BUSINESS ROUND-UP

Rwandatel, BK to partner in mobile money service As the country strives to increase the number of bank users, Rwandatel is now set to unveil its ‘Mobile Money’ service, partnering with the Bank of Kigali (BK) as the receiving bank. The ‘mobile money’ service enables one to make a financial transaction using a mobile phone or any mobile device with SIM card technology. During an exclusive interview with the Business Times, Rwandatel’s Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), Francis Egbuson revealed that Rwandatel is finalising paper documents with the regulator, the National Bank of Rwanda (NBR). “We are planning to launch the service in the fourth quarter (Q4) of the year and we are very confident the service will be a success as we are taking lessons from our sister company, Uganda Telecom (UTL),” Egbuson said. The operator will invest Rwf900 million in developing the service and the officials say that the service will be much easier to use and they believe it will attract a wide range of clients. Libya African Investments Portfolio (LAP), the investment arm of the Libyan Government which owns 80 percent of Rwandatel is set to invest $94 million (Rwf53.6 billion) this year. Hima to benefit from Kigali Convention Centre deal A project involving the construction of the Kigali Convention Centre a multi-purpose and ultra modern conference centre has contracted Hima to facilitate the construction of cement in bulk tankers. The convention centre is being constructed by the Chinese Civil Engineering Corporation Company (CCECC). According to an official from Hima cement, the bulk tank supply is where cement deliveries are made in sealed tanks other than ordinary bags. “The deal to supply cement has been finalized and the first tank arrived this week,” said Edgar Odipo, the sales representative in Kigali. However, details concerning how much to supply was not revealed as CCECC has not placed an order at the moment. Odipo said that they have a capacity to deliver 28 tonnes in bulk tanks per consignment which is an equivalent of 560 bags and more than 2000 tonnes per month. Gov’t targets sustainable economic growth Government says it will continue to focus on achieving sustainable economic growth and alleviating poverty to consolidate the strong achievements registered in the last 10 years of reconstruction of the economy. Despite the impact of the global financial crisis, Rwanda’s economy has been resilient growing by 6 percent last year.Ministry of Finance projections indicate that the economy will grow by 7 percent this year. Addressing a press conference, Tuesday this week, ahead of the country’s celebration of 16 years of liberation, John Rwangombwa the Finance Minister said that over the last decade (1999-2009), Gross Domestic Product (GDP has averaged around 8 percent per year, oscillate between 13.2 percent and 2.2 percent. “So far the track record we have is solid. The experience we have gained in implementing our development plans gives us confidence that going forward we will be able to consolidate these achievements,” Rwangombwa said. “We have achieved this much with little capacity, with little experience in planning and implementing,” he added. In the first five years of the decade (2000-2010) Rwanda registered an average growth rate of 8.2 percent and averaged 7.6 percent in the final seven years. GDP per capita – which is the share of individual members of the population to the annual GDP – has moved in line with GDP growth to reach $520 in 2009, an increase of 115 percent from $242 in 1999. MBEA’s loss of license in Uganda won’t affect BRALIRWA IPO - CMAC MBEA’s loss of an operating licence in Uganda will not affect procedures to prepare Rwanda’s first Initial Public Offering (IPO) officials have said. MBEA brokerage services Uganda, is part of the consortium made of other brokerage agencies from the region, which won the bid to offer service as, the lead transaction advisers during the preparation of the BRALIRWA IPO set for later this year. BRALIRWA is the country’s top brewery company which also manufactures Coca Cola products. According to press reports, information attributed to Uganda’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA) indicated that on Wednesday, MBEA’s license was not renewed for the coming year, “due to the inability of the entity to meet its minimum net capital requirements”. MBEA’s clients in Uganda will now have to do business with Crested Stocks Securities with immediate effect because the agency has allegedly not met the stock market’s regulators licensing criteria for the coming year. However, according to the Capital Market Advisory Council (CMAC) which regulates bourse in Rwanda, the de-licensing of one of the oldest players in Uganda’s market was due to capitalization issues which are independent from the advisory services they will offer for the BRALIRWA IPO. Common Market ushers in cutthroat competition The Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry has called upon the local business community to prepare for ruthless competition from regional traders as the country implements the East African Community (EAC) Common Market. Rwanda joined the rest of the East African Community (EAC) member states to launch the Common Market Protocol that will allow the free movement of people, goods, services, capital and labour in the regionSpeaking at a press briefing at launch, Monique Nsanzabaganwa, the Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry, said that while the Common Market will provide enormous opportunities for the business community, the process will usher in stiff competition in particular for the private sector. “The reality is we shall have some industries losing but we will also others who will come up. Our private sector will be affected because it is young just 16 years old. Prior to the current government doing business was looked as a job for failures in life,” Nsanzabaganwa said. Ends