AfDB official says Rwanda’s business environment attractive

KIGALI - The vice president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Bobby Pittman, noted over the weekend that investors are now looking at Rwanda in a different perspective mainly because of the country’s better governance and less risky environment. He said this during the closing ceremony of the ninth Development Partners’ Meeting (DPM) at the Kigali Serena Hotel. “It is important for me to reiterate why investors are looking at Rwanda in a different way than previously,” said Pittman who was in the country for the fifth time. “Obviously, the number one thing that comes and the, reason for the progress, that we have seen here, is because of better governance and the opportunities here on the ground,” he said. “I also want to say again that in the global context, investments here are less risky than what people thought”. The latest DPM was held under the theme: “Effective Aid to leverage Private Investments and the Millennium Development Goals,” and it resulted in the adoption of the Kigali Statement of Action (KSA) which highlights several concrete actions and measures. The AfDB Vice President told the session that the continental bank will continue to be a strong supporter of Rwanda’s development plans. “It’s not an argument, the private sector is growing and investment is coming. We at AfDB already have a number of indirect private sector investments here in Rwanda, and they do very well…we expect to take four additional direct private sector investments to our board before the end of the year. “But for us, this is just a start. There is much more to come. We look forward to working with the private sector and foreign investors here in Rwanda to look at more opportunities – in power, in transport; especially in rail and of course air transport.” Last year Rwanda took top spot after being ranked best business destination and best world reformer, for passing seven reforms encouraging domestic and foreign investments. The DPM is a strategic forum for policy dialogue between government and its development partners. The objective of the 2010 DPM was to agree on concrete actions to address bottlenecks and key constraints to aid effectiveness and develop a strategy to further enhance synergies between aid and private investment for the attainment of MDGs. Ends

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AfDB official says Rwanda’s business environment attractive