RDB criticised over faulty online business registration

Rwanda Development Board’s online business registration initiative has been criticised by local entrepreneurs saying they are not satisfied with the procedure.

Monday, April 23, 2012
Louise Kanyonga. The New Times / File.

Rwanda Development Board’s online business registration initiative has been criticised by local entrepreneurs saying they are not satisfied with the procedure.In an interview yesterday, Louise Kanyonga, the Registrar General at RDB acknowledged that the process is indeed complicated but measures are underway to make it user friendly.Prospective entrepreneurs are irked because they are obliged to seek the service at the Kigali headquarters which at most times is overcrowded.The process has come under fire mainly from the upcountry’s business community claiming the procedure being faulty leaves them no option but to come to Kigali which is very expensive and time consuming. RDB early this year announced that it had reduced the time it takes to register businesses from 24 to just six hours. However, speaking to The New Times, the Director of Advocacy in Private Sector Federation (PSF), Gerald Mukubu, said numerous complaints have been received and something ought to be done."On several occasions, business owners have raised the issue and we think that certainly the process has to be reviewed and subsequently improved,” he said.Mukubu highlighted the necessity to ease the process, especially for the rural business entrepreneurs."Local business entrepreneurs are the backbone of the country’s economic development and we lobby for them to be facilitated in this regard”."We have also received some complaints and we realise that the process is actually problematic, but preliminary work is on to ensure that it becomes applicable,” she said.Kanyonga mentioned that a team of technicians is in place to help with the process especially for new clients who need registration guidelines and that the restructuring process will take approximately six months.She revealed that RDB registers between 60 and 80 businesses daily but about 10 percent of these are registered online.