AFRICA NEWS AGENCY
RWANDA:
A FINANCIAL HUB ?
Authorities rely on a secure and prosperous business and investment environment to position Rwanda as a financial hub- Photo credit KIFC
Determined to develop Rwanda’s financial center, the country’s authorities have pulled several levers to make this ambition a reality By Ange Iliza, in Kigali
Announced in early November by the Kigali International Financial Center (KIFC), the launch of the Virunga Africa Fund - a $250 million investment vehicle focused on impact investing and jointly endowed by the Qatar Investment Authority and the Rwanda Social Security Board - is the latest manifestation of the Land of a Thousand Hills’ will to become a major financial center.
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« We want KIFC to be a new destination for pan-African investment »
KIGALI WANTS ITS CITY Kigali wants its City. And to achieve this goal, a legal and regulatory framework has been put in place, as well as a task force made up of the cream of the continent’s finance specialists, including the Ivorian Tidjane Thiam, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Rwanda Finance, Liban Soleman Abdi, former Chief of Staff of the President of Gabon and Chairman of the National Investment Promotion Agency of Gabon, and Umulinga Karangwa, Managing Director and founder of Africa Nziza Investment Advisory,
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targeting institutional investors in sub-Saharan Africa. And a roadmap.
MAKING THE COUNTRY A PRIVILEGED DESTINATION FOR INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT
The objective is to make the country a privileged destination for direct foreign investment and a leading commercial hub in the eastern and central regions of the continent. This requires the establishment of a leading financial center in Kigali. The Kigali International Financial Center (KIFC) or “The City” is a new financial center to facilitate international investments and cross-border transactions in Africa.
To succeed, Rwanda is working to establish close cooperation with the main stakeholders for its outreach, through investment promotion, political advocacy and capacity building in the sector. Ultimately, it will facilitate pan-African investments by offering an
