Rwanda commercial courts will, starting September this year employ digital recording, Dr. James Ndahiro, coordinator of the Rwanda Investment Climate Project (RICP), has confirmed. He said that the move will improve the capacity for interactive court sessions.

Ndahiro said that by May, the supplier of software and hardware equipments will be identified. The supplier will then be given three months to supply, install and commission the project.

Shippment of digital recording facilities in the country was expected late last year while installation and implementation had been slated for the first quarter of 2009.

Omari Issa, Chief Executive Officer of the Investment Climate Facility for Africa (ICF) recently said that the delay was caused by the procurement process in the country.

"It (procurement) is very lengthy and we didn’t want to compromise on the procurement procedures that the government has in place. Unfortunately it is the similar problem we are facing in Zambia,” he told The New Times in an interview.

The ICF is a private-public partnership focused on improving the Africa’s investment climate by removing obstacles to domestic and foreign investment and promoting Africa as an attractive investment destination.

In Rwanda, through RICP, ICF is working on improving capacity in the newly established commercial courts, building capacity in the Rwanda Commercial Registration Services Agency and improving land titling and registration system in the country.

Omar said that the delay in the procurement process has also been partly a result of the challenges of identifying software providers.

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