Govt set to adopt business reforms to improve W Bank rating

KIGALI - Rwanda’s investment climate sector and Doing Business ranking by the World Bank are set to improve, according to Vincent Karega, State Minister for investment promotion. Karega was appearing alongside Ms. Rachel Kyte, a senior vice president with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) a private investment arm of the World Bank. The World Bank rates 175 countries annually based on the nature of their policies in regard to attracting investments to the national economy. The Rwandan government has embarked on adopting several economic reforms to attract foreign investments. One of them is reducing the number of days needed to set up a business enterprise. In 2007 the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and the country office of the World Bank hired The Policy Practice, a savvy consultancy firm to advise economic policy makers on business reforms to improve local private investments. The Rwanda Private Sector Federation (RPSF) is undertaking the Business Climate Survey and has also hired a South African research organisation to study the cost of red tape (bureaucracy) to small and medium scale enterprises. Karega said it was necessary for government to identify policy decisions based on evidence; “all this work in research is necessary because it will provide us (government) with a database of information.” Commenting on Rwanda’s poor rating in the ‘Doing Business Index’ IFC Vice President said; “we rank countries to get attention of their governments about which reforms are necessary and thereby helping government t identify to adopt”. She pointed out that Rwanda, being a land-locked country, needs a highly efficient transport and logistics network. IFC has been active in Rwanda since 1976 but only increased their presence in the Rwandan economy recently. It has invested about $25 million in the past two years and advised the government on over 16 reforms to be adopted before July 2008. The reforms include time spent at the borders the removal of the requirement for all cargo to go through the weigh bridge at Magerwa. This took effect in January 2008. Ends

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Govt set to adopt business reforms to improve W Bank rating