Kigali City is branching out; are you?

Mid this week, I was driven straight into a pleasant surprise, a compound of a four-star hotel in Nyamata; the ‘town of milk’ located some 30km out of Kigali City. How many of you guys would invest in a multi-million dollar facility in a place still generally regarded as ‘remote?’ Well, I can discern that not many of you would; such a decision can only be taken by a business visionary with ability to appreciate that in a fast developing country like Rwanda, ‘remote’ is not only relative but also temporary. That’s why it is always painful for some people to flashback to Kigali at the turn of the century; the years between 2000 and 2005; I am sure when the city of then met that of today, the latter would probably refuse to share a seat with the former for fear of its white dress being soiled. If you had money at the time but didn’t buy yourself a plot, you probably never will; that was the time when a song would buy you a piece of land in Kibagabaga and Nyarutarama areas. I have met some of the people who bought property then; listening to their stories now would leave you in envy; where others saw bushes, crime and poverty that rocked the area, these visionaries pictured a lustrous upscale neighborhood in a few years. It is the case indeed today. The story of Nyarutarama and Kibagabaga is a goblet full of lessons on property investment; don’t buy the present, invest in the future. And it’s not too late; there are so many Nyarutaramas still out there, places where you can still buy a plot of land for a song. Nyamata is one of them; with the place designated to host Rwanda’s new international airport, property futures in the area are bright. Recently, a friend badly needed money so he decided to sell an acre of land he owned in the area, at less than Rwf4million; he definitely made a handsome profit considering that he acquired it at half a million only a few years ago. But that plot is just a fifteen-minute drive from the proposed airport a factor which makes it in future expensive to buy; so my friend sold the property for a song, but in three years time, it will certainly cost an album for anyone to buy. Kigali property futures will certainly be out of reach for most young people who have only started working recently and are looking to buy stuff. Fortunately, Kigali is fast expanding, branching out to areas formerly seen as remote. The prudent thing to do is to be a visionary and follow the city to Nyamata, Kabuga, Kinyinya and many other emerging modern neighborhoods. With the central government investing in building a robust road network, it’s quite possible for one to commute every morning from Bugesera to an office in the city centre and get out later in the evening back to the serenity of Rwanda’s emerging neighborhoods. These are thoughts that ran through my mind as I enjoyed my stay at the Golden Tulip, La Palisse Hotel in Nyamata and I told Mr. Charles Kinyua, the facility’s General Manager, what a great place he has over there. Tulip probably has the best rooms in the country. Wide, spacious with great interior decor and wonderful balconies on which guests can relax and enjoy the sprawling lush grounds on which the hotel is set. At slightly over a year old, I am sure the investors have a long way to go before they can recoup the investment sunk in the facility; but that’s not a problem, the area’s future prospects are solid. The airport construction is relatively behind schedule but the project progress is not in doubt and once it’s completed, the ‘cash cows’ will be out and about. Just one concern though; property investors need to beware of dishonest banks. There’s an emerging trend where credit officers are vending ‘bait interest rates’ to hook potential borrowers. A credit officer will say; ‘we are giving you a loan at an interest rate of 16.5 percent.’ The borrower jumps at the offer as it appears generally lower than the prevailing market interest rates. What borrowers don’t realize is that the 16.5 percent is actually a bait to hook them. It’s not a fixed rate and months after receiving the loan, their monthly repayment increases from, say two million initially to three million. As a result, the credit facility becomes too expensive for the borrower and that’s when problems start to arise; defaults, non-performing loans and the infamous auctions set-in. There are several cases out there and property owners, on realising they are trapped are now trying to jump out; many, I am told, are swarming Bank of Kigali, which is known for selling fixed interest rates. It’s an area that probably needs the intervention of the National Bank of Rwanda. It’s okay for commercial banks to be competitive but they shouldn’t vend lies. So, if you are seeking to buy property with a loan, be careful which bank you get it from; take your time, read the clause on the interest rates and sign on the dots only after you are okay with its diktats.

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Kigali City is branching out; are you?