivu is one of the world’s three exploding lakes at serious risk of overturning, a process where huge amounts of carbon dioxide are released from the lake’s under surface, suffocating almost everyone residing around the lake.

    Experts have pointed out that there should not be any reason of panic, because the surface area of the lake is far larger than that of methane gas into the water and that extraction work is done by experts and so calling for no panic.

    It is not the first time residents residing around Lake Kivu get panic. Early this year, the State Minister for Energy and Water, Eng. Colette Ruhamya had to respond to them dispelling concerns that the extraction of methane gas and other fossil fuels from Lake Kivu would not harm biodiversity in the area.

    She said that several feasibility studies were carried out on how the extraction will be carried out without causing any harm and how effectively the waters can be separated from methane gas, which contains other fossil fuels.

    Ruhamya added that a Lake Kivu monitoring team was set up to keep a close eye on the activities in the lake.

    According to her, methane gas, carbon dioxide, petroleum, fertilizers, electricity and hydrogen sulphide are some of the fossils fuel that were discovered in Lake Kivu “but due to capacity constraints, Rwanda had to prioritized methane gas and electricity.

    Lake Kivu is said to be containing 65 billion cubic metres of methane (50 million tonnes of petrol) lying 250 metres under the water.

    The available electricity generation capacity in Rwanda in July 2009 is 69MW and is largely produced from hydro power and thermal sources.

    Overall power production has stabilized after severe power shortages in 2004 that caused massive load shedding all over the country, prompted the government to hire emergency power solutions and invest in increasing generation capacity.

    Generation capacity will be expanded to at least 130MW by 2012 mainly through investment in hydropower and methane gas to power projects.