COUNTRY FOCUS: RWANDA
RWANDA: A COUNTRY FOCUSED ON EXCELLENCE TOP: THE NEW KIGALI CONVENTION CENTRE SITS 5,000 PEOPLE - RWANDA CAN NOW COMPETE FOR CONFERENCES IN THE REGION
“KIGALI CITY CONTINUES TO URBANIZE AT A RATE OF 15% WITH ESTIMATES POINTING TO 35% BY 2017 AND WITH A GROWING MIDDLE CLASS”
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Small. Mountainous. Genocide. Kagame.
These four words describe what comes to mind whenever some one thinks of Rwanda, the Central African country in the volatile Great Lakes region. But you may as well add excellence to the above. Having gone through the debilitating genocide that wiped about 1 million of its population in 1994, Rwanda has made a remarkable recovery, leaving in its wake a number of other African countries that went through turmoil brought by civil wars of the 1990s – Liberia, Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Burundi, Somalia – a time when Africa truly showed its dark side to the World. While most of the countries above are still crawling out of their wars, Rwanda is flying, aiming to be a prime destination for investments in Africa. Beyond genocide Many analysts portend that the remarkable recovery of Rwanda is down to good leadership and focus on excellence under the country’s leader, President Paul Kagame. The country’s rise after the genocide and attention to detail can be compared quite well to Japan. Coming out of the Second World War in 1945 defeated and humiliated, Japan focused its energy on rebuilding its infrastructure and industry, and by the 1970s was already a leader in many industries including electronics and the car industry. Globally competitive, leading in region The pull for investors into Rwanda is not without basis.
AFRICA INC. | AUG - SEPT 2016
In the 2015 version of the Global Competitiveness Index by the World Economic Forum, Rwanda improved its world ranking to 62nd position, up from 66th in 2014. In Awfrica, Rwanda retained the 3rd position and was the most competitive in the East African Community. Labour market efficiency and institutional pillars were the main strengths of Rwanda, where it ranked 9th and 18th in the world respectively. The country was among the top 10 in the world in a number of critical parameters: starting a business (2nd), government spending (4th), friendly foreign direct investment (FDI) rules (5th), procurement of advanced technology (5th) and burden of government regulations (6th). Below we highlight some of the key sectors that Rwanda is focusing on to be Africa’s premier destination. Manufacturing Taking advantage of its location in the centre of Africa, the country aims to be an important manufacturing hub in the Central Africa region. As a manufacturing hub, Rwanda offers easy access to western Uganda, northern Tanzania, eastern Congo, Burundi and other export markets. According to the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), the country offers good opportunities for production of construction supplies, pharmaceutical drugs and agro produce. The Special Economic Zones, launched in 2010 through a policy document by the Government, WWW.AFRICAINCMAG.COM