Diaspora Mutual Fund takes shape

NYARUGENGE - The Rwandan Diaspora together with the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) have finalised plans to establish an investment fund by Rwandans living in the Diaspora that will be fully operational by March this year. The fund, known as the Rwandan Diaspora Mutual Fund (RDMF) fine tuned and adopted by the 2008 Diaspora Retreat last month, is a pool of funds to be created by Rwandans abroad to empower and mobilise themselves to invest in their home country through remittances as a way of contributing to national development. Presenting the current progress of the fund to BNR and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINAFETT), the RDMF Promoting team consisting of Rwandans living in Diaspora, revealed that the mutual fund, supported by the majority of Rwandans in the Diaspora, will be fully established in March 2009. “This initiative is an indicator that Rwandans in Diaspora have moved from talking to concrete actions. It is purely a business initiative that will yield very great returns to investors and our motherland,” said Providence Bikumbi Newport, the head of the Promoting Team. The fund is aimed at promoting the financial well being of the Rwandan Diaspora while participating in the socio-economic development of their country instead of investing outside Rwanda. The idea was conceived during the 2007 Diaspora retreat but never took shape until the 2008 retreat where it was agreed that such a fund if created, would not only benefit the economy but also the economic lives of Rwandans in Diaspora and their families. Speaking at the press conference, the BNR Governor Francois Kanimba re-assured members of the Diaspora that the National Bank in conjunction with the Capital Markets Advisory Council (CMAC) are ready to provide all the necessary support required during the establishment and investment of the fund. “We appreciate the fact that Diaspora members have now agreed to shift from words to actions. This idea is very welcome and we will always come in to help at any moment,” said Kanimba. After its establishment, the Mutual Fund will be invested in Treasury Bonds, guaranteed by BNR and at a later stage the interest gained from the bonds will be invested in higher risk products such as corporate bonds and stocks though it is also expected that the fund will be invested abroad in the long run, to earn more interest which will then be repatriated back to Rwanda. The fund will be monitored and controlled by the Diaspora General Directorate in MINAFETT together with the Central Bank and CMAC to ensure that its is properly used and that owners of the fund receive their dividends and returns on the amount of money each invested. “This is entirely a business idea for Rwandans in Diaspora that is aimed at mobilizing them to invest their money in their home country and earn from their investment while benefiting the economy,” added Bikumbi, a resident of Canada. The Promoting Team is set to embark on a mobilising campaign across the globe that will see an estimated million Rwandans living in the Diaspora convinced to invest their money in Rwanda other than investing it abroad. According to the Director General of the Diaspora General Directorate, Robert Masozera, the ministry has planned several conventions and international conferences across the globe aimed at mobilising Rwandans to invest in the country. Among other things, the directorate launched a Diaspora website which will be used as a link for Rwandans in the Diaspora to network, while Rwandan embassies across the globe have been encouraged to sensitise Rwandans in their particular countries. The government of Rwanda has developed a comprehensive plan to involve the Rwandan Diaspora in the development process through remittances and profit repatriation as one way for the country to reduce on overdependence on foreign aid. According to Kanimba, remittances from abroad reached an estimated $150m in 2008 compared to $103m the previous year. “Those are the figures recorded officially through recognised money transfers and Forex Exchange but we imagine it could have gone beyond that. We are developing a new strategy to monitor remittances as they come in so that we know what exactly came in” added Kanimba. In the same development, Banque de Kigali allowed zero money transfer costs on remittance transfers as an incentive towards the creation of the Fund, a move highly welcomed by Diaspora members. Ends