Hospitality sector tops 2nd quarter investments

Hospitality business is the most attractive sector in the country, Rwanda Development Board’s (RDB) provisional statistics for the second quarter, indicate. RDB says that the statistics which cover the period from April to June 2011 show that Rwanda attracted investments worth over US$140 million with the hospitality industry topping the list with US$36 million.. Real estate comes second with investments totalling over US$31m followed by agriculture that attracted investments worth over US$25 million. Financial and insurance sector recorded over US$16 million while construction managed to attract US$10 million. Mining, manufacturing and other sectors pooled a combined US$18 million. A notable trend in the provisional report availed exclusively to The New Times, is the steady influence of local investors who feature prominently in the list of the registered investments. A pool of local investors represent well over half of the 34 biggest registered investments for the period under review. The report shows that the biggest project is the Paradise Hills Hotel, a joint venture between Indians and locals to be put up in Karongi District while the Rwanda Tourism University (RTU) commercial complex project is listed as the second biggest being undertaken exclusively by a local investor, Zulfat Mukarubega. From the wider East African Community (EAC) pool is the long awaited entry of one of Kenya’s leading commercial banks, Equity Bank, as well as the expansion of Nakumatt supermarket chain through the planned opening of a new store at Kigali City Towers (KCT). Top officials at RDB attribute the increased appetite by local investors to the increasing confidence the Rwandan people have in their economy. “It means that our local private investors are becoming stronger and are now capable of making big investments too. This trend is very important for the purposes of complementing Foreign Direct Investments,” said RDB Chief Operating Officer Clare Akamanzi in the exclusive interview with The New Times adding that, opportunities in the country should be tapped by both foreign and local investors who are capable. Full report of the exclusive interview with RDB COO in tomorrow’s edition. Ends

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Hospitality sector tops 2nd quarter investments