Business round-up

Rwanda Franc The Rwanda Franc recorded a stable regime throughout the first half of 2008, depreciating by only 0.1 percent, against the United States dollar, a government official has said. According to Kampeta Sayinzoga, the Director of Macroeconomic Unit in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, the stability of the franc is attributed to the combined result of inflows of foreign exchange coming from external aid, private transfers, good performance of exports and the intervention policy of the Central Bank in the foreign exchange market. He said that the franc is expected to continue appreciating slightly in the second half of 2008 as import prices are expected to settle down. EAC Common Market talks resume The sixth East African Community (EAC) Common Market talks began Tuesday, at the Kivu Serena hotel, in Gisenyi. The talks are to allow free movement of goods, services, labour and people within the region by 2010. Prudence Sebahizi, Rwanda’s Chief Negotiator, said that all EAC partner states have been represented by their members of the High Level Task Force (HLTF). Sebahizi who is also the Executive Secretary of Rwanda’s Regional Integration Committee (RIC) said: “Top on the negotiation agenda are the issues which are fundamental to the Common Market protocol.” Donors sign agricultural development deal The Government of Rwanda and her development partners this week signed a pact that will see the former acquiring more donor support for agricultural production. According to government officials the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed last week between donors and the Ministry of Agriculture dubbed, ‘Agriculture Sector-Wide Approach,’ meant unlimited support towards agricultural development. The donor agencies present during the signing ceremony included; the World Bank (WB), African Development Bank (AfDB) and several United Nation (UN) agencies. The Minister of Agriculture, Christopher Bazivamo, said that the signing defines future partnership in the development of agriculture. Statistics on Rwanda’s economic performance indicate an average increase in agriculture of 4.3 percent over the last five years. This year, the sector recovered from the 2007 decline with growth estimated at 14.8 percent. Investor and export awards Out of the 170 companies that received questionnaires from Rwanda Investment and Export Promotion Agency (Riepa) for the investor and exporter awards, 130 have responded. According to Rosemary Mbabazi, Riepa’s Director of Investment Promotion, these companies are the only ones eligible for pre-selection examinations by Deloitte and Touche, an international consultancy firm. “After this stage, a list of companies suitable for the next examination will face a panel of judges to come up with 14 finalists,” she said. Seven companies from each slot; Investor and exporter will be awarded on December 11. The overall exporter will be prioritised to access the export fund with special assistance, in terms of facilitation and advisory services. Compuscan Information Technologies This week, Compuscan Information Technologies, a South African credit institution accepted to work in Rwanda. The country is to set up the first ever Credit Reference Bureau (CRB), according to the central bank boss. The CRB will be responsible for providing accurate information on borrowers’ debt profiles and repayment history, an activity that is currently done by lending institutions. The recorded information will be used by Commercial Banks, Credit Institutions and Micro Finance Institutions to quickly decide on ones’ loan request. François Kanimba, Governor National Bank of Rwanda (NBR) told the New Times this week that Compuscan has held negotiations with all stakeholders and a partnership agreement is expected to be signed before the end of the year. Ends