Rwanda projects to attract total investments worth $3 billion (approx. Rwf3.3 trillion) in 2023, buoyed by services provided by the One Stop Center at Rwanda Development Board (RDB).
The forecast was highlighted in RDB’s recently released annual report.
The investments are expected to be channeled into key priority sectors including manufacturing, agro-processing, construction, ICT, tourism, and mining.
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In 2022, the country recorded a $1.6 billion total investment, a 26 per cent increase from 2020 but a decline from $3.74 billion in 2021.
This can be attributed to a tough global economic environment due to inflation and the impact of the Russia-Ukraine crisis that caused governments to take monetary measures that were not conducive for investments.
Despite that, sectors such as manufacturing, financial services, and insurance accounted for 45.6 per cent of total registered investments, and are expected to create 38.5 per cent of the total jobs to be generated from the investments.
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This is while 77.3 per cent of all investments registered with $ 1.2 billion monetary value flowed into Kigali City, followed by the Northern Province, which attracted 11.7 per cent or $192 million, according to the report.
Overall, local investments accounted for 39 per cent, and Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) came from China at 13 per cent, followed by India at 11 per cent, and Germany at nine per cent.
Other leading sources of FDIs include the United States, Canada, the UK, South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria.
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Emmanuel Habineza, Managing Partner of BDO in East Africa, an international network of practicing firms in audit, tax, and advisory services, said since Covid-19 struck, there has been a shift in investment because of a change in perspective towards business opportunities.
"For instance, you can’t get the same trend of investments in the hospitality sector today because of how it was affected. However, we still have virgin sectors for investment in our economy such as food value-addition, services, and logistics,” he explained.
Habineza indicated that the country should conduct studies to inform other product offerings to attract investors and equally promote them.
On the other hand, CJ Fonzi, Partner at Dalberg Advisors, said the investment climate in Rwanda has been gaining momentum over the years, and with the reputation created, a bigger pipeline of investment can be expected.
"The Rwandan economy is exciting because of the multitude of sectors one can invest in. We are starting to see traction in the Kigali International Financial Centre and continued investment in technology, as well as in the agriculture sector,” he said.
He believes that even if one sector may be slow due to sector-specific reasons, there are still many opportunities for FDIs.