KIGALI - Rwanda spends a whopping $80 million (about Frw43.6b) in technical assistance projects, the president of the Private Sector Federation (PSF), Robert Bayigamba, has said.

Bayigamba deplored such a situation, saying such consultancy services include studies and lamented that over eighty percent of that money goes back to donor countries.
He was speaking at a fundraising corporate dinner hosted by PSF last Friday at Kigali Serena Hotel.

Bayigamba said that most of the investment revenues still come from local and private investors. He urged investors to reduce their reliance on government.

In his presentation, Bayigamba said that most of the consultants are from the Western world.

"Eighty percent of the revenue we collect here go back to donor countries through consultancy,” Bayigamba said.

He advised local investors to be more innovative and reduce spending on consultancy.
Bayigamba also tipped local investors on how to improve service delivery. "Currently, we have improved infrastructure in our country but we also need to improve the quality of our services so that we can attract more visitors to our country,” he advised.

During the colorful function, local and private investors agreed to buy PSF corporate membership cards.

PSF membership is worth Frw 5 million annually and goes up to Frw 20 million for corporate.

The value of each membership is expected to reflect the influence of the company.
The State Minister for Industry and Investment Promotion, Vincent Karega, said that the government is determined to assist local investors through the PSF’s Business Development Strategy.

He said that the government has licensed all heavy trucks to work for 24 hours.
Initially, heavy trucks were not allowed to move after 6:00 pm. The function was attended by local investors and top government officials.

The World Bank Country representative Victoria Kwakwa also attended the function.
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