New strategy to boost cross-border trade

The government has introduced a new strategy aimed at facilitating and promoting cross-border trade.The strategy is the first to focus on cross border-trade and will be able to address challenges hindering smooth running of business at the borders.Speaking to The Sunday Times yesterday, Alice Twizeye, the Director of External Trade in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, said traders based near border points face many challenges that need to be addressed.Some of the challenges include lack of financial facilitation, especially loans from Banks, due to their small business status. They also need permanent market points at the border areas to reduce transportation costs while crossing into neighboring countries to sell their products.“What we want is to facilitate our traders and ease their doing business by playing advocacy roles with”, Twizeye explained.She added that the new strategy expected to be launched this month will also tackle the issue of solving infrastructural challenges like roads and markets.The government plans to establish a One-Border post in Rubavu District bordering Goma in Democratic Republic Congo, to avoid traders spending too much time in processing documents.DRC is Rwanda’s largest regional export market, and according to statistics from the National Bank and Rwanda Revenue Authority, last year, an estimated Rwf 41 billion was exported to DRC, both formally and informally.Exports to the DRC accounted to close to 70 percent of total formal cross border exports and almost 80 percent informal exports. Burundi is Rwanda’s second largest cross-border market accounting to Rwf 8 billion in 2011, while exports to Uganda amounted to Rwf 5 billion and exports to Tanzania were 0.7 billion.The ministry is now conducting validation workshops in various border areas seeking more inputs from the beneficiaries before it’s launched.While addressing a meeting in Rusizi District in the Western Province recently, Francois Kanimba, the Minister of Trade, said the vision of the Cross-Border Trade Strategy was to create a dynamic and diversified trade with neighboring countries, creating jobs and income in both the formal and informal sectors, and improving the trade balance. “The strategy is closely aligned with the Trade Policy Mission of growing sustainable and diversified products and services for trading locally, regionally, and internationally, with the aim of raising the living standards of Rwandans,” Kanimba said.