KIGALI - The investments registered during 2009 will create at least 11,000 jobs within the country, according to statistics from Rwanda Development Board (RDB).

The information is contained in RDB’s 2009 Investment Performance Report which also indicates that the investments registered in the just-concluded year were worth over Rwf600 billion.

"Some 58 projects registered last year are already operational with an estimated level of investment worth Rwf564bn while 51 others that are not yet operational have an estimated value of Rwf80bn,” reads part of the report.

However analysts say that the investments would have been more had it not been for the global financial crisis that rocked the world for the biggest part of 2009.

The report also indicates that 39 registered investment projects in 2009 are purely Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) including 36 undertaken by foreigners while the other three were from members of the Rwandan Diaspora.

"Three projects undertaken by the Diaspora members were worth Rwf5 billion,” it reads.

It continues that 59 projects are local, representing respectively 55.6 percent in terms of numbers and 52.3percent in terms of investment value and are expected to create 3,096 jobs.

Joint ventures between local business and foreign represent account for 9.4 percent of all investments with a value of over Rwf17bn.

By comparison between 2008 and 2009, in terms of the value of projects registered, there was an increase of 40.7percent from Rwf458bn in 2008 to Rwf644 last year.

"..but in terms of the number of projects, there was a slight decline of 6.8% from 117 projects in 2008 to 109 projects in 2009,” adds the report.

Major projects registered last year include; Kivuwatt project by American-based company Contour Global, which aims to extract Methane Gas from Lake Kivu and convert it to energy, Luxemburg’s Tigo in telecommunications, Germany’s SAG in electrical construction, South Africa’s Rutongo Mines and Tanzania’s Bakhresa Grain Milling.

The report adds that other major foreign deals signed include a USA Ecofuel’s biodiesel/ Jatropha project while others that kick-started last year include the construction of the 5-Star Marriott/New Century Hotel and the Kigali Convention Centre and Hotel.

Local investments that were expanded include CIMERWA, Kitabi Tea Company and Banque Populaire du Rwanda.
From the report, it is evident that both local and foreign investors are gaining confidence in the country partly due to the government’s wider efforts to promote Rwanda as a business and investment destination.

Rwanda was last year named the world’s number one business reformer by the World Bank Doing Business report.

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