Kigali roads await facelift

Potholes may be a thing of the past when 33 kilometers of Kigali roads are rehabilitated. Frw13.2 billion will partly fund the road rehabilitation in the city. The potholed Kanombe and Nyamirambo roads are top of the list. Bruno Rangira, Kigali City Council director of media and communications, said government has allocated Frw1.5 billion for road rehabilitation, drainage, pavements and street lighting in Kigali City. A team is in China negotiating the funding. Instead of just filling potholes, the city authorities plan to remove the old tarmac and replace it. Coffee production target unattainable Rwanda’s expected coffee production of 29,000 tonnes will not be attainable because of seasonal and climatic variations, Rwanda Coffee Development Authority (Ocir-café) revealed. Alex Kanyankole, the Ocir-café managing director, said Rwanda expects to have a harvest of 23,000 tonnes— 20.6 per cent less than hoped. The production increase expectations were partly due to initiatives to raise coffee standards and targeting high-value markets. Ocir-café had hoped to more than double coffee production, from the 14,000 tonnes in 2007 to 29,000 tonnes this year. Coffee earnings were expected to increase from $42.3 (Frw2.3 billion) last year to $50 million (Rwf27.5 billion) this year. Earning are now expected to reach $46 million (Frw25.3 billion) as opposed to $50 million (Rwf27.5 billion) as originally targeted, said Kanyankole. Rwanda hopes to earn $100 million (Frw55.1 billion) from 35,000 tonnes of coffee exports by 2012. Paint firm postpones plant launch Crown Berger, a Kenya based company and producer of Regal paint, has postponed its plan to launch a production plant in Rwanda due to the current financial crisis in the US, according to management. The Kigali plant that was supposed to be launched at the end of last month has delayed opening until January 2009. Rao Rakesh, CEO of Crown Berger, explained that production costs could increase by 70 per cent. If opened, the Rwandan factory will be the second full scale manufacturing plant of Crown Paints in the region and is expected to serve Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo and the whole of Central Africa. Analysts have warned that the financial crisis in the US which has spread to Europe and Asia markets will extend to other parts of the world and emerging markets in developing countries will be hit. Parliament approves money laundering law The law against money laundering and fighting the financing of terrorism has been passed by both the Lower and Upper Chambers of Parliament. The law awaits the president’s approval. This comes after concerns that money laundering and terrorist financing can threaten financial stability and economic prosperity arose. Rwanda and Burundi have no law on anti money laundering and terrorism financing. Once declared a law, a Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), an agency charged with analysing information relating to suspect financial transactions, will be formed. The FIU will also share information about suspicious transactions beyond Rwanda’s borders. Sulfo internationally certified Sulfo Rwanda Industries, one of the leading manufacturing companies in Rwanda, has been awarded the International Safety Organisation certificate after their ‘Source du Nil’ pure drinking water passed rigorous quality tests. Sulfo management is very confident that the certification will strengthen public trust in its product giving it an edge over competition. Sulfo’s product ‘Source du Nil’ is the first packaged pure drinking water to acquire the Rwanda Bureau of Standards (RBS) quality mark earlier this year. Ends