African business leaders, including some of the continent’s most powerful and influential companies, were tipped on various investment opportunities and policies in place to ease doing business in Rwanda.
Rwanda is one of the fastest growing economies in Africa with a growth of 8.3 percent in 2023 that was buoyed by the service sector. The business executives who attended the two-day African CEO Forum were urged to be part of Rwanda’s journey towards being a middle-income country as they leverage different investment incentives in place.
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In a session dubbed Invest in Rwanda on May 17, Makhtar Diop, Managing Director of International Finance Corporation, said that Rwanda has a mix of investment types both in tangible and intangible things, reflecting that Africa has more to offer than mining or commodity investment, but also in human capital and modern economy.
He noted that years ago when Rwanda wanted to become a service economy as a landlocked country, it succeeded with investments in infrastructure and the financial sector and now it is building a knowledge economy with investments in technology and science, posing a comparative advantage against other countries.
"So, looking at Rwanda we are not talking about investments in a specific country but the whole of Africa and beyond, and not only about physical investments but the intangible of human capital development as well.”
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Nelly Mukazayire, Deputy CEO of Rwanda Development Board, noted the various areas of investment including the manufacturing and construction industry, agroprocessing sector, service sector, entrepreneurship and technology through the Kigali Innovation Center, and education, among others.
"By investing in Rwanda, you’re not looking only at a market of 13 million people, but a market of 300 million people in East Africa and more through the African Continental Free Trade Area,” she added.
We all believe that Africa has opportunities, but it is underinvested, noted Nick Barigye, CEO of Rwanda Finance Limited that oversees the Kigali International Financial Center (KIFC).
He said that while many agree on the need for equity on the continent, it is more about the option of proximity and connectivity that comes with KIFC to facilitate capital flow to finance African opportunities for growth.
Jeanne-Françoise Mubiligi, Acting Chairperson of Private Sector Federation, said that Rwanda’s private sector has been evolving with the government’s plans and projects.
She took stock of different projects including transport and logistics sector for the traceability of products from the farmers to international markets, the growth in manufacturing industry with different factories developed for agribusiness, textile, and animal foods, real estate, among others.
Asked whether Rwanda would ban import of certain goods to boost local manufacturing, the Finance Minister Uzziel Ndagijimana said that the country operates an open economy that drives competition, however, noted that there are a number of incentives offered to spur local production.