BUSINESS ROUND-UP

90 percent CBD plots unsold About 910 percent of plots in the proposed Central Business District (CBD), are unsold despite attracting a lot of interest from investors. This follows information from the Social Security Fund of Rwanda (SSFR) that less than 10 percent has been purchased. The Director of Real Estate Department in SSFR, Fred Rwihunda said, “Overall, about 60 percent of the plots have been booked but there are no payments made yet.” The nine plots scaling on about 9.7 hectares are located in Rugenge sector (former lower Kiyovu) of Kigali City. They (plots) range from 5,600 square metres (the smallest) to 13,866 square metres (the biggest). “We presume that many (potential buyers) are waiting for the completion of infrastructure development,” Rwihunda explained. SSFR recently reduced prices of the plots by 20 percent per square metre. The price falls to Rwf87, 000 from the initially cost of about Rwf109, 000 per square metre partly to attract buyers. The reduction in the price was because of government’s pledge towards infrastructure development in the areas. This was aimed at reducing the cost of development. Capital markets law gets Cabinet nod Cabinet has approved the capital markets law, paving way for the establishment of the Capital Markets Authority as an independent agency that will replace the Capital Market Advisory Council (CMAC). If approved by parliament, the law will facilitate the development of orderly and efficient capital markets through effective regulation. Olivier Kamanzi, Deputy Executive Director of CMAC said that this is vital for the success of the financial markets in the country. The new law, which will replace CMAC’s current regulations embedded in the blue-print, will also pave way for the establishment of the Rwanda Stock Exchange (RSE) as the country’s principal stock exchange. Under the new structure, the Capital Markets Authority will be responsible for the regulation while the Rwanda Stock exchange will be in charge of conducting trading. The Rwanda stock exchange will be licensed as a private company operating under the jurisdiction of the Capital Markets Authority which also reports to the Ministry of Finance. Altech promises interim fibre connections soon Altech Stream Rwanda will temporary connect Kigali City to the fibre-optic backbone through a MicroWave access from Kampala. Peter Matayo, Head of Infrastructure at Kenya Data Networks, a sister company to Altech Stream Rwanda, said that the interim connections from Uganda to Kigali are expected within the shortest time possible. “This will see the current VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) connections phased out gradually as we wait for the permanent fibre-optical connectivity later this year,” he said. “Connection costs may drop by about 80 percent, depending on the capacity,” Matayo said. According to the Regional Business Development Manager for Altech Stream East Africa, Nick Odero, Altech plans about $2 million (Rwf1.1 billion) investment for the MicroWave connection “This (MicroWave) will remain as a backup to the fibre, which is expected to touch Kigali within three months with an investment of up to $10 million (Rwf5.7 billion),” he explained. “The undersea cable network via a terrestrial cable from Mombasa through to Nairobi, Kampala and Kigali has a high performance level,” Odero added. This new technology will allow East Africans enjoy high-speed internet, digital television, video conferencing, tele-medicine, digital villages and many other benefits. Rwandatel beats MTN as overall best exhibitor Rwandatel on Monday emerged the best overall exhibitor in the recently ended Rwanda International Trade Fair (RITF), ending MTN’s two year monopoly on the number one slot. Officials at the Private Sector Federation (PSF), the organisers of the exposition said that Rwandatel, the country’s 2nd national telecom operation and the second biggest by market share, finished first ahead of MANUMETAL and SORWATHE. Patrick Kariningufu, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Rwandatel, said that the stand settings, innovation and customer care could have won them the gong. Khaled Makkawi, the CEO of MTN Rwanda, who are platinum sponsors of the trade fair said, “It’s fair if another company wins the award.” “We don’t want to look into that,” he explained when asked why the company lost the award. Despite MTN Rwanda losing out the overall award to its competitor, the company beat Rwandatel in the ICT sector and best customer service category. MDGs might not be attained on time —report Many Africans will fall back into poverty, making the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) even harder to attain as the global economic recession continues to prevail, the Economic Report on Africa 2009 (ERA 2009) says. “This is because African countries do not have the resources to support their economies even though they are also feeling the pains of economic recession,” explains the report, jointly published by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Union Commission (AU). The report dubbed, “Developing African Agriculture through Regional Value Chains.” According to the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, James Musoni, Rwanda too faces a challenge to attain MDGs. “Poverty and hunger were the only goals that we didn’t hit. Hunger is not alarming with agriculture growing by about 11 percent (in first half) but poverty is still a major challenge,” he explained. The report therefore suggests that African countries need sound domestic policies, as well as continued aid flows and targeted financing facilities from international financial institutions to mitigate the impact of the evolving crisis. It calls for special attention to agriculture, since Africa is heavily dependent on this sector for providing employment, generating economic growth, foreign exchange earnings and tax revenue. BNR liquidates Urunana microfinance The National Bank of Rwanda (BNR), has liquidated Urunana microfinance, according to sources. Claudine Zaninka, the Executive secretary of Association of Micro Finance Institutions in Rwanda (AMIR) said that BNR is also in the process of liquidating three more microfinance institutions that have run bankrupt. However details on how much Urunana was worth were not availed. The central bank that plays a regulatory role for all the financial institutions in the country can call for the liquidation in case the MFIs run bankrupt. The three microfinance institutions that face liquidation have not been mentioned by the AMIR because the evaluation is on going. Ends