KIGALI - After three unsuccessful attempts to sale Rwandex, the deal has finally been sealed and the defunct coffee export company sold at a whooping cost of 1.533 billion Rwf.

The sale involved both Rwandex Gisenyi which went for 621 million Rwf and Rwandex Gikondo which went for 912 million Rwf.

Unlike the previous attempts, this time around the auction presented some vibrancy where bidders participated in a gruelling competition for the deal.   

Talking to The New Times shortly after the sale, Marc Sacks the buyer of Rwandex Gisenyi expressed enthusiasm upon buying the factory pointing out that it’s a great opportunity to venture into the coffee business.

"I see a great future in this business so I intend to venture into it in a serious way,” an enthusiastic Sacks said.

"We intend to establish a new company with a new approach, starting with giving a brand that is specific for Rwanda and we are highly optimistic that it’s going to be a progressive company,” he disclosed
Rwandex Gikondo was bought by Rwanda Trading Company, an American based Company.

"We are new in the coffee business here but we believe in this opportunity and the coffee potential in Rwanda,” Matt Smith the Financial Director Rwanda Trading Company said in a side interview with The Sunday Times.

Ambassador Emmanuel Kayitana Imanzi who chaired the Rwandex liquidation committee, said that he is grateful that this sale has been finally sealed.

"We are really grateful for the money offered in this sale considering the biting economic crisis; it couldn’t have gone any higher.”

He went ahead to put the record straight of the delay by underscoring that people houldn’t think the sale came that easy.

"Nobody should think that we slowed down the process. We had to give both ourselves and the buyers enough chances to fairly pull the deal off. We wanted to get the desired money and they wanted to offer money within their means which we have finally done,” Kayitana underscored

All this follows the liquidation of the company as a consequence of its failure to clear its Rwf3 billion debt it owes several banks.

Bank de Kigali (BK) is demanding Rwf 2.169bn while Banque Populaire du Rwanda and COGEBAQUE are owed a combined Rwf 1.1bn by Rwandex.

When asked whether the money got from the Rwandex sale is enough to clear all its outstanding debts, Kayitana said that they intend to pay the debts using this money including the addition to two bonds and a company house.

He added that if the money is still not enough to clear the debts, that won’t be their problem, they would have done their best.

"We are intending to solve the Rwandex problem as soon as possible, once and for all.”

Before folding in, Rwandex was exporting between 5,000 to 7,000 tonnes of ordinary coffee fetching between US 9 million to USD 10 million annually.

Before this sale, Rwandex had been valued at USD 2.7m (about Rwf1.4 billion). The Government’s 51 percent shareholding was valued at over Rwf 576m.

Ends