Editor,

RE: "What would it take to create 1.5m decent jobs for Rwandans by 2024?” (The New Times, December 19).

In my opinion, the Government of Rwanda needs to rethink regulation of foreign investments. There’s flooding of foreign investors in the country, and they make the market impossible for nationals.

Rwanda has gained the reputation of being a place where it is easy to do business, but obviously that comes with its own entanglements. For example, it floods the Rwandan market with foreign investments. These investors use foreign currencies such as dollars or pounds and the franc can’t compete with them. I know some Rwandan small businesses that have been driven out of their businesses because of this.

I applaud Rwanda as they are trying to promote national textile industry, but that’s not different from removing a drop from the ocean and claim to have drained it.

We need to make sure that these foreign investors are not simply moving the money from Rwandans into their pockets and not benefiting Rwandans in any way. This can be accomplished with specific regulations such as taxes, or making the businesses employ Rwandans and pay them according the standards of their original countries.

I know that this has the potential to stain the gained reputation, but our reputation will not feed our people. I am convinced that, if properly regulated, these changes would not only create a fair market that includes Rwandans, but also create more jobs for them overall.

Kayumba