Rwanda Investment Group (RIG) board yesterday named Charles Mporanyi the new chairman Board of Directors, replacing Tribert Rujugiro Ayabatwa, who resigned the post, citing personal reasons.

Mporanyi, who is also the Chairman of the Insurance group SORAS and has been serving on the RIG Board, will now takeover at the helm of the investment group that runs some of the most lucrative businesses in the country.

Notable among the companies owned by the group include the Kamembe-based Cement factory CIMERWA and the new Methane Gas project on Lake Kivu.

Henry Gaperi, the Director General of the Social Security Fund of Rwanda SSFR) retains his seat as Vice Chairman of the Board.

Addressing members of the press at the group’s offices in the City Centre, Mporanyi, 66 who holds a Masters Degree in Economics from Switzerland vowed to continue with the different projects the group is implementing despite losing Rujugiro, a prominent member and a major shareholder in the group.

He however clarified that Rujugiro remains a member of the Rwanda Investment Group but only decided to relinquish the top administrative position in the group because he could not continue serving in absentia yet the activities of the group require daily attention.

Rujugiro is currently in the United Kingdom since last year, from where he awaits his fate following accusations against him by the South African government, accusing him of tax evasion, allegations he strongly deny.

Mporanyi defended his appointment and vowed to lead the investment group to its goals, given his vast experience in business and the private sector. He has served at SORAS, where he is a majority shareholder for the last 25 years.

He said that most of the projects run by the group are operating steadily, though the group is now reviewing and studying ways to make major reforms and capital injections to double output.

He cited CIMERWA as one of the projects where reforms and changes are being made to make the plant produce enough cement to meet the increasing demand the country is experiencing.

"We are very much aware of the problem of cement shortages in the country but we are doing everything to solve the problem, I can assure the nation that by August, there won’t be a cement crisis in the country,” Mporanyi said after his election that took place at the Union Trade Centre in downtown Kigali.

He added that the group has finalised plans with Chinese investors to construct a new plant at Bugarama and that new technology that uses coal, which is mined locally, in the production of cement instead of diesel, is already in the country and will be relied upon to produce more cement while reducing on the cost of production by 40 percent. The Group had invested about $60m in the cement venture.

Mporanyi also revealed that the Group has finalised plans to mine industrial coal in the Southern Province to be used as an alternative source of energy.

"This coal will be used to produce cement but we also intend to mine more coal to even supply other industries” said Marie Claire Mukasine, the RIG Director General.

She added that the group has sunk in $4m to import environmentally friendly technology to be used in coal mining.
RIG also announced that the Methane Gas project on Lake Kivu is still on track despite a technical problem the test platform experienced in recent days.

Mporanyi said that technicians are working around the clock to see the pilot project into which the group sunk about $10m produce about 5 Megawatts before the Government and the World Bank, through its financing arm of International Finance Corporation (IFC) join in to establish a bigger plant, producing about 35 Megawatts of electricity.

Among other things, the group is planning to invest over $9m in the 182 hectare Kigali Industrial Park which will be located in Gasabo District.

They also revealed that potential investors have already started booking space to construct industries on the park expected to be established by 2015. Land excavation works have already begun on the park to be located next to the Free Trade Zone.     

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