Amb. Rugwabiza appointed new RDB chief executive, cabinet member

THE CABINET yesterday appointed former deputy director-general of the World Trade Organisation Amb. Valentine Sendanyoye Rugwabiza the new Chief Executive Officer of Rwanda Development Board (RDB). She was also appointed a member of the cabinet, according to a statement. Clare Akamanzi, who has been acting CEO, becomes the Chief Operations Officer (COO). At WTO, Rugwabiza was particularly in charge of development issues; including trade policy review, trade facilitation, and training and technical cooperation. She was also in charge of WTO work programme on aid for trade. Rugwabiza was one of the four directors-general who served under director-general Pascal Lamy from October 2005 to September 2013. Previously she served as Rwanda’s envoy to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Before that, Rugwabiza served in different senior managerial positions in the private sector both in Rwanda and abroad, including in a Swiss multinational. Rugwabiza is also the founder of the Rwandan Association of Women Entrepreneurs. In May, this year, Jeune Afrique magazine named both Amb. Rugwabiza and Akamanzi among the 25 most influential women in business on the African continent. Akamanzi has previously served as RDB COO, a position which, until yesterday, was held (in acting capacity) by Tony Roberto Nsanganira, the Head of Agriculture Development. Akamanzi was elevated to the position of Acting CEO of RDB in June 2012 after then chief executive John Gara was transferred to a new body, the National Legal Reform Commission, as its president. Gara had replaced Joe Ritch (now a member of the Presidential Advisory Council) at the helm of RDB in March 2010, about a year after the institution was set up. RDB is a merger of several previously autonomous parastatals with government saying the move was a well thought out strategy designed to serve the private sector with distinction. The merger helped cut red tape and resulted in a one-stop-centre which significantly enhanced service delivery to prospective investors, with World Bank now regularly listing Rwanda among top global Doing Business reformers and easiest places to start a business. Meanwhile, the same cabinet meeting approved Théodore Rugema Mutabazi as the Head of Division in Charge of Political Parties, NGOs and Faith-Based Organisations at the Rwanda Governance Board (RGB). It also named Gerald Mbanda as Head of Division in Charge of Media Affairs and Communication, RGB. The cabinet further approved five diplomats to represent their countries in Rwanda. They include Ayşe Sedef Yavuzalp (Turkey), Nyolosi Mphale (Lesotho), Karel Hejč (Czech Republic), Christian Ebner (Austria) and Prof. Jhony Fredy Balza Arismendi (Venezuela). Also approved are Michael Ryan, Head of European Union Delegation, and Jozef Maerien, Country Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).