Government spot-on about private sector role

Government is devoting remarkable energy to promote Rwanda’s private sector with the ultimate aim of ensuring that it grows to be the engine of the country’s economic development. This is spot-on in view of the fact that past despotic regimes had unfortunately condemned the country to an obsolete nationalization policy that not only kills market competitiveness but is typically marked with corruption as well as a pathetic service delivery culture which only served to retard the economy and other spheres of national life. The current endeavour by Government to ignite an economy driven by a healthy private sector and creating the right business environment will translate into more foreign and local investments along with fostering the very critical and much needed culture of entrepreneurship. This will without a doubt spur higher economic growth, and eventually help us attain developed nation status as targeted by the vision 2020 development agenda. We are seeing practical steps geared at private sector facilitation. Governmental institutions are playing the essential catalytic function to prop up business and private investments. Agencies like the recently established Rwanda Development Board are well placed to remove impediments that investors encounter, and to address those concerns by way of dismantling, and in the very least, minimizing potential barriers to doing business in Rwanda. This path has a proven knack for accelerating development. It has worked for what we now know as the ‘developed’ countries and will certainly work for us. In this regard, a case in point is Singapore that in many ways is comparable to Rwanda and achieved its’ developed status by initially establishing itself as an attractive destination for Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs). I will particularly talk about Singapore in brief given that Prof. Nshuti Manasseh has been extensively writing in The New Times about the lessons that can be drawn from the famous Asian tigers. Unlike countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Brunei and the Philippines, which are endowed with ample resources, Singapore just like Rwanda is devoid of natural resources. The country however opted to position itself as an excellent business haven in comparison to her neighbours. With a strategic location, good physical infrastructure and a fairly skilled workforce, tied to political stability, foreign investors and an assortment of multinational companies were attracted to place their business activities in Singapore. This influx of multinationals added to other government developmental efforts, allowed the country to realize double-digit growth rates in the seventies, in addition to creating a vibrant manufacturing sector. (Andrew L. S Goh: An evolutionary analysis of Singapore). Singapore has not looked back since; it has established its place among the Asian tigers with further technology acquisition, expanded industrialisation, value added production and more recently a knowledge based economy with potential for own innovations. Although it’s now feeling the pinch of the global economic recession, Singapore nonetheless remains a key player among Asia’s economies. Like Singapore, Rwanda enjoys near similar comparative advantages balanced against our neighbours: a strategic central location with access to regional markets, good quality physical infrastructure, political stability, zero tolerance for corruption, as well as minimized obstacles to setting up and doing business. Recent undertakings to nurture a critical mass of a skilled workforce coupled with strong resolve on the part of the political leadership to bring into line and tailor all development strategy to Rwanda’s needs form very vital ingredients. Some projections indicate that the global economic crisis notwithstanding, the country could experience significant progress in the coming years. Against this backdrop and if this pattern is sustained, it would not be too optimistic to envisage Rwanda eventually emerging as an “African Tiger” in terms of economic growth. The writer is interested in public and foreign policy. Contact: mucyoz@gmail.com