The Mayor of the City of Kigali, Kirabo Kakira, has said that Kigali was growing at the rate 10.7% annually, making it one of the fastest growing cities on the continent.

She said that currently the city has about one million inhabitants occupying an area equivalent to 730 square kilometres, adding that the number was expected to hit the 3 million mark come 2028.

She was speaking on Tuesday at Hotel Novotel Umubano during the launch of City of Kigali’s Investors’ Forum, a platform aimed at helping identify and exploit investment opportunities in the city.

The mayor noted that her vision was to make Kigali a safer, cleaner, and more competitive, modern city with ever-growing investment opportunities for sustainable development.

She outlined some of the key investment areas in the city as housing, infrastructure, education and healthcare, technology, telecommunications, transportation and environment.

Kirabo also presented the 50-year Kigali Conceptual Master Plan developed by an American firm, OZ International. She noted that the city in its effort to overcome housing shortage has committed itself to facilitate both local and international investors in their quest to acquire pieces of land and other incentives.

The Finance Minister James Musoni appealed to the private sector and Kigali City Council to help create a conducive investment environment in the country.

The Secretary General of Private Sector Federation (PSF), Emmanuel Hategeka, said doing business in Rwanda was much easier today than in previous years. He indicated that the main challenge now was to change people’s mindset towards work.

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