Preparations for the ‘Made-in-Rwanda’ expo are in final stages as local producers ready themselves to showcase their products. 

Video: Made in Rwanda Expo Preparations. Source: The New Times/YouTube.

The exhibition, which starts tomorrow until March 2 at the Gikondo Show Grounds in Kicukiro, is expected to attract 250 local producers from all sectors of the economy, according to the Private Sector Federation (PSF).

When The New Times visited the Show Ground yesterday, a number of exhibitors were putting up stalls. They expressed optimism that the fair will help them expand markets for their products locally.

Immaculee Umubyeyi, the director of Smart Time, which makes clothes, said the expo will help change the mindset of Rwandans about Rwandan goods.

"We hope this initiative will boost consumption of locally-produced products. Our goods are of same quality or are even better than those imported from abroad,” she said.

Esther Kabanya, a member of Kimihurura sector’s Rapesh-Village of Art Craft, said the exhibition gives the group an opportunity to showcase their handicrafts.

The group makes baskets, bags, shoes and clothes using locally-sourced raw materials.

Kabanyana called on the Trade and Industry Ministry and PSF to continue the buy ‘Made-in-Rwanda’ campaign to promote consumption of locally-made goods, arguing that that is the only way Rwanda’s industrial sector will grow and become sustainable.

The ‘Made-in-Rwanda’ expo is part of efforts geared at changing the mindset of Rwandans about locally-made goods, especially their quality and standards, the Trade and Industry Minister, Francois Kanimba, told this newspaper last week.

The exhibition is being organised by the Ministry of Trade and Industry in conjunction with PSF.

business@newtimes.co.rw