Rwanda will only fully participate and reap benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) by boosting domestic industrial production, Trade and Industry Minister, Prudence Sebahizi has said.

Sebahizi said this while addressing the media ahead of the second edition of Biashara Afrika –AfCFTA’s flagship business forum slated for October 9 to 11, in Kigali.

ALSO READ: Rwanda set to host 2nd edition of AfCFTA Business Forum

Bringing together more than 1,000 participants, the forum will discuss the structural and policy challenges that need to be addressed so as to increase the production of value-added goods and services as well as how to unlock investment opportunities for key infrastructure and supply chain corridors, among many others.

To harness the AfCFTA potential of a market of 1.3 billion people on the continent, efforts are geared towards boosting ownership amongst private sector actors in key economic areas including agribusiness, pharmaceuticals, automotive, transport, and logistics as well as digital technologies.

Sebahizi said that currently, the country is challenged with low industrial output that cannot satisfy the domestic market, let alone the export market.

This can be traced from the agriculture production which is still low compared to the market size, consequently, great imports for both the domestic market and industrial input.

"For us to export to this big market [AfCFTA], we have to boost our domestic production while at the same time understanding its dynamics and operations,” he said.

ALSO READ: Africa’s industrialization doesn’t depend on outside influence – Kagame

Sebahizi noted that while Rwanda is a relatively small-sized country, the goal is to become a production hub across sectors while leveraging the bigger continental market.

With this, he emphasised that the private sector should own the implementation of AfCFTA as key drivers and beneficiaries of its potential without being constrained by the market of their products.

While there is still a long way to go as a country, strides have been made in participating in the AfCFTA market under the Guided Trade Initiative with the latest development of a shipment of consolidated agricultural product consignment to Ghana, on September 25.

The consignment had various agricultural products, including traditional commodities like coffee and tea, alongside emerging high-value products like honey and avocado-based value-added items.

In August, the Rwanda Industrial Policy which seeks to promote economic and structural transformation towards higher-value-added economic activities was approved by the cabinet.

ALSO READ: Nine priority sectors for new industrial policy in Rwanda

In essence, it has five pillars including improving industrial capabilities in export-oriented industries, increasing the level of investment & access to finance, developing technology, science and innovation capabilities, building the required infrastructure and spatial planning, and supporting environmental sustainability and green growth.

The industrial policy has strong complementarities with other key policies for economic transformation such as the Trade Policy, Entrepreneurship Policy, and Made in Rwanda (MiR) Policy.