The local business community has been challenged to take advantage of the trade agreements Rwanda has signed with other countries to spur the country’s exports. 

Officials from the Ministry of Trade and Industry said the agreements are some of the tools local firms can use to create partnerships with regional and global market players to enhance the visibility of Rwanda’s products.

"The private sector should use the existing trade agreements to promote ‘Made in Rwanda’ products,” Robert Opirah, the director general for trade investment at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, said.

Opirah said there are many opportunities offered by the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC), the EPAs deal with Europe, as well as the US’s African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) that exporters can exploit to boost the country’s export volumes.

"There are also opportunities in India, China, Korea, Switzerland, and Japan, that Rwanda can exploit to grow her exports.

"We also expect the private sector to prepare for the big market that will be created by the Tripartite Free Trade Area by the merger of three regional trade blocs - COMESA, EAC and SADC,” he added.

Opirah was speaking during a meeting between the trade and industry ministry officials and the business community in Kigali last week.

He explained that local firms can export or import from COMESA bloc member states duty free.

Geoffrey Kamanzi, the director of trade and business development at Private Sector Federation, said it is important to identify high-value products that Rwanda can export to the regional or international markets.

Jean Marie Vianney Munyaneza, the diversification and products development manager at the National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB), said the government was promoting the horticulture sector as one of the priority areas that can increase Rwanda’s exports volumes and values in the short-to-medium-term.

He said about 35 hectares at the Gishari Flower Park project in Rwamagana District would be developed this year so that the country resumes cut roses exports to Europe. Rwanda stopped cut roses exports in 2008 due to lack of capacity and sustainable supplies.

Gabriel Ngendabanga, the president of the Rwanda Flower Producers and Export Federation, called for more support to the sector to help it gain root and start operating in a profitable and sustainable manner.

He argued that the flower industry is better-placed to help Rwanda reduce its trade deficit in a short period compared to other sectors.

Ngendabanga encouraging Rwandans to join flower farming, saying flowers bring returns quickly and have ready market in Europe, the US, and locally. He, however, called for provision of cold chain facilities at the airport and flower producing areas to ensure quality.

The government targets to increase exports by 28 per cent per year under the second phase of the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS) by 2018.

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