News Categories: Rwanda News

Standard Chartered Bank, Tanzania sign facility agreement for SGR project

DAR ES SALAAM, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) --Tanzania's Ministry of Finance and Planning on Thursday signed a facility agreement with Standard Chartered Bank for a 1.46-billion-U.S.-dollar loan to finance the construction of the standard gauge railway (SGR) project from the commercial capital Dar es Salaam to Makutupora in the capital Dodoma. Running approximately 550 kilometers long, the SGR project is one of the country's biggest projects connecting Dodoma to Dar es Salaam via Morogoro and Makutupora, said a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance and Planning. Speaking at the event to sign off the deal, the Minister for Finance and Planning, Philip Mpango, said with the help of Standard Chartered and other partners, the project financing will further increase direct employment in Tanzania. Sanjay Rughani, Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Tanzania, said that deal signified investor confidence in the market and demonstrated Standard Chartered's international network capabilities and commitment to Tanzania. "We are delighted to have reached this milestone in Tanzania to fund the SGR project that will deliver massive benefits to Tanzania and support the government's 2025 vision of making Tanzania an industrialized country," said Rughani. Rughani added that the bank will continue to leverage its unique network reach, and the credibility it has built over time, to further position Tanzania as the go-to destination for investments. Once complete, said the ministry's statement, the SGR project will provide a safe and reliable means for efficiently transporting people and cargo to and from the Dar es Salaam port. According...

FEATURED: American Chamber of Commerce visits DP World Kigali – Rwanda’s Dry Port

American Chamber of Commerce in Rwanda (AMCHAM) delegates, on Wednesday 12th, toured DP World Kigali to learn how import and export services have been revolutionized. After the visit, Lauren Nkuranga who led delegates expressed their commitment to strengthening their businesses in Rwanda. Delegates toured DP World’s two fully functional bonded warehouses with modern racking system that has been newly introduced in Rwanda and operated by articulated forklifts the second of its kind in Africa. They were explained world-class logistics services that eased, for instance, Truck-Turnaround time from 10 days to three days within the free-time range. As DP World goal is to make logistics easy and affordable in Rwanda, AMACHAM members were relieved by how fast and easy their businesses will be made by the Dry Port’s services. “As AMCHAM, we are always looking for better ways to do business and with DP World, we see a lot of opportunities to get our products into and out of Rwanda more easily. One of our biggest challenges is transparency in cargo movements and we have seen a solution here at DP World,” Lauren Nkuranga says. Nkuranga, as one of American businesspeople in Rwanda and member of AMCHAM made the comment after touring DP World Kigali Logistics Platform at Masaka, Kicukiro. She also added that DP World’s kind of services will enable business people worldwide to see Rwanda as attractive place for their businesses, and encourage growth of businesses in Rwanda. The U.S Ambassador to Rwanda, Peter Vrooman who was among the...

Rwandan Companies Dominate 2019 Business Excellence Awards

Rwanda Development Board (RDB) has awarded the best and emerging business at the seventh edition of the annual Rwanda Business Excellence Awards 2019. The colorful ceremony, held in Kigali yesterday, and highlighted Rwanda’s private sector investment growth, did not recognize any winner in the customer care sector but growth made by local companies and women in business. “This category didn’t meet the requirements of the competition and judges decided not to award this category,” said the RDB CEO, Clare Akamanzi. Eleven companies received medals and cash prizes which were scooped by local companies. At the awards ceremony, Master Steel Rwanda emerged as the overall Investor of the Year, replacing the 6th edition winner-I&M Bank, from the previous year. Volkswagen (VW) Mobility Solutions, which has an assembling plant in Kigali netted the Emerging investor of the Year award while Awesomity Labs-a Rwandan company of four youth who developed a mobility application for VW car (Move App) also snatched the Young entrepreneur of the Year award. Young entrepreneur of the Year award was highly contested with equally promising youth-led companies like Carl group- which makes bread out of sweet potatoes from over 200 farmers, and MS computer Ltd- which had Rwf4 billion revenue turnover in 2019. From a single staff, the company’s employees grew to 40 employees. Africa Improved Foods (AIF) retained its award of the Exporter of the Year, which they scooped from two serious competitor BGM Bakresa Azam who were beaten in volumes of locally made products exported out of Rwanda....

Roadshow to help Rwandan businesses tap into AfCFTA

By   The Independent Kampala, Uganda  | THE INDEPENDENT | The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has announced a roadshow in Kigali to show the Rwandan private sector how it can become a primary beneficiary of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which will provide significant opportunities to access the largely untapped markets and sectors in an integrated African market of over 1.3 billion people. Organised in collaboration with Rwanda’s Private Sector Federation (PSF) on 11 February 2020, the roadshow will seek to raise the awareness of the Rwandan private sector about the substantial benefits of attending the second Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2020) which is taking place in Kigali from 1 to 7 September 2020. According to Afreximbank, Rwandan businesses can take advantage of the AfCFTA by establishing new networks of business buyers and sellers from across the African continent, enabling the country to significantly expand its intra-African trade. Prof. Benedict Oramah, President of Afreximbank, said: “Rwanda’s economic transformation is undoubtedly one of Africa’s success stories. Rwandan businesses can further capitalise on this achievement by positioning themselves to take full advantage of the AfCFTA. Its removal of intra-African trade tariffs, progressive dismantling of non-tariff barriers and protectionism, will create a genuine single continental market. By attending IATF2020, they will gain an unrivalled opportunity to showcase their goods and services to buyers from across the African continent, whilst establishing new trade and investment links with a wide network of private and public sector players from more than 55 different countries.” Benedict Oramah IATF2020...

Rwanda To Host AfCFTA Road Show As Continent Expects To Seal $40Bn Deals

By Dan Ngabonziza Rwanda’s Private Sector Federation in collaboration with African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), have announced a planned roadshow that will sensitise the business community on the benefits of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). In March 2018, Rwanda witnessed the historic signing of the AfCFTA – a continental single market set to connect 1.3 billion populations. The single market will come into force in July this year. African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has been championing the private sector to boost the market through different initiatives such as Intra-African Trade Fair. Rwanda won the ticket to host this year’s IATF2020 which is expected to trigger deals worth $40 billion. Ahead of the Trade Fair, Afreximbank and PSF organised the road show that will Rwandan private sector how it can become a primary beneficiary of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which will provide significant opportunities to access the largely untapped markets and sectors in an integrated African market of over 1.3 billion people. The roadshow will be conducted on February 11 and will provide members of the private sector in the country the substantial benefits of attending the second Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2020) which will take place in Kigali from 1 to 7 September 2020. According to Afreximbank, Rwandan businesses can take advantage of the AfCFTA by establishing new networks of business buyers and sellers from across the African continent, enabling the country to significantly expand its intra-African trade. In a statement released on Thursday, Prof. Benedict Oramah, President...

Report: Africa Delivers Largest Profits on Investment

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - JANUARY 20: (Top L-R) South Africa's Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Mandisa Pandor, Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmend, Angola's President Joao Lourenco, Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, World Bank President David Malpass, UN executive secretary of Economic Commission for Africa Vera Songwe and IMF Africa Director Abebe Aemro Selassie, (Middle L-R) Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth, Mauritania's President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, Malawi's President Peter Mutharika, Britain's Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom, Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta, Guinea's President Alpha Conde, Britain's International Trade Secretary Liz Truss, Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo, Democratic Republic of Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi and Tunisia's President Kais Saied, (Bottom L-R) Britain's International Development Secretary Alok Sharma, Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni, Sierra Leone's President Julius Maada Bio, Senegal's President Macky Sall, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Rwanda's President Paul Kagame, Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari, Mozambique's President Filipe Nyusi, Morocco's Prime Minister Saad-Eddine El Othmani and Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara pose during the family photo at the start of the UK-Africa Investment Summit on January 20, 2020 in London, England. The British PM is hosting African leaders and senior government representatives along with British and African businesses during the UK-Africa Investment Summit, aimed at strengthening the UK’s economic partnership with African nations. By CNN For Citizen Digital British companies have made bigger profits investing in Africa than in any other region of the world, according to a new report from the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), which urges firms to...

Northern Corridor deal set for review

In Summary The committee noted that there was a significant improvement of cargo transit time along the Northern Corridor following infrastructure initiatives undertaken in Kenya between 2013 and 2019. On infrastructure, the committee agreed to seek funds to improve roads especially in South Sudan, where less than one per cent of roads are in a good state according to the Northern Corridor Transit Transport Co-ordination Authority 2019 report. By ANTHONY KITIMO The 10-year-old Northern Corridor trade agreement will be updated by March to address emerging trade opportunities, meet current needs and boost regional trade. This was the main resolution of the 48th executive meeting of the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Co-ordination Authority member states — meeting in Mombasa, Kenya recently. The member states are Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi. “The revised draft of Agreement and protocols has been received and is awaiting a validation workshop in March this year before its submission to the Council of Ministers,” said executive secretary Omae Nyarandi. The revised trade agreement will include the use of Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway, which was not there in 2007 when the agreements were being drawn up; joint funding of infrastructure such as roads, one-stop-border posts, motion weighbridges; and speed up implementation of the Customs Union Protocol by adopting a single window system for regional custom data transfer to end cross-border delays. Trade Mark East Africa has committed budgetary support of $393,000 for the recruitment of system developers to enhance the current...

UN raps Uganda, Rwanda over trade

UNITED NATIONS, Sunday ” U.N. experts accused Uganda and Rwanda on Friday of refusing to provide straight answers about their role in an illegal trade in minerals plundered from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo. UNITED NATIONS, Sunday ” U.N. experts accused Uganda and Rwanda on Friday of refusing to provide straight answers about their role in an illegal trade in minerals plundered from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo. The expert panels report surfaced as all five governments of Africas Great Lakes region assured the U.N. Security Council of their continuing support for a long and costly internationally backed campaign to bring peace, stability and development to the war-torn zone. Uganda is suspected of facilitating the illegal export of Congolese gold while Rwanda is believed to be helping smuggle out tin ore, but both countries provided erroneous information when asked about their activities, the experts said. Despite a U.N. arms embargo, deficiencies in weapons marking and record-keeping requirements have made it virtually impossible to track the arms trade in Congo, the experts said, calling on Congo to set up its own arms marking system. Source: New Vision

Rwandan Companies Dominate 2019 Business Excellence Awards

Rwanda Development Board (RDB) has awarded the best and emerging business at the seventh edition of the annual Rwanda Business Excellence Awards 2019. The colorful ceremony, held in Kigali yesterday, and highlighted Rwanda’s private sector investment growth, did not recognize any winner in the customer care sector but growth made by local companies and women in business. “This category didn’t meet the requirements of the competition and judges decided not to award this category,” said the RDB CEO, Clare Akamanzi. Eleven companies received medals and cash prizes which were scooped by local companies. At the awards ceremony, Master Steel Rwanda emerged as the overall Investor of the Year, replacing the 6th edition winner-I&M Bank, from the previous year. Volkswagen (VW) Mobility Solutions, which has an assembling plant in Kigali netted the Emerging investor of the Year award while Awesomity Labs-a Rwandan company of four youth who developed a mobility application for VW car (Move App) also snatched the Young entrepreneur of the Year award. Young entrepreneur of the Year award was highly contested with equally promising youth-led companies like Carl group- which makes bread out of sweet potatoes from over 200 farmers, and MS computer Ltd- which had Rwf4 billion revenue turnover in 2019. From a single staff, the company’s employees grew to 40 employees. Africa Improved Foods (AIF) retained its award of the Exporter of the Year, which they scooped from two serious competitor BGM Bakresa Azam who were beaten in volumes of locally made products exported out of Rwanda....

Building Green Cities across Africa

Building Cities in Africa – FBW Group Development News UK and Africa businesses urged to “seize the moment” A leading East African architecture and engineering firm is urging businesses in the UK and Africa to “seize the moment” following a major summit looking to deliver more investment and jobs. FBW Group, which is helping deliver large-scale development projects across the region, has also welcomed UK International Development Secretary Alok Sharma’s pledge of new aid to help build green cities across Africa with quality infrastructure. Malawi Creator Centre, Medical Training building: The new UK Centre for Cities and Infrastructure that he has announced aims to “turbo-charge investment” in fast growing cities across the developing world. It will provide British expertise to African governments and city authorities to improve the way cities are planned, built and run, including making them more environmentally-friendly. The focus will be on improvements to infrastructure, including water and energy networks. Mr Sharma’s announcement came on the eve of the UK-Africa Investment Summit 2020 which took place in London earlier this month (January). In the post-Brexit world the British government is looking to increase exports and encourage UK companies to be more active globally – and specifically turn their attention to markets like Africa. The aim of the London summit was to create new lasting partnerships to deliver more investment, jobs and growth, benefiting both Africa and the UK. It brought together UK and African business representatives, African leaders, international institutions and young entrepreneurs. FBW has operations in...