Business round-up

Rwandatel lays off 137 Rwandatel has laid off 137 people in move to cut costs. The number represented 43.2 percent of the company workers. The Telecom Company is currently fighting court battles that could easily lead to its liquidation.The workers were from various departments including finance, commercial and human resources. They also included drivers and technicians. Rwanda Regulatory Agency (RURA), the telecom regulator recently withdrew Rwandatel’s GSM Mobile license. The office of the Registrar General later declared Rwandatel technically bankrupt. Rwandatel’s administrator, Richard Mugisha, who was appointed by the commercial court, said laying off workers was sad but done in a spirit to keep the company afloat. SSFR receives Rwf130m from Safaricom - Kenya The Social Security Fund of Rwanda (SSFR) received Rwf130 million (Ksh18.9 million) as dividends for the second year running by Safaricom. This is part of returns of SSFR`s investment in the Kenyan telecom operator. SSFR invested $US7.6m (Rwf4.4b) during Safaricom’s Initial Public Offering (IPO) in 2007. SSFR owns 96 million shares in the company, a step it took to diversify its investments across the region. Safaricom’s net profits for the year ending March 2011 slid by 13.2 percent to Ksh13 billion (Rwf89.3 billion), down from Ksh15 billion (Rwf103.1 billion) in 2010. The operator decided to hold investors’ take home steady at Ksh8 billion (Rwf55 billion) despite a drop in earnings. This represents 61 percent of the total profits or 20 cents per share. The Director General of SSFR, Afrique Ramba, said that NSSF is not worried about Safaricom dropping margins.He said that the telecom company faced stiff competition in the market that led to a drop in profits. But it remains the giant operator in the Kenyan market. Rwangombwa Challenges PSF’s “Shallow” Budget Position Paper The Minister of Finance, John Rwangombwa described the budget position paper by the Private Sector Federation (PSF) as not representative of the whole private sector.The umbrella organ of the business community recently presented to the Ministry of Finance a paper among others pushing for excise duty cut on beers that use local raw materials by 40 percentage points to 20 percent from 60 percent. PSF Chairman, Robert Bayigamba said the incentive is for breweries to promote utilisation of local raw materials and avoid spending the huge amount of money on those imported. He said the move will encourage the Rwanda beer industry to develop a supply chain based on locally produced raw materials. However, Rwangombwa said the presentation does not include all the private sector views, urging that PSF should always make consultations to ensure all stakeholders involvement in the drafting process. Ernst & Young Entrepreneurship award comes to Rwanda Ernst & Young, renowned auditors gave an opportunity to Rwanda entrepreneurs to compete for an international business award. This was after the launch of the East African chapter of the Entrepreneur of the Year, when Ernst &Young opened Rwanda’s programme for the prestigious award. The Regional Managing Partner for Ernst& Young East Africa, Gitahi Gachahi, said the award targets successful businesses that are visionary and demonstrate a strong entrepreneurial spirit to create sustainability.He noted that the company will support courageous and talented people who are contributing to the region’s economy and social progress. Gachahi explained that the programme will improve the region’s entrepreneurial excellence and stimulate others. RwandAir to resume Gisenyi Flights Almost a year after the national carrier suspended operations on the Kigali-Gisenyi route to allow refurbishment of the airstrip, the carrier is now set to resume. Plans are also underway for RwandAir to start operating between Kigali and Rubavu. This will be the airline’s second domestic destination The carrier will operate four weekly frequencies on every Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Sunday beginning June 2, 2011. RwandAir’s Chief Executive Officer, John Mirenge, said that Rubavu is a highly strategic domestic destination both for local and regional travelers. He explained that the decision was based on the connectivity needs in the region saying the route to Rubavu is expected to make a valuable contribution to the network. RRA to host continental tax forum Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) will host delegates from 39 African tax authorities to participate in the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF). The forum will run from June 2 to 3, 2011. This meeting will aim at sharing experiences; assess principles of tax authorities as well as mobilizing domestic resources to improve administrations. The Commissioner General of Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA), Ben Kagarama, said that participants will review progress of past activities and also formulate new ones.Kagarama said that ATAF as a platform has the responsibility to promote and facilitate mutual co-operation among African tax administrations to improve the worth of tax legislation and administrations. Ends