Government has said the ground is now level for nationals and foreigners to equally compete for jobs in the country.A senior official has said foreigners will have equal opportunities like the nationals to access all jobs in the market with the exception of the civil service.“All jobs with the exception of civil service will be competed for on equal terms between foreigners and the citizens. We are already reviewing the law. In fact the proposal has been sent to Cabinet,” Justin Nsengiyumva, the Secretary General in the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, Investment Promotion, Tourism and Cooperatives, said in an interview early this week. Nsengiyumva was attending the launch of the regional youth training on conflict prevention, management and resolution in Burera District, Northern Province.The revelation comes a few months after Rwanda joined the East African Community (EAC), which at the Common Market stage that is yet to be negotiated, will require free movement of labour within the five partner states.Nsengiyumva said previously foreigners would secure employment in the private sector on condition that there were no Rwandans that possessed the required skills. He said: “Priority was given to Rwandans. It was until Rwandans of the required qualifications didn’t exist that foreigners could be considered. That will no longer be necessary. It is only the Civil Service that foreigners will be restricted.” Foreigners, he said, will be allowed to purchase and own land unlike in the past.“We have also resolved to lift restrictions on land ownership by foreigners. They can decide to purchase or lease land from Rwandan private landlords,” he said.He added that government is in the process of earmarking land for allocation to investors.He explained: “As an incentive to investors, government is going to earmark land to give to investors. We have started the registry exercise to identify the available land.”“We have reformed the land registry up to the lower levels of the community. In the past, allocation of land was not systematic,” he added.He however said work permits for foreign workers were to stay to cater for operational costs.He said: “Work permits will stay; it’s only the fees that will be revised. In addition we are going to reduce on the bureaucracy to access the work permits that has been in place. “Instead of applying to the Labour (ministry) for the permits and then visas at the Immigration department, we have decided to harmonise; all these including the work permits will now be accessed at the Immigration department.” Meanwhile, Nsengiyumva estimated that about 42,000 tourists will have visited Rwanda by the end of this year. He said the country hosted about 36,000 tourists last year.The secretary general said non-technical barriers including delays at weigh bridges and corruption had affected the country’s trade in the region. “A truck spends two weeks on average from Kigali to Mombasa and back. This is wastage of resources,” he said. Ends
