Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) together with Trademark East Africa (TMEA) have put pen to paper on a $600,000 deal to facilitate the digitalization of major processes which will greatly improve ability to provide services to traders as well as monitor and enforce compliance to standards on selected imports. This was Wednesday afternoon at the RURA Headquarters in Kigali. The funding has been provided by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) through Trademark East Africa (TMEA). This funding to RURA is part of TMEA’s $57 million programme with the Government of Rwanda that was launched the previous year and it is within this that TMEA works with different Rwandan Ministries, Departments and Agencies, the Private sector as well as Civil Society Organisations to support hard and soft infrastructural interventions that reduce cost of doing business improve efficiency of key trade processes. It also aims at building capacity of local industries to produce and/or manufacture world class standard goods and build linkages to markets. Particularly, the fund will go towards supporting the adoption of Converged Licensing Management Systems that will enhance compliance to standards and enforce regulation in Rwanda’s trade environment by reducing transaction time and costs incurred by businesses through effective trade systems and procedures. The funding will also see to it that licensing gets digitalized, inspection of imported electronics and allied goods as well as protection of Intellectual Property rights (IPRs) and also greatly contribute towards the government’s ambition to have zero trips and zero paper in all government services. Speaking at the event today, Trademark East Africa Rwanda Country Director Patience Mutesi noted that the time taken to transact businesses from anywhere in the world will significantly be reduced and dealers in electronics will be able to undertake necessary documentation from anywhere in the world. ‘’The information portal will afford importers dealing with electronics and allied products the luxury of undertaking necessary documentation from anywhere in the world,’’ she said. She added that delays in transactions will greatly and businesses will save money in the process and noted that the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority will on the other hand have more accurate data and statistics to aid in decision making especially regarding further simplification of processes. The signing of the deal event was also attended by the RURA Director General Patrick Nyirishema who said that a lot of time will be saved while conducting business after the acquisition of this amount of money. ‘’Providing self service and e-services is a top priority for RURA. Establishing a Converged Licensing Management System as a one stop portal for licensing is in line with the government’s policy for citizen centric service delivery,’’ he said.
