The majority of Rwandans believe that the Government should prioritise trade and job creation and then education, security and health in that order. This is according to a survey conducted by ONE campaign, an anti-poverty drive founded by celebrated international Irish musicians, Bono and Bob Geldof. The survey, that involved nine African countries, including Rwanda, also shows that 81 per cent of Rwandans viewed security as the area where their government had done a tremendous job. Other aspects the poll measured include the public’s attitudes towards governments, impact of US on the development of their country, the magnitude of support Obama enjoys in their country and areas they feel their governments should invest more. The poll result’s release coincided with the beginning of the US-Africa Leaders Summit hosted by President Barack Obama, with nearly 50 African Heads of State and Government as well as hundreds of American trade and investment corporations converging in Washington DC. The poll was conducted over a five-day period at the end of July, surveying 500 people in each country, with the average age of respondents being around 26. The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Emmanuel Hategeka, told The New Times yesterday that the Government has prioritised trade for the past decade bacause of its potential to create jobs. “It begins with putting in place a conducive trade and business environment to attract investors. That is why Rwanda is ranked the second in Africa in terms of ease of doing business and the 32nd worldwide,” Hategeka said. He noted that Rwanda was also in the process of putting in place investment infrastructure to promote inter-connectivity of the country in the region, through such investments as RwandAir to facilitate transportation of cargo. “Rwanda has a robust regional integration agenda as a member of the East African Community and Comesa and has opened up its borders to other countries for purposes of doing business,” the PS said. While touring the ongoing 17th Rwandan trade fair in Gikondo, last week, Prime Minister Anastaste Murekezi, said that government is ready to facilitate the growth and expansion of the private sector through public – private partnerships and dialogue and will provide all the necessary support the sector may need. These, he said, would lead to job creation and export promotion that would foster economic development and see to it that the private sector grows into an economic force in the country. Other government initiatives that seek to promote trade and job creation include drafting a Trade policy that outline the path to achieving trade and development goals and reviews the right strategies to ensure that Rwanda benefits fully from liberalisation, and to ensure that negative effects are mitigated.
