Samsung, Oracle laud Rwanda on business and investment

Asured security, functioning commercial systems and the recent reforms that promote business play a huge role in attracting big companies to come and invest in Rwanda, Thierry Boulanger, the Samsung Africa director, has said. “Rwanda has the capacity of becoming an investment and financial hub in Africa. This is why Samsung is here,” he said. According to Boulanger, investors should not look at Rwanda in terms of its market size, but rather focus on how to tap into the vast opportunities the country offers, especially in the exports and technology sectors. He noted that small countries, including Singapore, United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong have attracted huge investments despite their geographical size. He challenged investors not only to focus on profits, but how they can help the country transform into a middle income economy that will provide more business opportunities. “The strategy to assist an economy grow is reciprocal because once households income improve, investors will benefit from the growing purchasing power,” Boulanger said on the sidelines of the ongoing Transform Africa Summit in Kigali on Tuesday. More than 1,500 delegates are taking part in the summit in Kigali. The summit is organised under the theme, “The Future Delivered Today,” and has brought together leaders, investors and entrepreneurs from across the world to devise ways on how Africa can leverage broadband to transform communities, governments and the private sector. Boulanger added that it is also important for investors to play a leading role in building local skills because it cuts operational costs and is efficient in the long-run. “Investing in training programmes reduces cost of production because firms will be able to get skilled workers locally. That’s what Samsung is doing in Rwanda,” he said. He, however, said it is essential for businesses to access cheap power to achieve sustainable growth. Gurhan Kalelioglu, the Oracle Investments vice-president, who is also attending the summit, advised Rwanda to invest more money in infrastructure development, renewable energy, skills growth and business reforms to further improve the business environment for enterprises to thrive. Rwanda was ranked the second-best country after Mauritius in the ease of doing business in Africa, and 32 out of the 189 countries surveyed globally, according to the World Bank Doing Business report for 2014.

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Samsung, Oracle laud Rwanda on business and investment