President Paul Kagame has said Rwanda will continue to forge partnership between the private and public sectors to source capital for local development projects.

The President was speaking at the launch of CNBC Africa’s regional headquarters in Kigali on Thursday.

The Pan-African television network has a presence in more than 10 African countries.

President Kagame said the ultimate solution to the issue of sourcing capital for development projects in the country lay in the partnership between government and the private sector.

These partnerships, he noted, would not only work in the interest of Rwanda but the entire region in financing joint investment projects.

"As a region, the private sector and the government, we cannot fail to mobilise enough resources to invest in the different kinds of infrastructure that we need, whether railways, energy sector or telecoms and other sectors. Infrastructure is capital intensive but it is also a big opportunity where people can invest their money,” Kagame said.

Countries in the East African region are currently in the process of implementing multiple joint projects most of which require high capital investments.

Among the projects is the standard gauge railway, being implemented by four countries: Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan and Rwanda under the Northern Corridor Integration Initiative which is expected to cost more than $13 billion.

Push for regional integration

Kagame also called for continued regional integration for the prosperity and development of countries, noting that the advancements made in the recent past had greatly improved lives of the citizens.

He said the projects implemented under the Northern Corridor Integration Initiative, which began implementation in 2013, had so far led to progress such as opening up the free movement of people and goods across the region and reducing communication cost.

"I am very happy that we came together, agreed and realised that regional integration is the way to go for all of us. As one single country whether Rwanda, Uganda or Kenya we are really small. It is not only the Northern Corridor; we are also looking at the Central Corridor which brings in Tanzania. These trends are very positive; we can see a lot of integration in terms of infrastructure; we can also see people move freely across borders,” the President noted. 

He said it was somewhat disturbing to know that there are immense opportunities in integration that were not being tapped into to deal with the region’s challenges. 

President Kagame urged leaders to move beyond incremental progress and aim to achieve on a large scale.

CNBC Africa is an Africa television network that specialises in business reporting giving insights into various markets across the continent. 

The move by the Pan-African television network to establish its regional headquarters in Kigali was informed by the country’s enabling environment among other things, officials from CNBC Africa said. 

CNBC Africa co-founder and vice-chair Rakesh Wahi said over their two year period operating in Kigali, they have had an eye opening experience leading them to establish their regional headquarters in Rwanda. 

Other than being one of the most notable economies in the African continent with high growth and progressive and consistent policies, Rakesh said, the ease of doing business in the country was attractive to investors and corporations looking to establish a presence in the region.

"Our first refreshing experience in the country was the ease of doing business, starting with being able to set up our company within a few days, consistent and well defined policies, easy access to government, excellent connectivity, competitive operating cost and, above all, easy visa access to work and travel freely,” said Wahi.

Wahi said his firm was looking to have positive impacts in several sectors in the country, including media, business and charity.

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