KIGALI - In a campaign to create an enabling investment climate and facilitating doing business in Rwanda, Kigali City Council (KCC) yesterday announced the establishment of a One-Stop Centre for investors to register land and acquire construction documents.

The initiative was launched after getting a cabinet nod on Wednesday.

The centre which will bring together services of the district land bureaus, the National Land Centre and Rwanda Environment Management Agency (REMA), is set to ease the process of acquiring land documents from 210 days to 30 days.

According to the Kigali City Vice-Mayor in charge of Finance and Economic Development, Alphonse Nizeyimana, the scheme will bring all these departments under one roof.

"The initial stage will be registering projects that cover a land surface of about 4000 Km² but above two storied buildings,” Nizeyimana explained, adding that there are currently 15 big projects waiting approval to get the permits.

Among them include the rehabilitation of the French Cultural Centre which will be upgraded to 12 stories.

The KCC-One Stop Centre is expected to officially start operating on Monday.

Nizeyimana said district land bureaus will remain operational managing smaller construction projects but would be closely monitored by the centre.

"Our target is to have investors acquiring all necessary documents within 30 days; with this target, Rwanda will be one of the best performing countries in this particular area,” he said.

Currently, Singapore leads the world table in availing investors with construction documents; the process takes 21 days in this country.

Nizeyimana also called upon investors to well prepare their paperwork before submitting them to the centre saying that this would ease the work for both parties.

The idea to set up a One-Stop Centre came up in 2004. It is currently managed jointly by the City Council in Partnership with the Rwanda Development Board (RDB).

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