The Ministry of Local Government through Rwanda Association of Local Government Authorities (RALGA) will step up local economic development during the third decentralisation process in an effort to reach the 2017 development targets.

This was announced yesterday at a workshop that attracted district mayors, RALGA and the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), the financers of the development.
Speaking at the workshop, the Director General of planning, monitoring and evaluation in the Ministry of local Government, Egide Rugamba, said previously there was no coordination of proper development initiatives leading to development imbalance, especially in rural areas.

According to a survey conducted by the local government, poverty is still high especially in rural areas, indicating that 90% of poor people still living in rural areas.

"We will be identifying the potential each district has and also create an investment climate that is conducive. The government is encouraging investors to come and invest in all districts,” said Rugamba.

He added that forming of associations and cooperatives will improve the standard of living in the country.
Rugamba urged mayors to speed up land registration to enable rural people use title deeds to get bank loans for their own developments.

The Secretary General of RALGA, Theogene Karake, said there is need for concerted efforts to meet the targets set in Vision 2020 or the MDGs.

"One of the key factors is to enhance economic performance through investment and job creation by supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs), especially in rural areas in the next decentralisation phase of 2011,” Karake said.

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