The latest issuance of Treasury Bond by the government attracted some surprising takers when local cooperative savings schemes showed unusual interest by snapping it up. The bond market was hitherto the reserve of a few established local investors such as firms of foreign entities who could afford to let “idle” for seven years (the maturity of the current offering). It will be interesting to see how it fares on the stock exchange now that a counter has been opened there and trading has begun. That it was oversubscribed by 187% is an understatement; financial markets are the new hunting grounds for those who want to keep their money safe – and profitable. Rwandan businesses are slowly but surely getting out of the “shopkeeper mentality”; that of buying and selling for a profit; they are slowly branching out. The Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector looks promising because the government has invested in it heavily and it has the appeal of the younger technology-savvy Dot-Com generation. But one other investment sector might be the new Eldorado: energy sector. This field has already started making waves as more and more foreign investors join the fray by investing heavily in the sector, but the local population has not been resting, they are joining the bandwagon, but sparingly because it is uncharted waters. But with the government going ahead and unloading some of its interests in the energy sector and privatising them, this could be a good investment occasion. Rwanda Development Board simply has to sell the idea, that the energy sector is not the reserve of foreign players
