STEPHEN RUZIBIZA, who was until last week the Rwandair company secretary assumes a new role today - Chief Executive Officer of Private Sector Federation (PSF); Ruzibiza, 38, is a lawyer by profession and has prior experience working with both the private and public sector.

In an exclusive interview with The New Times’ Kenneth Agutamba, Ruzibiza pledged to work with everyone to improve branding and competitiveness of Rwandan products, among other areas of interest to the country’s businesses.

Below are the excerpts.

What does Stephen Ruzibiza bring to PSF?

Well, flexibility, dynamism, and new ideas. I am not going to perform miracles but I am also not going to sleep on the job. I am bringing in some rich experience and what I think is a strong background in business. I am a board member of the Road and Transport Development Authority (RTDA); I also head three committees at Sonarwa Life Insurance including Business and Audit.

As to what I am bringing on the table, well, let me see what I will find there and then see what needs to be added but I am sure there’s a lot that I am coming with, interactions and connections with East Africa, Netherlands. I have a relationship with Phillips, the manufacturer of electric gadgets, I intend to create a working relationship with them. But I am also a team player so I intend to work with the team that I will find there, evaluate their work plans and see how we can achieve together. As for our members, it’s important that we look for markets to consume products of the business community.

In your view, what are some of the most pressing needs for Rwanda’s Private sector?

One is packaging of the products. It’s possible we might be having some good local products but how we package and market them is a critical issue. Secondly, apart from marketing and packaging for the small domestic market we have, we need to expand our market base which calls for enhancing our competitiveness both at production level, bringing down the cost of doing business and improving our brands. The other pressing issue is low industrialisation, we are currently dependant on imports consumption-wise of which most imports left our country as raw materials; so my view is, if we could develop industries, the better for the economy because that means we would translate our raw materials into finished products for local and regional consumption and enhance the dollar inflow to the economy.

In a nutshell, the major challenges are expanding markets, industrialisation and develop capacity. Today, the private sector is full of family small enterprises; the mentality of it’s my kiosk, my company, its family, children, in-laws and grand children. There’s a lot of skepticism and this attitude has to change and have entrepreneurs to think of how they can mobilise capital from the stock market or how to expand through mergers and joint ventures. But I am sure as we integrate deeper, people will abandon such attitudes and move with change.

You certainly raise very interesting points there and I can’t help but ask, do you have a particular strategy that will serve as a solution to those challenges?

These are not entirely new problems in a new book so I am sure my predecessors have had some projects in place to address them. I intend to look at what they have in place but if there’s none, my initial efforts will be dedicated to developing a branding strategy to support our members to package and market their products better. We have to invest in producing quality products, better produce in small volumes but great quality, we shouldn’t compromise on quality. Our focus should be that, we would rather have a few well produced products that can compete on the market than have too many mediocres.

What are your thoughts on the Budget presented last week? Do you see the sector allocations facilitating the private sector to become the engine of Rwanda’s economic growth?

I know that under EDPRS2, the private sector development is a major priority for the government. I’m to scrutinise the budget allocations for the next financial year but off head, I want to believe that given the government’s own EDPRS2 targets that include developing the private sector, I am sure the sector allocations have to be aligned to those aspirations.

Secondly, as a landlocked country, we can’t afford to be mind-locked; we need an open minded strategy that integrates us with the world outside and attracts ideas and innovations from outside and I think we are moving in the right direction.

Talking about integration and Rwanda is doing just that by being part of joint regional infrastructural projects such as the Standard Gauge Railway on the Northern Corridor, these are governments working together, what role can the private sector play?

In developed economies, the private sector takes centre stage. In nation states, you have three organs of the government, Executive, Legislature and Judiciary but these days we are increasingly seeing the private sector becoming almost another arm of government. So the private has a major role to play and I see them playing a big part in the implementation of these projects through public-private-partnerships to raise money. It’s possible.

I am sure you have heard or you will hear, soon, lamentations from members of the private sector about the high cost of doing business, electricity, tax regimes, cost of credit, to mention but those, what’s the way out of this conundrum?

The fact that we are land-locked means some of the factors that push our cost of doing business higher, may not be within our control. For instance, the distance between Rwanda and the nearest seaport of either Mombasa or Dar es salaam, these are natural factors but will impact on the cost of transporting commodities from the port. So we have to bear that natural cost. However, that’s not to say that we can’t do anything about it, for instance, through these infrastructure projects on the Central and Northern corridors, these will ease the cost of transport incurred by traders and gradually, ease prices along the supply chain. But it takes time and we shall move gradually. And I think government has in the past made some interventions that have helped control some critical factors of production, for instance, on fuel, by regulating prices, it helps a lot.

A leading complaint among the private sector players is the cost of money, commercial banks interest rates on loans are almost prohibitive, how do we bring down interest rates?

I think there’s a lot being done to address interest rates with the central bank being at the vanguard of these efforts. In the recent months, BNR has reduced its lending rate to guide commercial banks towards easing their rates and although impact may not be felt instantly, it’s a good sign that someone is at least concerned. However, we have another major challenge; low domestic savings which mean banks have to look for credit from outside the economy. The government has some policies in place too but they need to be supported by more savings because banks work with deposits mobilised through savings and that’s the bit that we have to address.

People say the cost of living is very high, people are earning just enough to survive, so they barely have anything left to save, so isn’t it a question of improving people’s incomes first before we talk savings?

In economics there’s what they call opportunity cost. People may say they’re earning less with a lot to consume, maybe that’s true but we have to make decisions, sometimes, hard ones. For example, do you buy a car for your travel around town or you use cheaper public means and make savings to invest in assets? It’s about decisions and setting priorities to balance the limited resources that you have. I agree, the cost of living might be high, but compared to what? If you look at other economies in the region, what is their situation?

Earlier on you talked about your intention to widen the market base for Rwandan products, but large markets call for competitiveness, do you have a plan to enhance our private sector competitiveness?

Competition is about fair play and if everyone plays by the rules then there’s equal opportunity for all players. Then it shifts to how you handle your customers and how you brand your products to attract and keep customers. So having good services, customer care and paying attention to their needs would result in success on the market. The government can do its part in sourcing for market through connecting Rwanda but the real task of servicing and consolidating the market is up to us, the private sector.

How will you use your connections with RwandAir to help connect private sector to markets beyond East Africa especially given that cargo and passenger flights remain high?

I am glad to say that the federation already has a relationship with RwandAir which I can only help grow stronger and deeper. So the link is already there in form of partnerships and MoUs, the advantage the federation has is that they now have a former insider of the Airline, an additional hand that can make a direct call to the CEO to address whichever matter that might arise.

What challenges do you envisage as you embark on your assignment this week?

Well, I am a lawyer, that’s what I am used to being but the first thing I have to do now is to put down my gown and get down to business, so I have to make the transition of sorts.

Final remarks, what kind of boss should your staff members expect, do you have any specific principles or values?

Well, apart from what you wrote the other day that I am private, you can add that I am simple and down to earth. In terms of work ethic, well, I work, some might say I am workaholic but the fact is I work. So I hope to work with everyone, that’s the expectation, I will be a listening boss and someone who is ready to share ideas, set targets together and achieve together, what we don’t achieve, we go back to the drawing board and find reasons. And I believe in action not words, that’s how I mark my achievements or failures.