BUSINESS ROUND-UP

First ever Rwandan in this year’s ‘World Barista Championship’Jean Pierre emerged as the first ever Rwandan champion in the recently ended, ‘Rwanda National Barista Championship’ (RNBC). As a result of this, he will represent Rwanda at the, ‘World Barista Championship’ (WBC) in Atlanta USA in April this year. According to the coffee tasters, the competition had 14 first-time competitors who brought an unparalleled level of enthusiasm and heart to the event. It was organized by the East African Fine Coffee Conference and Exhibition at Kigali, Serena Hotel. The coffee conference was organized by the by Eastern and African Fine Coffees Association (EAFCA), an association of coffee producers, processors, marketing people and organisations in the ten Eastern and Southern African countries, which also attracted some of the worlds biggest exporters. Rwanda’s oil sediment discoveries encouraging Rwanda is encouraged by the discovery of oil sediments in the western parts of the country after aerial surveys by Canadian firm Vangold Resources. Rwanda lies on the Albertine Rift and shares similar geological features with neighbouring Uganda to the north, where oil has been found. Albert Butare, the State Minister for Energy and Water said that the area where prospecting is being done shows indications of the oil potential. Adding, “To what extent and what quality is what the studies are going to come out with, but ... there are real indications of the possibility of the existence of oil.” In May, Vangold Resources will bring in a specialised boat to conduct seismic surveys of Lake Kivu which borders Rwanda’s volatile neighbour, Democratic Republic of Congo. Regional body seeks solutions to financial crisis The East African Business Council (EABC) is seeking for solutions to combat any possible effects of the global financial crisis on the region’s economy. The spills of the crisis will be under discussion in a meeting between EABC members and the regional business community scheduled for early next month in Arusha, Tanzania. The EABC which brings together business leaders from Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi, is one of the organs of the East African Community (EAC). Raj Rajendran, the Managing Director of Utexrwa, who is also one of the EABC Board Members of Rwanda, confirmed the country’s participation in the forum and its significance to the regional economy. Rajendran said that despite the crunch’s negative impact on government by reducing the financial inflows, it has provided some opportunities for the business community. The crisis with roots from the United States of America became prominently prevalent between September and December 2008 when many multi-national companies failed to pay off debts and laid off workers. During the launch of East Africa’s Business Index at Novotel last week, Adrian Njau, the EABC Trade Economist, said that the East African region is not immune from the effects. Similarly, a team of economic experts from the African Commission warned that the current global financial crisis will inevitably have unprecedented effects on the continent. 2,500 locals trained on capital markets A total of 2,500 Rwandans from the country side have so far benefited from the capital markets development training, according to a Capital Market Advisory Council (CMAC) official. The training conducted by CMAC targets an audience that includes the media, top business executives, managers and employees of the leading institutions in Rwanda, as well as leadership in public institutions. Pierre Celestin Rwabukumba, the CMAC Operations Manager said that the campaign is aimed at attracting investors and savers who will contribute to the development of the capital markets in Rwanda. According to the programme, the first phase of this exercise benefited the opinion leaders and members of the military, civil associations and academic institutions in all the 30 districts in the country. The ongoing campaign involves countrywide seminars, workshops to sensitise the public on capital markets especially in view of share offers and equity markets. In addition to the workshops, a series of TV and radio programmes have been run to educate the public about the investments. Rwandatel in 70 roaming partnership deals Subscribers of the newly re-branded telecommunication company, Rwandatel will roam with telecoms in 70 different countries by April this year. This was revealed recently by the company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Patrick Kariningufu during the launch of another promotional package dubbed, ‘Choose Your Pair’. Kariningufu said, “The service is currently active in Uganda with Uganda Telecom (UTL) and in Libya with Al-Madar, and Belgium as well. We are also testing in Kenya with Safaricom and will soon start in Tanzania with Vodacom. We are also negotiating in Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC.” Without disclosing more details, Kariningufu also said that Rwandatel is also testing with telecom companies in China, Dubai and the UK among others to meet the target of at least 70 countries. Once rolled out as planned, Rwandatel will have coverage wider than that of MTN, its competitor. MTN targets to cover about 21 countries by mid this year, across countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East under its One World platform. Management says the planned roaming service worldwide is part of the efforts to offer world-class service while also increasing on the customer base. Currently, Rwandatel has over 200,000 active subscribers in barely two months of operational using the 3G/GSM technology, which accounts for a market share of over 15 percent. The company targets about 600,000 active subscribers by mid this year and a double by December. The increase in the number has been attributed to the low call rates across MTN and the sale of cheap mobile handsets at the launch and the provision of better services. The newly launched ‘Choose Your Pair’ is also expected to contribute to the rise in the number of subscribers. The company targets about 150,000 Rwandans connected at least by the end the promotion in March. Ends