African infrastructure meet opens

KIGALI - The infrastructure Minister, Vincent Karega, has urged senior executives from major infrastructural companies as well as decision makers from African governments to improve continental accessibility if development is to be achieved faster. Karega made this call yesterday at the official opening of a two-day African conference that brings together private firms, donor agencies and regulators to discuss how infrastructure, mainly roads and rail, can be fast tracked. “The scarcity of roads and railway infrastructure impacts negatively on the development of our continent. Africa is the major place where we talk of a village hundred miles away as a remote place,” he said. “By remote we don’t mean far away, but inaccessible. We need to invest in the development of long-term master plans for both roads and railway infrastructure and beyond.” The Minister added that the meeting should be a platform to generate ideas on how to develop Africa’s infrastructure in a bid to achieve country by country development goals as well as promote business growth in the region. “We are committed as a country to revamp our infrastructure sector as we believe it is the backbone of our socioeconomic transformation agenda known as vision 2020.” He also added that Rwanda has 14,000 km of road network but only 20 percent are tarmac while others are in bad state emphasizing that improving them will boost the country’s trade and commerce. The Division Manager in charge of Aftercare, Monitoring Investment Promotion and Implementation at the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Vivian Kayitesi, also discussed the benefits of investing in Rwanda. Various participants expressed interest in the country’s investment opportunities and climate commending RDB’s capability to register a business within 24 hours only. Ends

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African infrastructure meet opens