Business round up

Central Bank warns MFIs on non performing loans The National Bank of Rwanda which is also the regulator of Micro-Finance Institutions (MFIs) has said Non Performing Loans (NPL) has been the main challenge to accessing of credit. This was said by the Governor of the Central Bank Francois Kanimba during a one day workshop on the rules and regulations governing micro-finance institutions at hotel La Palise Nyandungu. MFIs are some of the institutions that central bank monitors and regulates. “On average they (Non-Performing Loans) are 10 percent even below commercial Banks but the variation in different MFI’s has gone beyond 50 percent,” Kanimba said. The credit fund that amounts to Rwf5 billion, established in October, 2009, seeks to boost the activities of the MFIs which include, capacity building, savings and credit.Many MFI’s have not accessed the credit because of poor management structure, and the size of Non Performing Loans. “The main challenge remains sensitising locals to re-build confidence in MFI’s…” TIGO appoints new Chief Executive Barely months after the launch of its operations in Rwanda, TIGO, has appointed Marcelo Aleman, former Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) as the new chief executive replacing Alex Kamara. Speaking to the Business Times, the outgoing CEO, Alex Kamara revealed that he is heading to Millicom head quarters in Tanzania as the Head of Regulatory Affairs for the East African region. He said that it is a big opportunity for him and he will be coming back to Rwanda as he promised to be working closely with the team he has left behind. The outgoing CEO explained that he will be leaving in mid-march as they are still finalising his handover process to his successor Aleman. Kamara spearheaded a team of new professional recruits to start Millicom International’s operations in Rwanda. Tigo under Millicom beat the might of Zain and Telecel Globe to win the third national operator licence in Rwanda. Under his management, Tigo become the first company to commercially launch with an extended generation of technology that includes 3.5 and 4G among others. The company was also the first to introduce the lowest denomination scratch card so customers can top up from as little as Rwf300. Seacom’s broadband to be delivered through national backbone New Artel Rwanda has said that it will deliver the high data rate Internet access from Seacom’s undersea fibre-optic cable through the national backbone. The government-owned Internet Service Provider (ISP) had planed to land the submarine cable to Rwanda through Uganda Telecom’s Point-of-Presence (POP), Rwandatel. Officials said that it was discovered that Rwandatel does not have the capability of delivering the 155 Mbs capacity, something that caused delays in the implementation of the project. “In order to have a more reliable connectivity, the capacity will be delivered through the national backbone fibre-optic by UTL from Gatuna to Kigali,” Francis Karemera, CEO of New Artel said in interview on Tuesday. Currently, there is a focus on accelerating the deployment of Kigali-Gatuna link which is critical to connecting Rwanda to the submarine cable. DN international in $6.2 million project DN International, a real estate development company has embarked on a project that will see the firm complete construction of over 50 residential housing units by the end of this year. Management says it has set aside Rwf3.5m ($6.2million) for the project that will partly help Rwanda to bridge the current housing deficit that stands at 25,000 units annually. In an interview with Business Times, Nathan Loyd, DN International’s CEO said the project dubbed “Green Park Villas” is intended to address the housing needs of middle and upper income class. “This project is more spacious with more facilities such as servants’ quarters, contrary to the first project (Hill View Estate),” he said. The residential houses are under construction on a plot of 8 hectares located in Rusororo, Gasabo district. According to the architectural plan, the estate will have among others, a communal swimming pool, a commercial centre, a recreation centre and a water treatment facility. Upon completion, the 4 bedroom houses will cost Rwf75million and payment can be done in three installments. However, Loyd mentioned that the pending mortgage law is negatively affecting his business with banks reluctant to embrace mortgage financing. Ends