The Private Sector Federation (PSF) will conduct a countrywide survey on the business climate of Rwanda. The move is to develop a tool that will be used in advancing concerns of the private sector through the private public dialogues (PPD), Emmanuel Hategeka, the Secretary General of the Federation said. It is also hopped to generate information on production, investment, employment, export, import trends and obstacles to businesses.Hategeka is optimistic that the business survey will successfully be done across the board…down to the grassroots, counting on PSF’s new representation in districts and provinces. With the support of the German International Cooperation (GTZ), PSF has chosen to use the Malawian Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI) both in preparations and actual survey. Preliminary phase startsOn Thursday October 11, the PSF hosted, Chancellor L. Kaferapanjira, the chief executive of MCCCI to lay ground for the kick-start of the survey.Kaferapanjira presented to PSF department and chamber directors the MCCCI’s experience with Malawi Business Climate Survey (MBCS) tool used to improve public private dialogue (PPD) in Malawi. The survey comes at a time the federation feels numerous surveys done before, about Rwanda’s business environment are not representative enough of businessmen’s views, especially the informal sector—Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). In Rwanda over 80 per cent of private sector is made up of of the SMEs. In his presentation, Kaferapanjira highlighted benefits of a business survey as; strengthen public-private sector dialogue. Other benefits include easy monitoring of national business climate and thus influence policy decision-making. Kaferapanjira cautioned the federation not to ever seek government funding for the survey to avoid influence, manipulation and being compromised. Ends
