Indian firms seek to invest in Rwanda

A high-level Indian business delegation has been in the country to explore business cooperation opportunities with Rwandan companies through setting up joint ventures and or acquisitions.

Friday, November 19, 2010
Indian and Rwandan investors at the PSF headquaters in Gikondo (photo by T.Kisambira)

A high-level Indian business delegation has been in the country to explore business cooperation opportunities with Rwandan companies through setting up joint ventures and or acquisitions.

The delegation that left yesterday had been here to asses potential sectors to invest in following the investment road show in India made by 26-memebers from Kiga in October.

Led by the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI), the 21-Indian delegation was targeting  agro-processing, mining, media, manufacturing and the ICT sectors.

N.S. Srinivasa Murthy, the president of FKCCI said that Rwanda is in the development process which means it needs grants and investments from various countries.
"I am very confident after this road show Indians will come in large numbers in all sectors and make investments especially in the infrastructure industry,” Murthy added.

"They have shown enthusiasm,” Said John Gara, the CEO of Rwanda Development Board (RDB).

The Indian business people showed eagerness to come and see Rwanda’s potential and we are pleased to see the delegation visit that soon, something that is very rare especially just weeks after promoting the country, he added.

Gara said that RDB is targeting certain countries, especially the ones from Asia to attract investments.

According to Faustin Kananura Mbundu, the 1st vice president of the Private Sector Federation (PSF), the visit by the Indian delegation is to improve their relationship.
"Our economy is growing at a good rates but we need to improve further and in that sense, we need to get private sector operators from India who are more advanced more than us in skills, industry and many things-so we are expecting to get joint-ventures from them, skills development and small scale industry development,” Mbundu said.

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