Last week, the government signed 19 memorandums of understanding with local companies involved in the export business. The signing came with renewed commitment from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and EAC Affairs; other relevant government agencies; the Private Sector Federation; and the concerned private companies to bolster and scale up the country’s exports, despite a myriad of challenges that continue to undermine this effort. This was during the second National Exporters Conference during which exporters, government representatives and other actors compared notes on the state of the exports market and what needs to be done to revive and grow this important component of the economy. Participants engaged in open discussions, examining the reasons behind the sluggish performance of the country’s exports, and by the end of the engagement there was a sense of renewed impetus and urgency in efforts to diversify the exports base and help deliver the targeted 28 per cent growth rate of the sector by 2018. Now, there are certain challenges that we can do little about as a country. These include falling demand and prices on the global market. Nonetheless, there are other challenges that are self-inflicted. Thankfully, for most of these, it’s never too late to save the situation and reverse the trend. Some are as simple as lack of information and a general reluctance to embrace emerging opportunities. For instance, it emerged during last week’s meeting that local exporters barely take advantage of the Exports Growth Fund (EGF), now a Rwf10 billion-strong facility designed to help exporters go about their operations with relative ease. Officials expressed disappointment that the local export community was largely reluctant to come forward to seek support from the fund – managed by the Rwanda Development Bank – yet most of them continued to grapple with the same challenges it was created to help address. The fund is active in three key intervention areas, namely: extending an interest subsidy equivalent to 6.5 per cent of the total loan; providing up to $100,000 in visibility support to penetrate new markets; and providing a guarantee cover for a bank to extend a loan to the exporter to carry on with their operations pending sale of their shipped merchandise. This is a godsend development for the export community that should be grabbed with both hands. This, coupled with other efforts geared at promoting the Made-in-Rwanda’ drive, have the potential to revolutionise the country’s export sector. It is upon the exporters to make the most of such initiatives to grow their business but also help eliminate the country’s trade deficit, thus impacting the economy.
