Rwanda’s economy grew 10 per cent in the third quarter of 2022, thanks in large part to the services sector which contributed 47 per cent to the growth.

The outlook is contained in the latest gross domestic product (GDP) update announced Monday by the National Institute of Statistics (NISR) as well as the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.

From July to September, the monetary value of all finished goods and services produced in Rwanda was estimated at Rwf3583 billion, up from Rwf2758 billion in the previous quarter, it says.

Despite an overall growth, agriculture and industry did not do well, Yusuf Murangwa, the Director General at NISR told reporters.

Agriculture sector has persistently under-performed, according to previous reports by the agency.

"This is because food crops were affected by unfavorable climatic conditions while industry was affected by a slowdown in construction,” he added.

Construction decreased by 17 per cent compared to the same period last year.

However, Murangwa said, this was offset by "a very good” performance of the service sector where hotels and restaurants increased by 90 per cent, ICT increased by 34 per cent, education increased by 26 per cent, transport also increased by 26 per cent, among other services.

"Overall service sector performed very well,” he reiterated.

In industry, mining and quarrying increased by 5 per cent with an increase of 33 per cent in exports of cassiterite, 13 per cent increase in exports of coltan, despite a similar percentage of decrease in exports of wolfram.

Air transport surges

According to the findings, air transport grew by 81 per cent while land transport increased by 17 per cent.

After two years of grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic, the aviation industry, Rwanda inclusive, is once again poised for a decade of growth.

Locally, officials said at the meeting, there has been an increasing demand for domestic travel, a trend that doesn't seem to reverse.

Murangwa attributed the growth not only to the rising demand but also network expansion by national carrier, RwandAir.

The airline recently acquired its first cargo plane, in a bid to boost Rwanda’s exports.

6.2 per cent growth for next year

Meanwhile, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Uzziel Ndagijimana pointed out that based on this year’s performance, Rwanda forecasts its economy to grow by 6.2 per cent.

"First of all, we are optimistic that this year’s (6.8 percent) growth will be achieved, and we also forecast a 6.2 per cent growth next year,” Minister Ndagijimana said, adding that the figure was subject to adjustment, particularly looking at the global economic shocks.