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Magazine Promoting ‘Made in Rwanda’ MICE Special: Kigali welcomes the World Focus on RTIF16

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Magazine

Magazine Made in Rwanda

Contents

MICE Special: Kigali welcomes the World

Promoting Rwandan made products

THE ENTERPRISE MAGAZINE TEAM 2016 Edition CONTENT COORDINATOR

Phiona Kananga Head of Communications and Marketing PSF-Rwanda Published by The Link Publications Ltd on behalf of Private Sector Federation.

Private Sector Federation (PSF) P.O. Box 319, Gikondo, Kigali -Rwanda Tel: 2233 or +250 252570650 Email: info@psf.org.rw Twitter: @PSFRwanda1 Website: www.psf.org.rw

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Modernizing Kigali through Pooled resources

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Digital fabrication comes to Rwanda

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Rwanda: tracking progress of the Malabo declaration

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World Economic Forum on Africa comes to Kigali

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Rwanda hospitality sector gears up for WEF

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Improving and expanding horticulture in Rwanda

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Š 2016 Private Sector Federation All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means; electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except brief extracts for the purpose of review or reference purposes, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher and copyright owner.

Enterprise Magazine

Foreword

By Gasamagera Benjamin

An array of amazing stories!

Dear reader,

T

his edition of The Enterprise sets in at exciting moments in our country. Just recently we took yet another bold decision in our long standing commitment to good environment for business growth promoting “Made in Rwanda” products.

In this issue of The Enterprise, we throw our weight behind brand Rwanda, by sharing remarkable stories of young entrepreneurs that are headed to become big names.

Look out for our main article, an incisive take on efforts being made to promote “Made in Rwanda”, with a special focus on the creative youthful entrepreneurs at Uzuri K&Y who want to become an international brand originating from Rwanda.

Remind yourself of the basics of business success through the story of Discover Rwanda Youth Hostel, a Rwandan bed and breakfast hostel, which through sound business principles, has managed to grow from very humble roots to a respected SME in the hospitality sector.

MICE Coinciding with a couple of meetings, we have a section on the upcoming events

with special focus on the World Economic Forum, the African Union Summit and the African Hotels Investment Forum.

The events are part of the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences & Events (MICE) strategy by the government of Rwanda aimed at positioning the country as the events hub of the region and thereby boosting its foreign exchange revenues.

We feature a tale of achievements in eliminating NonTariff Barriers to intra-regional trade as well as a brief on the upcoming Rwanda International Trade Fair.

Finally, we share some vibrant images of a Signature Rwandan Dish developed by a group of local Chefs, with support from the PSF Chamber of Tourism. The dish, which is meant to tickle the palate with traditional treats served with artistic style, will be on offer at the upcoming WEF for delegates interested in sampling Rwandan gastronomy.

I hope you enjoy reading this issue of The Enterprise Magazine as much as we did putting it together.

Mr. Gasamagera Benjamin is the Chairman, PSF

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Enterprise Magazine

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Enterprise Magazine

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Enterprise Magazine

Promoting Rwandan made products

By Joseph Mudingu

In the last couple of years, Rwanda has been registering impressive economic growth, but this good outlook must be sustainable if it has to deliver the country the middle income dream. Key among the threats to the sustainability of this growth is the balance of trade not tilted in Rwanda’s favour due to a limited export base and over dependence on imports for local consumption. Other restrictions accessioned by this scenario include limitations in expanding employment opportunities.

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Enterprise Magazine

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o remove this anomaly, government has among other things planned to expand on the export base to 28 per cent by 2020, and these are not small ambitions by any measure. This target would enable a marked improvement in the balance of payments.

Thus, the ministry of trade and commerce has developed a Domestic Market Recapturing Strategy (DMRS) to help the country reverse the current trend. It complements the Government’s National Industrial Policy and National Export Strategy. The time horizon for the DMRS covers the period 2015 to 2020, coinciding with the Vision 2020 time frame.

For many years, Rwanda has had a

The main aim is to increase export revenues from US$1.277 billion in 2013 to US$4.515 billion in 2018 or approximately 28% average annual growth over the next 5 years

consistent external trade deficit, which has contributed to a negative balance of payments situation in the country.

In response, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MINICOM) considers the development of Rwanda’s existing and potential production capacity a priority.

Expanding and diversifying exports is central to improving the current account balance in the long term. Exports of goods and services over the last 5 years grew on average of 25% per annum and remain concentrated in a few traditional export sectors namely tea, coffee, and minerals.

The policy also aims at changing the mindset consumers toward locally-made products and boost value addition along the value chain of production. This makes it imperative to conduct and sustain made in Rwanda

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Enterprise Magazine campaign. The made in Rwanda Expo organized from February 25th to March 2nd 2016, is one of the activities of a robust awareness campaign launched by MINICOM in collaboration with the Private Sector Federation.

In order to strategize, mobilize and organize Rwandan stakeholders along this policy initiative, Government through MINICOM has developed a 5 year National Export Strategy in line with the new export targets set by EDPRS II. The main aim is to increase export revenues from US$1.277 billion in 2013 to US$4.515 billion in 2018 or approximately 28% average annual growth over the next 5 years The campaign is not only targeting consumers but also producers, especially small and medium enterprises, in terms of technology and innovation to boost production. It also seeks to enhance quality, standards, branding and packaging of locally produced products along the value chain.

There is also need for the private sector to partner with foreign investors in order to reach these ambitious export targets.

Equally, important is strengthening regional trade as markets there show there are potentialities for Rwandan products in the neighbouring markets.

It is in this respect that the MINICOM has initi-

The Made in Rwanda Expo is part of a robust campaign launched by MINICOM in collaboration with PSF Rwanda to promote locally made goods

ated the signing of memorandum of understanding and treaties with exporters from different sectors both internal and external.

Between January and May 2015, the exports’ revenues of six companies in manufacturing and agro-processing sector which signed MoU with MINICOM amounted to Rwf 2.6 billion, an increase of 12% over the same period last year.

Total exports of mining companies which signed MoUs amounted to Rwf 6.2 billion during the first five months of 2015, representing a growth of 11% over the same period in 2014. Tea exports have increased to Rwf 17.7 billion during the first five months of 2015 representing a growth of 11% over the same period in 2014.

MINICOM has also embarked on an exciting journey of organizing informal cross border trade into cooperatives and putting in place the required infrastructure like cross border markets.

Over 40 CBT cooperatives mainly women cross border cooperatives have been created and facilitated to increase their working capital.

MINICOM supported cross border trade cooperatives with finance which had been identified as a major challenge. The Ministry provided Rwf 195 million through BDF to cross border trade cooperatives.

Below: Some Rwandan made products that are sold internationally

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Enterprise Magazine

UZURI K&Y: Conquering the world one shoe at a time

By Emmanuel Rutayisire

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or the last one decade or so, the Government of Rwanda has aggressively promoted those practices that create an enabling environment for businesses and equal opportunities for the citizens.

Legal and economic reforms, coupled with promotion of gender equality are just some reforms aimed at motivating inclusive growth.

A number of female Rwandan youths are making good use of the opportunities presented by these efforts.

Uzuri K&Y located in upper Gikondo, a Kigali suburb, is a typical example of such undertakings.

Owned by Kevine Kagirimpundu and partner Ysolde Shimwe, Uzuri is testimony to the beauty of empowering people to exploit the opportunities presented by the globalized market.

Speaking during an interview, the two women say they are tapping into the potential presented by the recent initiatives by the Ministry of Trade and Commerce to promote ‘Made in Rwanda’ to stimulate entrepreneurship growth and offset a huge deficit in balance of trade.

Speaking of the company’s beginnings, Kagirimpundu notes: “My friend and I were working as partners when we started the business in 2013. We wanted to create something that allows employers and employees to work with the community.

The duo say they wanted to start

Promoters of UZURI K&Y, Kevine Kagirimpundu small with a brand that can become a factory or an industry and being young was not going to be a hindrance but an opportunity.

Today, the enterprise employs some 22 persons and has proved to a small portion of the market that Rwandan-made products can be good and functional.

There is a shared conviction in Rwanda it is these small and homegrown enterprises that will stimulate sustained growth; with young entrepreneurs exploiting the potentialities around them.

The company’s growth strategy is aligned to the goal of producing for the local market into which it now

sells some 150 pairs of shoes per month. Another 500 pairs are sold outside Rwanda.

“The local market is a growing market. As a company, we see ourselves as growing in terms of exports but we would like to embrace our local market as well because Rwandans need us.”

They laud government efforts to promote local industry: “They [government] banned second hand products, thus sooner or later we shall have the most affordable products on the market,” the 24 year old argues.

The Uzuri K&Y dreams big: “We want our company to become an international shoe brand that will make Rwanda known worldwide as a source of fashion items. ”

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Enterprise Magazine

Modernizing Kigali through Pooled resources

By Solomon Asaba

T

he move to modernize Kigali City took a toll when traders from Quartier Matheus were given an ultimatum to vacate the shoddy structures. The question for many was ‘what next’ and little did traders like Robert Mugume Know where to head.

“There were plans to set up a building to accommodate all the

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traders however at that time, the building was still on the lower level,” says a delighted Mugume.

Like him, many felt letting go of the busy area would result into a decline in business but holding back development was not the solution either. Besides, the area was increasingly becoming risky due to frequent fire outbreaks resulting from old and insecure electric cabling.

In the neighborhood of Quartier Matheus, a fully-fledged building by Champion Investment Cor-

poration (CHIC) Ltd has been developed with a capacity to safely and conveniently accommodate thousands of traders.

CHIC chairman, Tharcisse Ngabonziza explains the essence was to pool resources together to generate capital that would otherwise not be generated individually.

“We wanted to focus on bigger projects by putting resources together, it appeared easier that way and risks would be controlled if each individual made a contribution,” says Ngabonziza

Enterprise Magazine

Responding to the private sector call After the PSF call in 2008, CHIC was created and later businesspeople from Kigali were encouraged to join this limited company.

Mr. Ngabonziza reveals prior to this stage a number of consultations and meetings on how this was going to work had been held.

“This paid off because the company started with contracts to develop different places within the city among them the transformation of former Nyarugenge market into a modern shopping complex,” he says.

Although shareholders of the company originally were above 70, they would later reduce to 56 – a big force behind the facelift of Kigali. The latest of CHIC developments is the huge complex standing at Muhima opposite the bus terminal.

Despite the vast patches of undeveloped land within the city,

Rewards

Mr. Ngabonziza Christian CHIC observes that an overhaul plan to reinstate new structures that will be sold out to the traders at affordable price while preserving the beauty of the town remains imminent.

At least 1,500 rooms are available at the facility the six storeyed building valued at $30 million (Rwf22.2bn) located in the heart of Kigali City.

The building with quite an arty design stretches on about 54 square meters of land. CHIC management assures that the capacity of the building will be enough to accommodate all the traders wishing to be part of the holistic development in Kigali.

“Since the establishment of the company, four years ago, a number of reforms have come on board. Originally people would find it a problem to buy land and the same time complete buildings but the business reforms simplified construction works,” he says adding, “the number of days used to acquire construction permits have gone down from months to hours”

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BACKGROUND I&M Bank (Rwanda) Limited was the first Commercial Bank in Rwanda (since 1963). Major Shareholders are I&M Bank Ltd, DEG/KFW, PROPARCO and The Government of Rwanda. Today the Bank boasts of a regional presence in Kenya, Tanzania, Mauritius and Rwanda.

With clients across different segments i.e. Corporate/Investment Banking, SME and Retail Banking, the bank has gained a track record as a universal bank with a pioneering innovation in products and services and supporting the Republic of Rwanda’s strategy for Financial Inclusion.

OUR MISSION To become a company where the best people want to work. The first choice where customers want to do business, and where shareholders are happy with their investment.

The Bank of choice for Coffee, Tea, Minerals, Power, Telecoms, Construction, Hotels, NGOs, UN Agencies, Educational Institutions and Diplomatic representations.

OBJECTIVES

1

For our customers to say with pride: MY BANK

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For our staff to say with a sense of attachment and pride: I WORK FOR I&M BANK

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For our shareholders to say: I OWN I&M BANK SHARES

CORPORATE STRATEGY In the mid term, we aim to grow our Corporate, SME and Retail (Personal Banking) portfolio prudently. In terms of personal banking products, our focus is in providing varied mortgage and savings products. Our 1% deposit only mortgage product allows us to facilitate medium income mortgage needs and still maintain our position as the first and only bank in the market investment for the development to offer home equity loans. Our savings products are equally attractive earning customers competitive rates starting with deposits as low as RWF 30,000. We also provide flexible group staff loans at favourable rates through our I&M@work offerings to organisations which bank with us.

On the electronic banking side, we recently launched an electronic tax payment service available through our Mobile and Online Banking platform, VISA debit, credit and prepaid cards. We also partnered with VISA to provide mVISA which allows person to person payments as well as mass payments using mobile phones. This product has been successfully piloted to facilitate refugee payments in partnership with the World Food Programme which has widened our reach to the underbanked etur segment.

RISK MANAGEMENT

AWARDS

We have streamlined our processes for identifying risks that are associated with the nature of our business. Presently the bank enjoys a strong and stable risk management platform that provides assurance to our customers, management and stakeholders of the worthiness of the investments that have been made into this business. Overall, I&M Bank has strong, stable and independent risk management systems that allows us to monitor credit, operational, market and other risks in a pro-active manner.

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,

d

WHY I&M BANK?

LET’S TALK

We have the requisite knowledge and experience on the local market, being the first commercial bank in Rwanda. We understand the needs of different sectors of the economy and offer financial solutions tailored to meet their needs. Some of the products we have pioneered include: Online and Mobile Banking Leasing Loan Syndications Mortgage Financing Mobile Money intergration Offering dedicated counters to Institutional clients

BUSINESS

Trade finance

I&M VISA Credit, Prepaid & Debit

Asset finance

Electronic tax payments

Flexible savings products

Advisory services & Financial Management Training

Mortgage finance

INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS I&M Bank (Rwanda) Limited has become the first point of call for regional financial institutions that are looking to establish correspondent banking relationships within Rwanda. The bank enjoys partnerships with highly respected regional and international partners that include I&M Bank Ltd in Kenya - Tanzania & Mauritius, ING in Belgium, Citibank in the US, Commerze Bank in Germany, International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the European Investment Bank (EIB). Currently I&M Bank (Rwanda) Limited has been privileged to enjoy a long term line of credit from EIB.

ACTIVE INVOLVEMENT IN GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES The Bank actively supports the Republic of Rwanda’s Hanga Umurimo Program aimed at promoting self employment through providing start-up funding. In addition the bank provides free IFRS accounting skills training to SME owners through strategic partnerships with International Development Organisations.

FINANCIAL TABLES The bank’s evolution 2013-2015 has been as follows

WHERE WE ARE a) Kigali (8 locations) b) Gicumbi c) Musanze d) Huye e) Rwamagana f) Rubavu g) Karongi h) Rusizi

2013

2014

2015

Net Loans & Advances

65.6B

82.7B

94.1B

Total Deposits

99.0B

120.4B

123.0B

PBT

6.7B

6.4B

7.1B

PAT

4.5B

4.5B

4.9B

Capital Adequacy Ratio %

22.7%

21.9%

20.0%

Liquidity

54.0%

49.8%

52.8%

ROE

24.0%

22.9%

20.1%

“With our market and financial position, we are confident that we have developed capabilities, systems and strategies to finance diverse personal and business needs.”

Robin Bairstow, MD – I&M Bank (Rwanda) Ltd.

So, let’s talk business. Email us on info@imbank.co.rw or visit www.imbank.com/rwanda

@imbankrw

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Enterprise Magazine

Digital fabrication comes to Rwanda

By Emmanuel Rutayisire

E

ngineers at Fab Lab, Rwanda’s first digital fabrication laboratory are assembling a centre that at completion scheduled this May is headed to be a substance in encouraging private business to digitise fabrication processes to improve on product quality produced in the shortest time and at a minimum cost.

Eng. Claudette Irere who is coordinating the process of putting together the digital fabrication laboratory is full of hopes the centre will encourage manufacturers simulate what is being done there at a commercial scale.

This optimism is a replica of national development aspiration as embedded in the development blue prints, specifically the SMART Rwanda Master Plan. The bigger picture is for Rwanda to enhance its development agenda through digital transformation to expand socio-economic opportunities.

“We have people that perceive carpentry as a job for low strata. I think with digital fabrication this argument does not hold.

Some of traders waste time in placing orders and at times do not get the right material. This facility is doing prototyping,”Eng. Irere says.

The lab is rather inclined to do more of education than commerce because businesses will definitely replicate what is done here to commercial scales. One of the most important things that it will provide

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is a uniform technical prototyping platform for entrepreneurs.

In the face of declining global commodity prices and other challenges to continued and sustainable economic growth such developments offer an opportunity to stimulate structural transformation, particularly in the face of rapid technological changes that have the potential to create new industries and reduce inequality.

“We want to make people see that is possible. Whoever wants

a protype we can do for them and they source from anywhere,” Irere adds.

In the long run, in prototyping and producing good quality goods and solutions hitherto forming a big presence on the import bill such facilities will reduce on import bill.

It is such initiatives that will finally deliver Rwanda the big dream of attaining a knowledge economy status, powered by smart policies and investments.

MOUNT UP YOUR VISIBILITY, SOUP UP YOUR IMAGE,BE PART OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE

THE ULTIMATE BUSINESS NETWORK

www.psf.org.rw/goldencircle

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Enterprise Magazine

Elimination of NTBs boosts regional trade

By Solomon Asaba

T

hirty year-old Simba, a truck driver has been crossing borders for over 21 years. Entry points such as Gatuna, Malaba and Rusumo are fixtures in his movements; and irrespective of the conditions, this is a job he respects.

And yet in many ways the road has been far from smooth for Simba and his fellow truckers.He recalls the difficulties they have had to overcome: “Years ago the numerous de-

Trucks leave Rusumo One Stop Border Post. OSBPs have significantly reduced clearing time for goods.

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lays at the border required spending one or two nights at the border; sometimes more. Both our bosses and the clients faced difficulties in conducting business across the region,” says Simba.

In fact, the border delays Simba and his colleagues suffered were just one of tens of Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) between countries in the East African region that were impacting negatively on intraregional trade.

According to Mr. Safari Vincent, the Coordinator of Rwanda’s National Monitoring Committee for elimination of Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs), many of these barri-

ers to trade are now history due to concerted efforts by both the government and the private sector.

Rwanda’s Private Sector Federation (PSF) made the first survey on NTBsin 2008 to gather concrete evidence on the impact they were having on trade and transport.

“Someone from PSF went with a truck along the Central and Northern corridors to see observe firsthand the experience of traders, and reported a number of NTBs, including the more than 35 roadblocks and checkpoints from here to the coast,” Safari says.

“Following advocacy by the

Enterprise Magazine Private Sector Federation (PSF), a National Monitoring Committee on NTBswas set up, with MINICOM being the chair and PSF the co-chair,”he adds.

Significant progress According to Safari, progress so far has been very positive.

Since 2008, more than 100 barriers have been removed. Most of them were related to physical barriers such as poor infrastructure that caused inefficiencies on the borders and congestion at the ports and multiple weighbridges.

“Today, there is no road block in Uganda for transit vehicles, while in Kenya there are a few checkpoints due to security issues such as Al-shabaab, but they aren’t as many as before.

Tanzania only has 8 gazetted checkpoints between Dar es Salaam and Rusumo, down from about 30,” the NMC boss explains.

There is also improvement in infrastructure and working hours at border points and ports have been increased. For instance, the Tanzania port is now operational 24 hours.

Further, there has been a reduction in the number of weighbridges. In Kenya, for example, only 4 out of an original 7 remain.

“In Uganda, when you are coming from Mombasa, only you weigh at Busitema. Then when you are going to Mombasa, you do it from Mbarara; you are exempted from Busia, Lukaya andMagamaga on your export route,” Safari says, adding that just recently, Tanzania announced that all trucks would only be weighed 3 times, from the current 8 weighbridges.

Impact on trade Studies indicate that huge savings have been made by Rwandan business people through elimination of the various NTBs. According to the Evaluation

Report on “Formative Evaluation of TMEA Projects on Non-Tariff Barriers to Trade”, harmonization of road user charges from USD 500 to USD 150 between Rwanda and Tanzania has resulted in annual savings of about USD 800,000 annually by Rwandan transporters.

This is particularly noteworthy because studies by MINICOM indicate that the high charges previously levied on Rwandan trucks

by Tanzania had led to a drop in

Rwanda’s market share of the trucking industry from 21 to 14 per cent from 2007 to 2012.

Additionally, the cost of transporting a standard 40-foot container from Mombasa to Kigali went down from USD 6,500 in 2010 to USD 4,800 in 2015. Transporters and businesses have saved USD 7 million on the Mombasa-Kigali route alone during that time, says the aforementioned Evaluation Report.

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Enterprise Magazine

History meets Cuisine as top chefs develop Signature Rwandan dish

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o the many memories they will take from Rwanda, delegates at the upcoming World Economic Forum can expect to add that of signature Rwandan dishes that will titillate their palates and send them to sensory heaven.

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The healthy, fully organic dishes were created by five top Rwandan chefs by combining unique ingredients of traditional Rwandan cuisine- such as imishogoro (bean leaves), ibisusa (pumpkin leaves), urwagwa (banana wine), ubugali (cassava bread) and cray fish, picked from lake Ruhondowith more universal staples like chicken and rice.

The celebrated American chef, Sylvia Bianco, helped the team of Rwandan Chefs to ensure that their dishes meet international culinary standards.

“Everyone knows Italian, French, Chinese, Indian and Greek cuisines; why not introduce them to Rwandan gastronomy?” asks Francine Havugimana, vice chair of PSF’s Chamber of Tourism.

Enterprise Magazine

Sell more, Network, at Rwanda International Trade Fair 2016

T

his year’s Rwanda International Trade Fair will run from 27th July to 10th August, 2016 at the Gikondo Expo grounds, and is expected to attract over 500 exhibitors and hundreds of thousands of visitors.

The Rwanda International Trade Fair (RITF) is a fortnight-long event that is organised by the Private Sector Federation of Rwanda (PSF-Rwanda), in close collaboration with the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MINICOM).

It is a great opportunity for local and foreign exhibitors looking to invest in Rwanda, to enjoy first-hand experiences and immediate responses from domestic buyers in one location.

Last year’s trade fair, for instance, attracted a total of 311, 824 visitors.

The event is a valuable source of business information and market intelligence for exhibitors and buyers looking to establish regional distribution networks targeting the EAC and other neighboring markets.

TO BOOK SPACE IN RITF16 Invitation and Information Please apply for invitation through the Expo Website (www.exporwanda.com) or contact the Economic or Commercial Councilors of the Republic of Rwanda in your Country. For further inquiries and facilitation please contact the Expo Secretariat.

KARANGWA Ephrem Tel: +250 788307330 Email: ephremk@psf.org.rw MUKUNZI Marion Tel: 0788309541 Email: exposecretariat@psf.org.rw marionm@psf.org.rw Exhibitors can fill in the online booking form at expo.psf.org.rw

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Rwanda Mountain Tea Ltd growing to transform lives

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orn in 2006 out of the Government of Rwanda policy to improve efficiency of the tea sector through yielding controlling shares in tea estates to private investors, Rwanda Mountain Tea Ltd (RMT) has over the years acquired majority shares in the tea estates of Nyabihu and Rubaya (2006); Kitabi (2009); and, in a consortium with an Indian tea company, in Mata and Gisakura (2010).

More recently RMT has moved a step further by putting up a tea factory at Rutsiro in its program to diversify its production from the more conventional teas (black CTC) to orthodox and green tea. Rutsiro has also been assigned to production of organic tea.

RMT has gone a step further by availing blended packaged single and multiple origin Rwandan teas to the national and regional markets as a means of acquainting the general public with its quality product.

Over the years RMT has improved productivity of its tea estates through expert monitoring aimed at value addition to the extent that the tea estates not only increased their production but also revenue. RMT has furthermore upgraded its tea facilities and invested in acquisition of modern tea machines.

To access international markets, RMT has standardized its production and trade processes to the extent that it has secured international compliance certifications, namely ISO 22000:2005, Rainforest Alliance

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and organic. These certifications enable RMT products to be marketed and sold globally.

Tea Marks selling under RMT have attained international recognition for their improved quality.

They have scooped quality prizes at different tea cupping events so that they sell today among the best 10 tea marks in the region among 173 others. The Kitabi mark has emerged among the best 10 black CTC tea in the world.

RMT has started in 2012 diversifying its investment to include the energy sector given its importance to Rwanda’s socioeconomic transformation. It has put up a 4 MW power plant at Giciye that is currently servicing the national power grid, and is in the process of finalizing another hydropower plant that will supply an additional 4 MW to the national grid.

Moreover RMT has been trusted to

manage 2 Rwandan hydropower plants by the government of Rwanda because of its acquired expertise in energy production and power plant management.

Impact of our work to communities RMT owns tea factories to which cooperatives of tea outgrowers supply 35 % of the total green leaf manufactured, thus providing an outlet for the farmers’ produce. These tea farmers furthermore own shares in the tea estates, and earn yearly dividends.

RMT tea estates provide reliable employment to 15,000 people. It is committed to alleviating poverty in Rwanda through different education, health and food security programs.

Where quality makes a difference!

Enterprise Magazine

Rice farmers in a plantation in Muhanga District

The rise of local rice brands

By Joseph Mudingu

A

s you approach the branded yellow and green Lucki mart that is located at Medi Motel building near kimironko market, it is hard to imagine that it is nothing but rice that is being show cased in neat stacks allround the shop.

Like in every lucki rice mart scattered all over the country, the rice mart attendants sit be-

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hind beautiful pink, gold and blue colored counters and are quick to jump to attention to serve and show who ever enters the shop the different types of rice all of which is produced in Rwanda.

Lucki Rice was established to provide Rwandan farmers a secure market for their quality rice and to provide Rwandan consumers an alternative to costly low grade imported product.

The total rice production in East Africa is around 1.3m MT, with Tanzania overwhelmingly the largest producer; Uganda is also

significant, with Kenya and Rwanda producing minimal volumes.

In 2005, Integrated Crop Management (ICM) was invited by the Government of Rwanda to investigate how it might assist the people of Rwanda to build an internationally competitive rice industry from its existing domestic base.

After an extensive review, ICM decided to participate in the Government’s Asset Privatization Program and acquired three rice mills in different regions across the country. The mills were acquired in joint ventures with the co-op-

Enterprise Magazine

eratives representing the many thousands of farmers.

ICM provided the capital, engineering, technical and agronomic support and the co-operatives arranged the growing and supply of paddy rice to the mills.

Since the beginning of the program in 2006, the domestic rice in-

dustry has expanded greatly with the development of many new irrigated areas, the introduction of new seed varieties and the building of several additional mills.

ICM has also been involved with the establishment of a nation-wide chain of retail outlets to ensure the Rwandan consum-

er has the choice of a variety of Rwandan produced rice and rice products for both adults and children.

As the industry continues to expand, the early initiatives recommended and instigated by ICM have helped to develop a vibrant and competitive rice industry which now competes favourably with any imported product.

The Rwandan rice industry is small by world standards yet with strong support from its many rice farmers the industry is now able to provide consumers with a competitive, high grade food product while at the same time adding to the food security of the nation.

The government of Rwanda is committed to upsurge rice production in the country. Another project aimed at increasing rice production in Eastern Province kicked off early this year. The Rwangingo marshland rice improvement project will cover 900 hectares of the swamp, and will help boost rice cultivation in the districts of Gatsibo and Nyagatare, agriculture ministry officials say.Â

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Enterprise Magazine

Rwanda: tracking progress of the Malabo declaration

By Solomon Asaba Following the Twenty-Third ordinary session of the African Union Assembly held in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea many countries reiterated their concerns over the significant proportion of the population which still remains vulnerable to the challenges of economic marginalization, hunger and malnutrition.

Food on sale in Kimironko market.

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Enterprise Magazine

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he observation came amidst positive achievements that had been registered in agriculture and economic growth although the

Rwanda has been engaging different interventions in ending hunger and malnutrition.

It was the first nation to sign the CAADP Compact in March 2007, the drive towards ending hunger and its related effects, according to the NEPAD report of 2009.

bigger resolution aimed at resolving these outstanding challenges igniting a review of the earlier 2013 Decision on Partnership for a Unified Approach to End Hunger in Africa by 2025 under the CAADP Framework.

Recommitment to the CAADP goals and principles as well as targets dubbed ‘Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation Goals 2025’ were enacted. The Maputo declaration outlines seven commitments geared towards fostering agricultural growth and transformation.

In ending hunger and malnutrition, Rwanda has been engaging different interventions and after being the first nation to sign the CAADP Compact in March 2007, the drive towards ending hunger and its related effects begun earlier, according to the NEPAD report of 2009.

The Maputo Declaration commits heads of various African countries to allocate at least 10 percent of public expenditure to the development of the agricultural sector and to aim to achieve 6 per cent growth in the same sector by 2015.

Fortunately, latest statistics from the Agricultural Ministry indicate that Budget allocation for agriculture stood at 10 per cent growth for the year 2014 with a 6 per cent growth. However more improvements are expected to result from partnerships & regional integration coupled with effective implementation of all sectorial policy actions and agricultural interventions.

Outstandingly agriculture improved welfare among groups and in the last five years rural poverty fell from 61.9 per cent to 48.7 per cent. It is also directly responsible for 45 per cent of the 12 point

drop - raising 1M of people out of poverty and mainstreaming food security and nutrition mainstreamed across the sector strategy programmes.

Home grown solutions to help improve food and nutrition systems (CIP, Strategic Reserve, One Cow Per Poor Family and Kitchen and school garden. These projects are under MINAGRI’S PSTA strategy.

During the PSTAII, four major programs were considered namely: Intensification and Development of Sustainable Farming Systems, Support to the Professionalization of Producers, Promotion of Commodity Chains and Agribusiness Development, and Organizational Development.

Organizational strengthening and capacity building are subprograms of the Organizational Development Program.

Since the Maputo declaration emphasizes the role of leadership in this development, the leading pillars of most programs include the restructuring of agricultural organizations of the public sector to efficiently develop and retain a high level of professional capacity in those organizations.

Although more efforts are needed, Rwanda’s growth in agriculture does not come as a surprise since capacity building is being given greater consideration by the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources to address the skills gap.

In fact a recent national skills survey commissioned by the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), through its Human Capital and Organizational Development (HCID), shows that the agriculture sector had a total skills gap of 13,095 employments, which is about 59.2 per cent of total employment.

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Enterprise Magazine

Experts come to Rwanda to discuss agricultural research

By Emmanuel Rutayisire

Rwanda hosts the Forum for Agriculture Research (FARA) in Africa this June, which brings together all sub-regional organisations involved in agricultural research on the African continent to harness the sharing of experiences and forming one voice in lobbying on key issues in the industry.

FARA is part of the African Union. It reports to the AU Commission and NEPAD, and organizers are betting on attendance of more than 1000 delegates from the entire world.

Participants during the AfDB Summit, Kigali 2014. It is one of the biggest conferences that Rwanda has hosted

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Enterprise Magazine

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he leaders in agricultural research and innovation from afar will be in Rwanda, making this a big event that businesses in Rwanda are expected to take advantage of – on the business side.

Also, hosting such meetings is important because it means new avenues are being opened in the possibility of Rwandan institutions establishing partnerships with world leading centres in research to improve their own capabilities.

“When you work alongside the best you are destined to improve, and this is important in research, which the government has placed high on agenda in its drive to have sustainable growths in agricultural sector,” says Dr. Patrick Karangwa of Rwanda Agricutlural Board.

FARA meetings are characterized by two major events; the general assembly that among other things elects leaders and draws plans, and the science week involving parell small meetings or one on one and exhibitions .

The overall theme of the 7th African Agriculture Science Week and FARA General Assembly is “Apply Science, Impact Livelihoods”.

The program of the Science Week is organized around the following five key sub-themes: Institutional systems and policies for making science work for African agriculture; Sustainable productivity growth, value chains and profitable agribusinesses; Human capital development and the Youth; 4. Sustainable financing of Science, Technology and Innovation for African agriculture; and Megatrends in African Agriculture.

“It is paramount. If you look at

Mr Akinwumi Adesina,Former Nigerian Agriculture Minister and current AfDB President speaking at the Agribusiness Forum held in Rwanda in 2013.

Agricultural revolution was largely driven by research. Little attention to research defines partly why Africa has lagged behind.

the history of developed nations, you will find research being a big player. Agricultural revolution was largely driven by research. Little attention to research defines partly why Africa has lagged behind.

However, research alone cannot turnaround agriculture, other ingredients like robust extension services to advise and organize farmers and inputs are key…

Knowledge from research centres should be able to permeate through and reach farmers,”Dr. Karangwa notes.

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A fully integrated maize firm, supporting nutritional needs of a growing nation

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INIMEX is an agribusiness c o m p a n y engaged in post-harvest handling in Rwanda through purchase, cleaning, drying, storing and processing of maize in its 5 silos of 1000MT each. It operates the largest maize mill in Rwanda with a production capacity of 43000 MT per year.

The company produces flour for human consumption, maize grits for beer brewing and bran for animal feed. MINIMEX products are certified by the Rwanda Bureau of Standards.

MINIMEX is also involved in agriculture, through Bramin, a joint venture with Bralirwa, the largest brewer in Rwanda. Bramin works with out-growers to enhance productivity.

In 2015, the company started procuring and dealing in locally grown beans, rice and sugar which are either exported or sold locally.

Hence, MINIMEX and its associated companies cover the complete maize value chain from maize production to enriched consumer products in a technologically advanced and socially responsible way.

Processes, Products and Clients According to Mr. Trevor Augustine, General Manager of MINIMEX, their maize flour is produced through an accepted food safety process (HACCP), and the end

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product is certified by the Rwanda Standards Bureau. The latest ISO certification will be achieved in 2016 “Our clients include institutions such as the WFP, MONUSCO, Rwandan Armed Forces shops and different schools.

Our products reach consumer markets in Rwanda and DRC through a network of independent distributors and through our own sales force,” says Trevor.

MINIMEX’s flagship product is the Fortified Maize Meal, which is produced according to standard RS EAS 768. The product contains micronutrients aimed at fulfilling the nutritional needs of a large part of the population. Included are Vitamin A, Vitamin B complex, Iron and Zinc. It fits the specifications of WFP.

“We are flexible when it comes to applying different formulas of micronutrients. We can produce nutrition products for specific niche markets,” he adds.

The pricing of our fortified maize meal products is based on Cost +, meaning that we do not make an extra margin on these socially important products.

Customer care MINIMEX prides itself of excellence in delivery according to contract no matter the urgency or order size; meeting time, quality specifications, while maintaining excellent customer interaction during the process.

Our aim is total customer satisfaction!

ProDev Ltd creating integrated maize supply chain in Rwanda, from field to consumer As more beer is produced, more maize will be purchased by brewers across the continent to produce beer.

To ensure steady supply, ProDev Rwanda has developed strong ties with the farming community (individual farmers, and cooperatives), and is an active partner of local and non-governmental organizations in cooperative development and capacity building programs.

A part from maize, the company is also involved in import-export of other agro-commodities such as rice, sugar and cooking oil.

The Prodev storage facility in Rwamagana

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aize, the American Indian word for corn, literally means “that which sustains life.” After wheat and rice, it is the most important cereal grain in the world, providing nutrients for humans and animals.

It also serves as a basic raw material for the production of starch, oil, protein, alcoholic beverages, food sweeteners, and fuel. Maize has the highest average yield per hectare. Created in 2006, ProDev Rwanda Ltd a company that operates under solid and structured corporate governance acting as the raw material sourcing and trading arm of the ProDeve Group Holding is making a good footprint in maize business.

The firm owns drying and storage facilities in Rwamagana district, and has established itself as the largest buyer of maize in the country.

Some of the biggest industrial buyers of maize are food producers and breweries. Breweries also use maize as a major raw material for beer production.

In 2008, in order to establish an assimilated supply chain of raw materials mainly maize, Bralirwa (Heineken’s subsidiary in Rwanda) entered into a joint venture with Minimex Ltd (ProDev Holding subsidiary) thus forming BraMin.

Today BraMin runs a fully mechanized and irrigated 450 hectare farm.

Apart from ProDev Holding’s plan to have a vertically integrated supply chain, its mandate is in line with Heineken’s local sourcing policy of securing at least 60% of raw materials within the country where its subsidiary operates.

Africans consume millions of litres of beer every year and this volume is expected to rise significantly due to population growth and economic prosperity.

Future Africa’s urban population and income is expected to grow by 64 and 33% respectively, this will signify a shift in many activities along agricultural value chains leading subsistence agriculture to evolve into market based agriculture. As incomes grow, consumers will opt for a diverse, more balanced, and nutritious diet. It is against this background that over the last three years, ProDev Rwanda and Minimex have embarked on a plan to position themselves to be part of the actors in the changing trends. The plan involves creating synergies that will add value to existing products, and improve efficiencies.

Finally, it is in the process of setting up a modern 8 tons per hour animal feed plan (operations scheduled to start in May 2016). Equipped with a pelletizer, the plant will be very well positioned to respond to the growing demand for high quality cattle and poultry feed products (immediately), and fish feed in the near future (1 to 2 years).

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Adding value to cassava, giving real returns to the farmer

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ith a capacity to process 120 metric tons of fresh c a s s a v a producing 30 metric tons of flour per day.

KINAZI Cassava Plant (KCP) located in Ruhango district, Southern Province is a leading cassava processing factory in the country and the region.

KCP currently produces high quality cassava four for local and export markets. This is a carefully prepared flour produced in respect to the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for foods standards referred to as “WHO-CODEX ALIMENTARIUS” for edible cassava flour.

Coupled with our great attention to detail, these are the standards applied to cassava flour intended for direct human consumption that is obtained from the processing of edible cassava roots at our plant.

Cassava is grown in much of the Southern Province at a higher scale than any other part of Rwanda; so promoters of the factory located it here to achieve investment objectives, but also respond to necessity of removing waste in the post-harvest handling of cassava.

This fits well in the overarching vision of supporting attainment of food security in Rwanda by undertaking such initiatives that boost the farmer’s resolve to produce more – well aware that waste is no option.

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KCP ventures into starch production Taking into consideration all important potentials of cassava, KCP is undertaking an extension project to establish a cassava starch processing line in Bugesera district. The starch line will have the capacity to process 500 metric tons of fresh cassava to process 100 metric tons of native starch powder per day.

This serves as input the production of some items like pharmaceutical products, food items, paper, ethanol, textile industry, to mention but a few.

It is also expected that production of starch will induce the local private sector players to set up factories that use starch as a raw material such as for mosquito reperants, glucose syrup (used in beverages as a sweetener) and pastries.

Some of the food and beverage items made out of starch

Other items made of out starch include pharmaceuticals, biodegradable paper products, mosquito reperants, textiles and glue.

KINAZI Cassava Plant (KCP)

Provide a ready market for farmers’ produce, boost food security and also be a source of foreign exchange Every safety factor for High Quality cassava flour is observed. KCP makes sure that the moisture content of the flour is kept at

12%

thus, prolonging the shelf life of the flour to more than two years. KCP flour is accepted on regional and international markets.

KCP currently produces high quality cassava four (HQCF) for local and export marketscarefully prepared in respect to the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for foods standards referred to as “WHO-CODEX ALIMENTARIUS

According to the current research, the nutritional, ecological and industrial potentials of cassava evidently proven that cassava is a prime source of carbohydrates and beta-carotene which are needed for a healthy and productive population.

KCP is undertaking an extension project to establish a cassava starch processing line known as the TAPIOCA STARCH PROCESSING COMPANY (TASCO) in Bugesera district.

Which has a capacity to process

500 100

metric tons of fresh cassava to process KCP factory has the capacity to process

120

metric tons of fresh cassava producing

30

metric tons of flour (conversion ratio)

4:1

metric tons of native starch powder.

Mainly used for production of pharmaceutical products, food items, paper products, ethanol, to mention but a few.

It is also expected that production of starch will induce the local private sector players to set up factories that use starch as a raw material such as for mosquito reperants, glucose syrup (used in beverages as a sweetener) and pastries, which would have to serve as substitutes for the otherwise expensive imports.

Contacts KINAZI CASSAVA PLANT LDT P.O. BOX 6359 Kigali-Rwanda Call: (+250) 788612993/255120081 Email: kinazicassavaplant@gmail.com Web: www.kcp.rw

Chillington Rwanda Ltd: meeting local need with world-class quality As Rwanda moves towards self-reliance, emphasis is being put on building the “Made in Rwanda” brand. This initiative is aimed at improving production capacity, then raising consumer awareness, about the quality, durability and competitiveness of Rwandan-made products.

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eading the way in this effort is Chillington Rwanda Ltd as the sole manufacturer of casted spares in Rwanda, and one of the foremost companies in manufacturing of machinery, spare parts, and tools in the East and Central African Region.

Chillington Rwanda’s products are in demand in a vast array of fields, including agriculture, mining, quarrying, cement, bricks and clays, trucks and heavy vehicles, tea, and coffee.

The company’s major products include stone crusher spare parts, wheelbarrows and farm machines like Chaffcutters and Combined Thresher and Winnowers.

Meeting local need According to Chillington Rwanda Ltd Client Representative, Emmanuel Bitega, in addition to the quality and durability of its products, the company’s competitive edge lies in the fact that its products are suited to local conditions and are carefully calibrated to satisfy the exact needs on the ground.

“Farmers complained that the imported ones tended to cut the grass too fine for cows to eat. To

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resolve this problem, we designed one that outputs the right size of straw in addition to being more durable. And, it has become popular with farmers,” says Emmanuel.

In addition to the quality and durability of its products, the company’s competitive edge lies in the fact that its products are suited to local conditions.

Indeed, as demand for small farm machines grows due in large part to the government’s efforts to increase farm productivity, more farmers are choosing Chillington Rwanda’s products precisely because they match the need and conditions on the ground.

But it is not just in Agriculture that the company has made its mark.

Conquering construction Chillington Rwanda also boasts a prominent and growing portfolio of clients in the construction industry. Industry leaders such as Horizon Construction Ltd, NPD Ltd, Petrocom Ltd, Cimerwa, Rusororo Aggregate Ltd, and others rely on Chillington’s stone crusher parts to turn big rocks into gravel for road works.

Also, the company can make virtually any spare in steel or cast iron and has a well-equipped machine shop to serve their clients’ needs.

As it grows from strength to strength, Chillington Rwanda Ltd hopes to become the East African leader in its field thus making “Made in Rwanda” the number one choice in the region.

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Industrial Park of Gikondo . P. O. Box 5387 Kigali, Rwanda Rwanda’s Rwanda’s Agricultural Agricultural Transformation Transformation Partner Partner 133 133 Rwanda’s Transformation Partner 133 Tel: Agricultural 0783 109 411 info@chillingtonrwanda.com Chillington Chillington Rwanda Rwanda . Industrial . Industrial Park Park ofof Gikondo Gikondo . P. O. O. Box Box 1162 1162 Kigali, Kigali, Rwanda Rwanda .. info@chillingtonrwanda.com . info@chillingtonrwanda.com Chillington Rwanda . Industrial Park of Gikondo . P.. P. O. Box 1162 Kigali, Rwanda info@chillingtonrwanda.com

Rwanda Grain and Cereals Cooperation; we buy, handle, store, sell grain and stabilize market prices “We are facilitating the growth of entrepreneurship in Rwanda along the grain post-harvest and handling value chain. We ensure market availability for farmers so they plan production well aware that waste is not an option,� says Mr. Alain Nzitatira, General Manager Rwanda Grains and Cereals Corporation.

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I

ssues of produce marketing pause one of the biggest challenges to the farmer in developing countries like Rwanda. Many a time, lack of markets and food scarcities are artificial in nature.

At the core of the corporation’s business are buying, handling and re-sale of beans, soya, maize and sorghum; this includes such critical services like testing for quality, sorting for grading, storing and reselling.

“Along the value chain businesses are created. People get jobs. Margins are made. This is part of what we are doing at regional level,” the official says.

RGCC works with over 250 cooperatives countrywide and buys more than 15,000 tons of grains and cereals every season.

Part of the key pillars of crop intensification programme pursued by government to bring about food security if postharvest handling to minimize loss to the farmer.

In order to address these challenges, Rwanda Grains and Cereals Corporation (RGCC) Ltd, a joint venture between the government of Rwanda and the private sector was launched in 2012.

RGCC is complementing such efforts by dealing with proper storage services and doing good market intelligence which are in produce market stabilisation.

Besides, multinational companies in our trade need reliable partners to rely on in sourcing supplies.

“We look forward to big ventures,” Mr. Nzitatira says.

The produce is later sold to processors, millers and institutions such as schools, Rwanda Correctional Services, Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs, the World Food Pro-

gramme, among others.

The strategy, officials at RGCC say is to set up storage facilities in each district with a warehouse receipt system. Here, farmers will get a warehouse receipt after depositing produce.

The receipt issued by warehouse operators specifies the

commodities quantity and quality, and the location where the produce was deposited.

The other advantage with receipting system is that farmers can use the receipts as security to secure finance, one of the major constraints to commercial farming in the developing world.

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Enterprise Magazine

Cooperatives and entrepreneurship growth in Rwanda

By Brekmans Oscar BAHIZI

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mall and medium enterprises are known to be critical players in the economy of many countries-developing as well as developed. In Rwanda, SMEs constitute about 98% of all businesses. SMEs contribute significantly to the reduction in unemployment via job creation; contribute to national income through creating new products.

Despite their recognized role and potential to contribute to national economic and social welfare, SMEs continue to suffer from numerous challenges; limited access to business development services, limited access to finance for growth and limited pool of managerial, technical and other critical skills.

To overcome some of these challenges, the cooperative model of business has recently become the most popular form of business in Rwanda. Cooperatives have permeated numerous business types. Today, we have cooperatives in different sectors including transport, mining, agriculture, fishing and tourism.

The cooperative business model helps solve some of the challenges SMEs face. They address the skills gaps in SMEs by tapping on the different capacities of their members. They are also able to raise resources from membership

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contributions. In addition, cooperatives are able to work with financial institutions especially microfinance institutions to alleviate the financial challenges faced by SMEs. Today, nearly 3.2 million adult Rwandans are members of cooperatives. The appeal of the cooperative to an ordinary Rwandan lies in the fact that it brings one together with close associates and neighbours who share a common vision for their future. Cooperatives are run on the well-known cooperative principles that allow members to participate in decision making as equals. Allowing people a voice in the running of a cooperative business creates trust, enhances accountability and promotes transparency in the affairs of the business.

Cooperatives step in to fill such gaps in service provision especially in remote and disadvantaged areas. SACCOs for example are known to approve more loans for small income households, have lower rejection rates and generally experience lower loan delinquency than other financial services providers.

Unlike SMEs, cooperatives have lower failure rates. The democratic governance structure ensures that weak or non-performing leaders are easily gotten rid of. In this regard, cooperatives are efficient at allocating scarce resources.

At the community level, cooperatives are supposed to demonstrate a ‘concern for the community’ as part of their wider mandate.

They are honour-bound by the principle to ensure that whatever they do, they have the interests of the community at heart.

Given the real and potential benefits that cooperatives generate, it is critical that they are supported to perform these roles. The policy environment in Rwanda for cooperatives has improved. The legal and regulatory framework is being constantly reviewed to adapt to changing realities and lessons leant are continuously being used to improve the overall capacity to support cooperatives.

There is also need to continue to raise awareness on the benefits of cooperative businesses at all levels. Cooperatives also need more support in terms of raising their capacity in a number of areas. Fortunately, there is goodwill at all levels to ensure that cooperatives continue to contribute to the economic and social development of the country.

The author is the Managing Director of the Rwanda Institute of Cooperatives, Entrepreneurship and Microfinance (RICEM)

Access Bank’s “W initiative” – Giving the Rwandan Woman the Power to Change the World

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ccess Bank R w a n d a re c o g n i ze s the value of women as a much valued asset to society where they are major influencers of social change. Today, the African woman is considered the continent’s greatest untapped resource.

Thus it goes without saying that unleashing Africa’s female labour force will catalise the unlocking of Africa’s full economic potential.

To achieve this, not only do Africa’s women require access to financial resources, the continent’s component countries all have to institutionalize the required legal framework of non-discriminatory rules, a movement where the Government of Rwanda has remained the vanguard.

Various stakeholders, including Access Bank Rwanda have since joined Government to ensure that the objective of empowering women through entrepreneurship is achieved since all parties have a shared thinking that this is critical in creation of economic wealth in an inclusive fashion.

Access Bank’s “W initiative”, which aims at inspiring, connecting and empowering women in business, is one such platform that is designed to enable the Rwan-

dan woman take full advantage of opportunities that will help them achieve their dreams and aspirations.

The initiative targets three main categories of women; young professionals; women in business and; women with their families.

Gloria Bwiza Asiimwe, the officer in charge of the program explained that it is open to all women who are desirous of progress.

“The W-initiative is Access Bank Rwanda’s contribution towards improving the life of women in our society. Its implementation is in line with the Bank’s total commitment to women empowerment and our dedication to support women to build a sustainable and profitable future,” says Ms. Bwiza.

added benefits.

These include support in networking that ensures access to career development information through workshops and industry knowledge from more experienced female professionals across the world; access to professional advice, mentorship and guidance, education on a wide range of personal money management topics.

Others are discounts, offers and benefits from a wide range of exclusive part-

ner health, beauty, and dining and leisure institutions.

Access to these benefits is made easy through a comprehensive range of loan products and exclusive access to Access Bank’s “W Community”, the No. 1 online community for women to share information, network and enjoy privileges that enhance their lifestyle, and help them advance their families, career and businesses.

What the initiative offers A maternal health care support scheme is a key component and one of the many perks of the initiative. It is tailored to provide financial support to couples in their quest towards providing for their family, and covers various forms of fertility treatment and natal support both locally and internationally.

Under the initiative, young professionals are availed a wide range of lifestyle oriented value

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New BRD strategic plan to accelerate economic transformation | BRD STRATEGIC PLAN 2016-2020 |

The Development Bank of Planned Investments and Planned Investment and Social Impact at a Glance Rwanda (BRD) has set a new Social Impact at a Glance course as a purely national development bank, and has henceforth adopted a new vision: “accelerate broad based, sustainable economic transformation and prosperity creation,” which resonates well with the overall national development goals.

T

INVESTING FOR DEVELOPMENT IMPA

o achieve this vision, these four strategic themes will be emphasised: • Focused Investments and Growth: The bank will ensure that it makes investments that are aligned with this strategy. And, these investments have to be sustainable to bring in good profit to facilitate its growth.

Vision A world class finance institution focused on accelerating Rwanda’s economic transformation.

Mission To be a trusted strategic partner for Rwanda’s development by availing financial and advisory services to impactful entrepreneurs in key priority sectors

40 12

annual revenue from exports

• Building strong partnerships – these noble and ambitious targets cannot be realized single handedly, but through strong and varied partnerships. BRD will make good use of every opportunity to expand on this.

• Maximize Development Impact – At the center of everything that the bank will do is the idea that it must facilitate and generate development impact, in Rwanda and the region.

BRD will ensure that this strategic objective forms part of guidelines in making interventions/investment.

• Increased resource mobilization --- This strategy is grand. Development mandates require big finance. So, BRD will do more to mobilize resources to fund this ambitious strategy. The bank’s financial resources will always be a small fraction of the financing needs of Rwanda’s transformation. The bank will explore options for attracting more investments from new funders and donors, including DFIs, pension funds, private investors.

Building on this new vision, a new mission and clear priorities centered on five priority sectors have been articulated. These will all be driven by embracing a set of five fundamental values: • Pragmatic: BRD will catalyze development finance while keeping a business mindset.

• Focused: BRD will focus on key high impact flagship interventions since the needs are many but resources are few.

based development for all Rwandans especially those underserved by commercial banks and a special focus on women and youth.

The Banks’s new mission will be achieved by focused interventions in five priority sectors. These will include investments to: • accelerate export development; • catalyze agricultural financing; • promote affordable housing; • manage and facilitate financing for education loans, and • Increase investments in energy development.

BRD will address these priority sectors by embracing a: pragmatic, focused, innovative, engaged and inclusive approach that prioritizes women, youth and other underserved groups.

General lending conditions The main conditions for obtaining the Bank’s financial backing include: • A feasibility study for the project (technical and financial).

• Adequate technical capacity in the field of the project for which finance is being sought • Capacity to manage the project • Adequate market share to ensure a good turn-over level and project profitability

• Innovative: BRD will structure interventions to achieve more impact with fewer resources.

• A minimum participation by the promoter varying between 30% and 50% of the cost of investment depending on the size of the project.

• Engaged: BRD will deliberately share new direction and manage expectations of internal and external stakeholders.

• For expansion projects, the contribution of the Bank can represent the totality of the necessary investment

Alex Kanyankole, CEO “The elaborated fiveyear strategic plan (2016-2020) fully aligns with the priority sectors of the economy – mainly agriculture, export promotion, affordable housing, energy and education. This strategy is underpinned by four strategic themes – focused investments and growth; creation of strong partnerships; maximization of the development impact; and strong resource mobilization,”

• Inclusive: BRD will deliver broad

41

| BRD STRATEGIC PLAN

2016-2020 |

Successful provision of affordable housing depend on the twin pillars of mortgage finance and production of bankable

Key highlights in the strategic plan:

The Secondary Mar

housing. Any investment strategy needs to address long-term volume-driven mortgage lending capabilities while also

serve the overall

investing in vehicles and structures that can spawn housing projects of large scale and modern design; or in financing

market.

vehicles that systemically and sustainably channel investment in housing stock. BRD’s Plan does that.

entity that will provid

Financing Agriculture:

Accelerating Exports:

In total financing to agro proThroughout the course of five cessing industries is estimated years, the target will be to provide region, mortgage lenders have not shown up for business for many good reasons; one of them being the severe lack to reach $92million (or 67% of matching grants to at least 155 of bankable housing stock. Similarly, real estate developers have not shown up for business despite the well-known BRD’s agriculture financing budfirms.

Themechanisms total expected cost for problem of housing deficits. A key constraint has been the lack of affordable housing finance among million banks and other affordable housing purchasers need mortgage financing to make their purchases. get) forlenders. fiveTypically, years. matching grants over five years BRD’s plan specifically intends to solve the problem at both the supply of affordable housing and the demand for and others in order to facilitate ton onenabling enabling irrigation irrigation with MINICOM, RCA total financing to to agro processing is $4.6million.

The Guarantee with MINICOM, RCA and others in order to facilitateIn In total financing agro processing affordable mortgages. anization efforts. This This farming. willwill ensure that nization efforts. contractrequire farming.Contract Contract farming ensure thatindustries industriesis isestimated estimatedto toreach reach Facility contract will an farming estimatBRD projects to expand from tribution inputs and and (or(or 67% of BRD’s agriculture producers produces and ibution ofof inputs $92million 67% ofMDO BRD’s agriculture producershave have purchasersfor fortheir their produces and$92million Improving Access to Housing Financeed investment ofpurchasers $23m over the budget) forfor five years. that processors have needed to to operate financing budget) five years. that processors havethe theinputs inputs needed operatefinancing (BRD projects to expand MDO from about $100 million currently to between $800million and $1billion.

This will finance course of five years.

TAL

8,460,691

BRD’s strategy for the housing sector focuses on both supply and demand sides of the equation. Throughout the

$100

YEAR 1

YEAR 2

YEAR 3

YEAR 4

YEAR 5

$50,000

$8,767,855

$17,435,709

$26,103,564

$26,103,564

4,801,600

$

$1,672,400

$3,294,800

$4,917,200

$4,917,200

3,659,091

$2,592,000

$7,095,455

$14,140,909

$21,186,364

$21,186,364

-

n makes makes agriculture agriculture atat maximum 20,000 loans at average of $40,000 each. This an increase from the current 2,000 loans.) maximum capacity. capacity.The Thebank bankwillwillleverage leverageMore than 80% of the planned investments under More than 80% of the planned investments under insights. The BRD Technical Assistance fund will ble for for intensive intensive crop lessons learned such in in thethe FAO Contract To deliver affordable finance, over the next five to ten years, BRD’s interventions will focus on linking mortgage between ble crop lessons learned suchasasthose those FAO Contractthe $ Agro processing development program will be avail resources to provide short-term consultants, the Agro processing development million billionprogram will be withthe theunpredictable unpredictable Farming Resource customers areare originators to Rwanda’s capital markets and support their portfolio lending activities. The interventions aim to improveCentre with Farming Resource Centretotoensure ensure customers channelled towards provision of debt andand equity trainings and other resources to facilitate these channelled towards provision of debt equity te the skills ave least100,000ha 100,000ha the standards for lending and hence the quality and uniformity of newly-originated mortgage loans, while injecting benefiting have access to to ha ve atatleast growths. benefitingfrom frombest bestpractices practicesand and have access capital to processors.

ThisThis sizesize is based on current ha capital to processors. is based on current ve and for liquidity into the banking system that will be targeted for new, standardized lending. Further,key by creating a link and ntribute thisobjective objective ribute totothis keyresources. resources.

BRD loan portfolio in agro processing activities after s. The fund The underlying assumptions include hiring 24 BRD loan portfolio in agro processing activities after outlet to the Rwandan capital markets, lenders will be able to recycle RWF-denominated fundsInforaddition subsequent rounds farming, this program will also ooperatives and other to contract operatives otherwho will be supporting export companies advisors, In addition to contract farming, this program will alsofactoring in an 8.5% growth rate estimated basing short term and factoring in an 8.5% growth rate estimated basing of lending.

Through the banks interventions in the sector, BRD projects to expand MDO from about $100 million cts. Over theand next fiveannual payment per each advisor is fund targeted value chain research activities, specific s. willthe nextthe ts.BRD Over five fund targeted value chain research activities, specificon targeted overall sector growth rate by 2020 as currently to between $800million and one billion dollars over five years. If the average loan size is $40,000, the system on targeted overall sector growth rate by 2020 as $14million into irrigation linkages initiatives and value addition projects estimated at $72,000. consultantsinto irrigation 14million linkages initiatives and value addition projectsprovided for under PSTA III and EDPRS II. Providing should be able to originate at least 20,000 loans, up from the 2,000 or so loans of today. To deliver on this, the bank’s provided for under PSTA III and EDPRS II. Providing To be brought under irrigation roximately initiated by farmers. This could include training and will need to 1,501 ha of To be brought under irrigation oximately 1,501 ha of financing to projects related to agriculture inputs initiated by farmers.

EAR 5 interventions will focus on execution of Rwanda’s (and sub –Saharan African’s) first mortgage–related securitization and This could include training anddebt million million debt financing to projects related to agriculture inputs contribute capacity building for farmers. This program will 26,103,564 capacity building also the establishment of a revolving credit line. In addition, BRD will foster standardization of housing finance through for farmers. This program willwill take only 10% of the total budget provided under 4,917,200 will take only 10% of the total budget provided under ram will also aim to require an investment of $10.4million from BRD 21,186,364 agro processing development program. technical assistance by acquiring and implementing the IFC mortgage toolkit establishing housing finance university. am will also aim to require an investment of $10.4million from BRD Total budget that BRD will agro processing development program. looking to in agriculture vestment account throughout five years.

In a modern financial market, the savings of individuals – the long-term savings – is channeled through throughout institutional five years.

Initiatives geared at strengthening value chain will estment in agriculture account allocate to technical assistance is Initiatives geared at strengthening value chain will krter willis often contribute to this production of farmers in both quality investors such as pension funds, provident funds and life insurance companies. Rwanda isTo not boost yet blessed with a will contribute to this estimated at $15million over the To boost production of farmers in both qualityabsorb around 9% of the planned under the agro – ns and new ety of house styles and sizes in – absorb around 9% of the planned under the agro nvestors in agriculture and quantity, significant population of such investors. Nonetheless, BRD intends to create a link from mortgage lenders to BRD RSSB will provide capital to finance course of 5 years. evestors fund and will in agriculture ndings and quantity, BRD will provide capital to financeprocessing development program. These are based processing development program.

These are based high-density suburban settings. will help cooperatives and other long-term investors who are currently in the market via Rwanda’s first MBS transaction. distribution of inputs.

These inputs will mainly include onsultants, will help cooperatives distribution of inputs. These inputs will mainly includeon market rates related to training costs and other on market rates related to training costs and other rn through fertilizers, and will contribute to the attainment of the tateequipment these n equipment through fertilizers, and will contribute to the attainment of therequired consultancies to build capacities of farmers. required consultancies to build capacities of farmers. on activities will require national objective of achieving fertilizer application million 48 n activities will require national objective of achieving fertilizer application ext 5 years (kg/ha/annum) of 45 in 2020 from 8 in 2010 as In addition, it is expected that hiring 24 as broken xt 5 years as broken (kg/ha/annum) of 45 in 2020 from 8 in 2010 as outline in the PSTA III. The bank has funded similar companies 60% of high school graduates outline in the PSTA III. The bank has funded similar advisor is projects in the past and moving forward will increase will attend some form of techprojects in the past and moving forward will increase emphasis on linkages with the rest of the value chain. nical school by 2017. Based on development program emphasis on linkages with the rest of the value chain.

The budget allocation for this initiative is $12million development program injected by BRD million million this growing need,33BRD will fo| BRD STRATEGIC PLAN 2016-2020 | culture value chain. This The budget allocation for this initiative is $12million over the course of 5 years. Lastly, BRD will provide of injected

by BRD ulture valuecooperatives chain. This approximatelyinto irrigation including cus over the course of 5 years.

Lastly, BRD will provide of on identifying and supportequity and debt capital to investors involved in agro approximatelyinto ncluding cooperatives related activities. irrigation agro-processors. ing the development of technical equity and debt capital to investors involved in agro processing. This will provide greater alternatives for related activities. nce is gro-processors. aims at bridging the gap processing.

This will provide greater alternatives for alternative financing for students who do not qualify schools. suppliers while also boosting both exports and job the ms at bridging the work gap inputs.

BRD will for TESF. BRD will boosting also play both an important suppliers while also exports role andinjob creation. nputs. BRD will work enabling access to basic education. With Rwanda’s creation.

Affordable Housing:

1,501

800

$1

$14.8

$63.6

$14 14 $

Access to Education:

million

ogramme ogramme

Energy Generation:

expansion of basic education to 12 years in 2013, it has

BRD plans to invest $60million in long term energy generation loans. Approximately $40million to these investments has been dedicated to this in this strategic plan. | BRD STRATEGIC PLAN

2016-2020 |

| BRD STRATEGIC | BRD STRATEGIC PLAN 2016-2020 PLAN 2016-2020 | |

| BRD STRATEGIC PLAN

2016-2020 |

67% 67%

$14.8

$63.6

39

become even more critical to ensure there are sufficient

39

and quality classrooms for all Rwanda students. BRD

The first step in addressing new constructions for a variety of educational facilities. the problem of funding and the Continuing to fill this important need will be an important tendency to small estates part ofbuild BRD’s response in the education sector. is to create funding vehicles.

Managing Student Loan 33 BRD is incorporating two inScheme vestmentsA to address issue. recent feasibility studythis commissioned by the GOR that sponsor the TEFS be transferred First, the recommended bank will two from to BRD, arguing that the bank will create a much real estateREBdevelopment investmore effective and efficient service delivery of student ment funds (Alpha and Beta).

Technical Assistance Technical Assistance loans. To achieve this objective, BRD will address the Technical Technical Assistance Assistance Alpha and are perpetual Beta inadequacy of theempowstudent loan scheme, includes poor operational ered to actwhich competitively to systems buildand tools of student loan management under REB and the modern, well-designed, aesthetineffective mindset of loan beneficiaries in terms of loan ically appealing, and affordable repayments. housing. BRD BRD will build a invariis expected to lend its expertise loan management has provided loans for expansion, renovations and

Energy efficiency projects are often perceived as a “good idea”; but financial institutions, businesses and property owners do not fully grasp their actual value. For example, investing in a high efficiency boiler could reduce energy needs by 30%-40%. In partnership with other stakeholders, BRD will develop a campaign to educate industrial customers

Energy Energy efficiency efficiency projects projects are often are often perceived perceived as a “good as a “good idea”;idea”; but financial but financial institutions, institutions, businesses businesses and property and property

of the benefits of energy efficiency. This will be done with the aim of attracting customers willing to invest in efficiency

owners owners do notdo fully notgrasp fully their actual their actual value.

For example, For example, investing investing in a high in aefficiency high efficiency boiler boiler could could reduce reduce energyenergy needsneeds Energy efficiency projects are often perceived asgrasp a “good idea”; but value. financial institutions, businesses and property

projects BRD. Theboiler bank will be develop prepared to to lend $12 million over the five years owners do not fully grasp their value.

For investing astakeholders, high efficiency could reduce energy needs by 30%-40%. by actual 30%-40%.

In partnership Inexample, partnership with other withinto other stakeholders, BRD will BRD develop will a campaign a campaign educate to educate industrial industrial customers customers

to promote efficiency in energy

by 30%-40%. In partnership with other stakeholders, BRD will develop a campaign to educate industrial customers consumption.

of theofbenefits the benefits of energy of energy efficiency. efficiency.

This will This bewill done be done with the withaim theofaim attracting of attracting customers customers willingwilling to invest to invest in efficiency in efficiency

of the benefits of energy efficiency. This will be done with the aim of attracting customers willing to invest in efficiency

projects projects to BRD. to BRD. The bank The bank will bewill prepared be prepared lend to $12 lend million $12 million over the overfive the years five to promote to promote efficiency efficiency in energy in energy In line with thetogreen economy objectives of theyears energy generation program, the energy efficiency program will also

projects to BRD. The bank will be prepared to lend $12 million over the five years to promote efficiency in energy consumption.

consumption. consumption.

focus on aligning with green energy principles. This means that companies looking to generate their own private off-

lineInwith line the withgreen the economy economy objectives objectives of theof energy the energy generation generation program, program, the energy the energy efficiency efficiency program program will also will also In line with the greenIneconomy objectives of green the energy generation program, the energy efficiency program will also

grid green power (for example solar power) would qualify to access the energy efficiency program resources. It is

In addition, it is expected that 60% of high school graduates will Access to the right skills will be key to ensuring that viable energy generation projects are successfully implemented. attend some form of technical BRD’s technical assistance program will allow for early stage project development support all the way to implementation.

Consultants could be contracted to assist with operations of generation plants. school by 2017 . Based on this BRD will partner with institutions like FONERWA, PSF and others to develop a common pool of qualified consultants. growing need, BRD will focus Cost sharing can be used to fund recruitment and selection, and once approved the bank would subsidize costs of these experts for approved projects. It is also critical that BRD develops in-house expertise in structuring energy deals. on identifying and supporting BRD will dedicate approximately $2.3M to ensure that energy investors have access to the necessary skills needed to succeed. the development of technical It is the goal of the bank to a key reference point for knowledge sharing in the industry. As the commercial banking sector looks to better understand and support this critical sector, BRD has an important role to play in disseminating schools.

focus on aligning with green energy This that companies looking to generate private off- looking focus focus on aligning onprinciples. aligning with green withmeans green energy energy principles. principles.

This means This means that their companies thatown companies looking to generate to generate their own theirprivate own private off- off-

expected that the energy efficiency program will result in savings of 6. grid green power (for example power) to access the energy efficiency resources. grid green grid solar green power power (forwould example (forqualify example solar solar power) power) would would qualifyqualify toprogram access to access the energy theIt isenergy efficiency efficiency program program resources. resources.

It is It is expected that the energy efficiency program will result in savings of 6. expected expected that the that energy the energy efficiency efficiency program program will result will result in savings in savings of 6. of 6.

Access to the right skills will be key to ensuring that viable energy generation projects are successfully implemented.

Access Access to thewill toright the skills right will skills bewill key betokey ensuring to ensuring that viable thatallviable energy generation projects projects are successfully are successfully implemented. implemented.

BRD’s technical assistance program allow for early stage project development support the wayenergy togeneration implementation.

Consultants could beBRD’s contracted totechnical assist withassistance operations ofprogram generation BRD’s technical assistance program will allow willplants. for allow early forstage early stage project project development development support support all theall way thetoway implementation. to implementation.

BRD will partner with institutions like FONERWA, PSF and others to develop a common pool of qualified consultants.

Consultants Consultants could could be contracted be contracted to assist to assist with operations with operations of generation of generation plants.plants.

Cost sharing can be used to fund recruitment and selection, and once approved the bank would subsidize costs of

BRD will BRD partner will partner with institutions with institutions like FONERWA, like FONERWA, PSF and PSFothers and others to develop to develop a common a common pool of pool qualified of qualified consultants. consultants.

these experts for approved projects. It is also critical that BRD develops in-house expertise in structuring energy deals.

Cost sharing Cost sharing can be can used be used to fund to recruitment fund recruitment and selection, and selection, and once and once approved approved the bank the bank wouldwould subsidize subsidize costs costs of of

BRD will dedicate approximately $2.3M to ensure that energy investors have access to the necessary skills needed to succeed.

these these experts experts for approved for approved projects. projects.

It is also It iscritical also critical that BRD that develops BRD develops in-house in-house expertise expertise in structuring in structuring energyenergy deals.deals.

It is the goal of the bank a key reference pointapproximately for knowledge intothe industry.

Asenergy the commercial banking BRDtowill BRD dedicate will dedicate approximately $2.3Msharing $2.3M to ensure ensure that energy that investors investors have access have access to theto necessary the necessary skills needed skills needed to to sector looks to bettersucceed. understand and support this critical sector, BRD has an important role to play in disseminating succeed. lessons learned within the energy financing sector. Similarly, BRD will have an opportunity to inform and engage the

It is the It isgoal the of goal theofbank the bank to a key to areference key reference point point for knowledge for knowledge sharing sharing in theinindustry. the industry.

As theAscommercial the commercial banking banking

energy sector to ensure interventions continue to align with their needs. The bank will invest up to $0.6million over five

sectorsector looks looks to better to better understand understand and support and support this critical this critical sector,sector, BRD has BRDanhas important an important role torole playtoinplay disseminating in disseminating

years to share knowledge within the sector.

lessons lessons learned learned withinwithin the energy the energy financing financing sector.sector.

Similarly, Similarly, BRD will BRDhave will an have opportunity an opportunity to inform to inform and engage and engage the the

lessons learned within the energy financing sector. Similarly, BRD will have an opportunity to inform and engage the

Energy Efficiency Programme The energy efficiency program will create awareness and avail resources for businesses to invest in energy efficiency initiatives. Energy is a precious resource and Rwanda cannot afford to have any of it wasted. Similarly, businesses benefit from improved energy efficiency, with reduced operational costs. Supporting energy efficiency initiatives will as Energy Energy Efficiency Efficiency Programme Programme such have an impact on Rwanda’s overall net energy needs, but also on the profitability of the businesses implementing

Energy Efficiency Programme

42

The energy The efficiency efficiency program program will create will create awareness awareness and avail and resources avail resources for businesses for businesses to invest to invest in energy in energy efficiency efficiency theseenergy efforts. initiatives. initiatives.

Energy Energy is a precious is a precious resource resource and Rwanda and Rwanda cannot cannot affordafford to have to any haveofany it wasted. of it wasted.

Similarly, Similarly, businesses businesses

The energy efficiency program will create awareness and avail resources for businesses to invest in energy efficiency

44 benefitbenefit from improved from improved energyenergy efficiency, efficiency, with reduced with reduced operational operational costs.costs.

Supporting Supporting energyenergy efficiency efficiency initiatives initiatives will aswill as

initiatives. Energy is a precious resource and Rwanda cannot afford to have any of it wasted. Similarly, businesses

such have such an have impact an impact on Rwanda’s on Rwanda’s overalloverall net energy net energy needs,needs, but also buton also theon profitability the profitability of the of businesses the businesses implementing implementing

benefit from improved energy efficiency, with reduced operational costs. Supporting energy efficiency initiatives will as these these efforts. efforts. such have an impact on Rwanda’s overall net energy needs, but also on the profitability of the businesses implementing

44

these 44

44

efforts.

energyenergy sectorsector to ensure to ensure interventions interventions continue continue to align to with aligntheir withneeds. their needs.

The bank The will bank invest will invest up to up $0.6million to $0.6million over five over five

energy sector to ensure interventions continue to align with their needs. The bank will invest up to $0.6million over five

years years to share to share knowledge knowledge withinwithin the sector. the sector.

and efficiencies as a bank and lender in other areas. It

years to share knowledge within the sector.

is expected that under BRD management, the TEFS will see a significant improvement in its loan repayment 45

rates. It is also estimated that the fund should become self-sufficient within 10 years. Until then the fund will continue to be sponsored by the GoR.

45

Funding education infrastructure

45

45

This will

banking sector and

SMF would buy m

standards, and eithe portfolio and/or pool

placement with long

creation of Rwanda’s

securitization is an ex

SMF would do on a r

basis. The Revolving

enable and foster a h

as quickly as possib

structured as follows

way of bringing in l

for mortgage lendin

developmental obje

capabilities of the IFIs

to raise a large pool

in RWF equivalent fo

lending to Rwandan

qualify for a credit lin

BRD will be the spon

of the on-lending p

will seed the RCLF

investment of 15% o This is roughly $30

the funding source w

GOLDEN CIRCLE BENEFITS Personalized Service Members have access to Top executives (Chairman, 1st & 2nd Vice Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operations Officer & Chief Advocacy Officer) to ensure timely advocacy on business challenges.

Access to a dedicated Golden Circle Account Manager for priority & personalized service.

Priority on invitations to special events Golden Circle members have access to high level business and public events including; Invitation to Golden Circle Forums Invitation to topical business networking meetings Invitations to high level government and presidential meetings where PSF is involved

Marketing Opportunities Golden Circle members have priority access to our marketing opportunities Such as events/ road shows/ meetings/ workshops including: Free flighting of web banners on the PSF web site 10% discount on international Expo Stands 20% discount on The Enterprise Magazine rate card Free branding rights and display of brochures at PSF organized events Access to information on local and International business related matters

Golden Circle Gala Dinner This is a premier business event of the year. It receives regional & international publicity and feature a yearly Publication of who’s who in the Private Sector - “

The Profiler”. This publication is distributed in all Rwanda Embassies including in-bound & out-bound high level trade missions thus facilitating more business opportunities.

Note: The above benefits are available to ONLY FULLY PAID UP MEMBERS.

ACCESS TO FINANCE RWANDA (AFR) WAS LAUNCHED IN MARCH 2010 AT THE REQUEST OF THE GOVERNMENT OF RWANDA AND WITH SUPPORT FROM THE UK DEPARTMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (DFID) AND THE WORLD BANK. EXISTING FUNDERS OF AFR INCLUDE:

KG 643 St. 11, Blvd de I’Umuganda P.O. Box 1599, Kacyiru Kigali, Rwanda Phone: +250 782 507 751 Email: info@afr.rw www.afr.rw

OVERALL GOAL AND APPROACH The core objective of AFR is to stimulate the financial sector to remove systemic barriers which hinder access to financial services by putting the poor at the centre of its interventions in Rwanda. Improving access to financial services for the rural poor and women is a particular focus.

To ensure long-term sustainability and consistency of its achievements, AFR is guided by a Making Markets Work for the Poor (M4P) approach and supports the Government of Rwanda’s development objectives and all interventions are aligned to the national policy frameworks including the Financial Sector Development Programme (FSDP) II and the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS).

PHASE I During its phase I (2010-2015), AFR supported the most underserved sectors, persons and enterprises and has been instrumental in increasing the number of Rwandans using financial services. Phase I recorded tremendous success reaching 990,867 people of which 513,627 are women. Additionally 1,521,098 people (56% women) accessed and used financial services including savings, credit, insurance, payments, money transfer etc. This success was hinged on a collaborative effort with the Rwandan Government, Financial Services Providers, NGOs and development partners.

PHASE II AFR has just launched its second phase with total funding of USD 32.9 million and USD 5 million from KFW for the Microfinance Challenge Fund commencing from 2016- 2020 to promote innovative and client centric financial solutions in Rwanda. This new phase will focus on the following key strategic areas:

S T R AT E G I C A R E A S

1

Development of Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs)

2

Support access and usage of value chain finance by smallholder farmers engaged in maize, coffee, tea, dairy and Irish potatoes

3

Promotion of insurance and informal sector pension scheme

4

Promote Digital Financial Services and Innovation Fund including the micro finance challenge fund

5

Knowledge brokerage and market facilitation with focus to increase access and use of information and coordination within the financial sector.

Scaling heights in supporting entrepreneurship Our history

D

r e a m s turned into reality, from scratch to Billions of Rwandan francs, from a microfinance institution to a microfinance bank within 6 years, ready to offer professional financial services and products tailored to the needs of its valued customers.”

This statement ably captures the inspiring story of our inception and relative robust growth in the last 10 years; a growth driven by “can do attitude” and “do it now” philosophy, that has seen us grow from a mere microfinance institution to a microfinance bank with a branch network spanning 13 districts.

Beginning in 2005 with 214 shareholders and a core capital of Rwf, 321.1 Million with two branches and operating on a temporary permit, UNGUKA Bank has impressively grown

46

at a rate surpassing imagination of many.

Currently, the shareholding of UNGUKA BANK is as follow: • UNGUKA Investment Group with a controlling stake of 51,02%; • Rural Impulse Fund II, SA, SICAV-SIF has 28.34%; • Progression Eastern Africa Micro Finance Fund owns 20.64%.

Now, share capital has increased to Rwf, 4.4 Billion and we boost of 19 fully automated branches, and plans to open

more two in this year are underway. The bank has 34 000 active accounts holders and is holding term deposits totaling Rwf, 16 Billion.

In the pursuit of supporting entrepreneurship and our own growth we have made advances worth Rwf, 11 Billion to some 4 400 borrowers.

UNGUKA BANK is planning to become a full commercial Bank soon and provides diverse and good quality services to its clientele.

We look back at our start with only two branches in Remera and Nyabugogo with the latter hosting the head office to where we are, not with much contentment, but enthusiasm to sustain the steam in the fight of one most ill in society – poverty.

Vision, Mission and Moto VISION Our vision is “to become the best practices reference bank in the region.”

MISSION Our mission is “to offer quality, competitive and customer tailoredfinancial services for people development as it grants sustainable returns to its shareholders.”

MOTTO

FAUSTIN BYAKUNDA CEO OF UNGUKA BANK

Progress and prosperity

OUR PRODUCT AND SERVICES Mobile Banking

SAVINGS With UNGUKA BANK you receive good returns on your suitable savings:

Project saving If you expect to venture into a project in the future, you may save your money with UNGUKA BANK. After six months on top of benefiting from our favourable rewards for savings you qualify for business loan to your project.

Go to your nearest UB Branch for Mobile banking registration.

Education savings If you have future plans to advance your education; save your money with UNGUKA, which earns good interest and after six months you can benefit education loan.

Loan services UNGUKA BANK makes advances based on salary: Get 16 times of your monthly net salary repayable in 4 years.

We serve micro-finance and middle level customers such as SMEs. • Other portfolios structured to suit your needs include: • Business loan • Agriculture loan • Group lending • Motocycle loan • Overdraft • Credit line • Performance guarantee, among others.

Mortgage savings If you want to own a house, make savings with us for at least a year after which you get a suitable mortgage loan.

There are other various options of saving with UNGUKA BANK. For further information you can visit our nearest branch or at web: www.ungukabank.com

47

GroFin powered my expansion dreams with funds and advice: Mukaremera Francine Warm, hospitable and ever-smiling, 38-year old Mukaremera Francine can easily be mistaken for a typical woman next door. But for those who know her, Francine is a woman of power, fuelled by her passion for the oil business and dreams of seeing her M.Line petrol service stations spring up across Rwanda.

Since 2008, Francine has demonstrated her ability to successfully manage oil businesses with a sole proprietorship that was later formalised into her company, M.Line Petro Station Ltd, in 2011. With overall entrepreneurial experience of 16 years, Francine is currently running four petrol stations and managing four tank trucks under the M.Line brand.

Economic opportunities are increasingly related to the mobility of people, goods and information, making fuel an important link in the development chain. Accordingly, initiatives like Francine’s are a contribution to the national economy both directly, as well as indirectly by easing transportation of goods and passengers.

Given the importance of Francine’s initiative, GroFin invested in excess of US$ 1 million in the form of a term loan over 5 years, to extend the strongest possible support to Francine as she powers on with her dream of setting up M.Line petrol stations across Rwanda.

Apart from finance, GroFin also provided strong support to Francine on reviewing the business strategy and strengthening its operating systems.

“We helped Francine review her business plans, apply best management practices with proper management structure and clear segregation of duties & responsibilities, elaborate policies related to Health & Safety in the organisation, and analyse existing operations to streamline M.Line’s business activities,” says Christian Bugabo, Investment Executive, GroFin Rwanda.

“GroFin not only provided me finance but also reviewed my business model and detailed innovative revenue diversification strategies such as convenience stores for my petrol service stations,” adds Francine.

Finally, the employment impact of this investment is high. GroFin’s financial and business support will help maintain 33 jobs and create 13 more in just the first year after financing, with 90% of jobs earmarked for low skilled people and 36% to be created for women.

Woman of Power: GroFin entrepreneur Mukaremera Francine with GroFin Rwanda Investment Managers Jean Damascene Habarurema (L) and Teddy Ndayambaje (R)

48

“I expect to double my market share in just a year of GroFin financing and support,” she concludes.

About GroFin: GroFin provides a proven blend of need-based finance and value-adding business support to unserved and underserved entrepreneurs in Africa and the Middle East. An award-winning, international and multicultural company headquartered in Mauritius, GroFin has over 130 employees across Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia, South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, About GroFin: Egypt, Oman, Jordan and Iraq.

GroFin provides a by proven of need-based finance and value-adding business support GroFin is supported over blend 30 funders and partners, with committed funding in excess of to unserved andIts underserved entrepreneurs andexperts, the Middle An award-winning, US$500 million. performance is recognisedinbyAfrica industry andEast. has seen GroFin win and multicultural company headquartered in Mauritius, GroFin has over 130 theinternational 2007 Africa Investor Award, the 2008 Africa Investor Award for Best Initiative in Support employees across Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania,and Kenya, Zambia, South Africa, Ghana, of SME Development, the 2010 World Business Development Award, the Nigeria, 2013 Ghana Egypt, Oman, Jordan and Iraq.

Finance Award as well as the 2015 Ghana-Africa Business Award.

GroFin is supported by launched over 30 funders with committed funding infund, excess Most recently, GroFin has the first and of itspartners, kind, uncapped and unlimited-life the of US$500 Its performance by industry experts, andtohas seen GroFin win SGB Fund, million. with initial commitmentsisofrecognised US$100 million that are expected grow to US$150 the 2007 Award, 2008 Africafunds Investor Award for Best Initiative Support million in twoAfrica yearsInvestor and make it onethe of the largest specifically targeting SMEs ininAfrica. of SME Development, the 2010 World Business and Development Award, the 2013 Ghana Finance Award as well as the 2015 Ghana-Africa Business Award.

Contact GroFin Rwanda: Most recently, GroFin has launched the first of its kind, uncapped and unlimited-life fund, the SGB Fund, with initial commitments of US$100 million that are expected to grow to US$150 Physical Address: 4th Floor Tele 10 Building, Airport Boulevard, Nyarutarama, Kigali million in two years and make it one of the largest funds specifically targeting SMEs in Africa.

Postal Address: PO Box 7139, Kigali Telephone Number: +250 252 587150 / 587151 Contact GroFin Rwanda: Fax Number: +250 252 587152 Email Address: rwanda@grofin.com Physical Address: 4th Floor Tele 10 Building, Airport Boulevard, Nyarutarama, Kigali Website PostalAddress: Address:www.grofin.com PO Box 7139, Kigali Telephone Number: +250 252 587150 / 587151 Contact M Line: +250 252 587152 Fax Number: Email Address: rwanda@grofin.com Physical Address: Gatenga Sector, Kicukiro District, Kigali City Website Address: www.grofin.com Telephone Number: +250 788 388877 Email Address: m.linepetrostation@yahoo.fr Contact M Line: Physical Address: Gatenga Sector, Kicukiro District, Kigali City Telephone Number: +250 788 388877 Email Address: m.linepetrostation@yahoo.fr

49

Construction Limited Since 1969

A short and remarkable story

S

etting foot in Rwanda just 15 years ago has been a remarkable experience; such a short but amazing span.

We have been privileged to journey with Rwanda in its astonishing journey of reconstruction.

In this exciting journey Roko has managed

to deliver on a number projects in public and private sector, among them hotels, government buildings and stadiums.

While we pride in our strength of being reliable in delivering high quality products, we are well aware that we cannot go far without the trust from our valued clients.

Some of our clients have this to say:

“The property itself is a must-see destination. We have people lining up to visit the lodge all year round, because the lodge itself is an experience!”

Jerry O. Were, GM Nyungwe Forest Lodge

“They add value to our graduates by providing internship opportunities and awarding the best students in the School of Architecture and Built Environment, CST, University of Rwanda,” Emmanuel M. WAMALWA, HoD Dept. of Construction Management.

50

Construction Limited Since 1969

For the last 15 years in Rwanda, we have indicated we are a reliable partner in nation building. Roko came in with some 400 staffers from Uganda and other expatriates in 2004. Today, 96% of the workforce is local people trained along and other qualified Rwandese from University and Vocational Training Schools. On top of doing business in Rwanda we train Rwandans through internships.

- Cecile Umugabekazi, Commercial Administrator at Roko Construction.

SOME OF OUR WORKS

KIGALI SERENA HOTEL

ACACIA TOWERS

RUBAVU STADIUM

MARRIOTT HOTEL KIGALI

RAMADA APARTMENTS

NYUNGWE FOREST LODGE

Contacts

ROKO Construction Rwanda ltd. P.O. Box 323 Kigali, Plot 4184 Gikondo Tel: Mob/GSM: +250 788307002 /+250 788304181/2 Email: commercialrw@roko.com, secretaryrw@roko.com, g.macdonal@roko.com

Vision City

A premium residential development in Kigali City

Ultimate Developers Ltd (UDL) is a private real estate company leading the way in changing the landscape of property business in Rwanda. Currently, its one of a kind flagship project, Vision City in Kagugu, is the largest upscale suburb in Kigali and Rwanda at large.

V

ision City is a modern, unique residential neighborhood in Kigali with state of the art infrastructure and amenities; advantageously located 3km from the CBD and 6km from Kigali International Airport.

This prime residential neighborhood of over 4,500 units has different typologies ranging from luxury villas to apart-

ments and presents unequalled offerings in Rwanda’s property future.

The first phase of an envisaged four phases is already underway, and consists of 504 breathtaking homes.

Our Vision We are committed to delivering world-class projects that represent the best value for clients while maximizing longterm shareholder value.

Our work in progress stands as a testament to

this vision, the expertise and skill of our strong team committed to striving for perfection in delivering quality products for our clients.

Why is Vision City ideal for you?

• Quality homes, located in a prime location, that fulfill your needs and expectations; • Futuristic neighborhood with distinctive and clustered open spaces

safe for your children to play in and ideal for recreational and communal activities; • State of the art infrastructure and amenities ranging from asphalt access roads, pedestrian walkways along paved streets with lighting, safe parking spaces clustered at the periphery of the apartments, fire protection systems and access to fiber optic network.

53

Units nearing completion at Vision City

Town Centre Centrally located, to serve as a one point facilitator for all the major amenity requirements in Vision City Facilities:

54

• Retail & food outlets • Banking services & health center • Public plazas & other entertainment/recreation facilities

• Leisure/sports facilities • Hotel & office facilities, conference center

Luxury Villas 5 Bedroom luxury Villas – 621sqm

4 Bedroom luxury Villas – 466sqm

5 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, living and dining, family lounge and pantry, and a self contained domestic workers quarter

4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, living and dining, family lounge and pantry, and a self contained domestic workers quarter

55

Semi-Detached Villas 4 Bedroom semi – detached Houses – 338sqm 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, living and dining, kitchen, pantry, and a self contained domestic workers quarter

3 Bedroom semi – detached Houses – 319sqm 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, living and dining, kitchen, pantry, and a self contained domestic workers quarter

Town Houses Town House – 316sqm 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, living and dining, kitchen, pantry, and a self contained domestic workers quarter

56

Apartments

4 Bedroom apartment – 206sqm

3 Bedroom apartment – 195sqm

2 Bedroom apartment – 112sqm

4 Bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, living and dining, kitchen and a self contained domestic workers quarter

3 Bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, living and dining, kitchen and a self contained domestic workers quarter

2 Bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, living and dining and a kitchen

Contact us

Ultimate Developers Ltd RSSB Building Tower II KN3 Rd. Kigali, Rwanda P. O. Box 5516 Kigali – Rwanda Fax: +250 782 016 168 E-mail: info@ultimatedevelopers.com | Website: ultimatedevelopers.com

57

Enterprise Magazine

FAIR CONSTRUCTION

F

AIR CONSTRUCTION has over the years embarked on multiple, often daring and broad range of projects in power, water and industrial infrastructure. Our fleet of equipment also enabled us to complete associated roads and earthworks contracts for mostly public sector clients all over the country. Our expertise in the following areas is visible in the Projects section of this site: • Power stations and associated structures • Hydro Power projects • Bulk water storage, supply & distribution • Roads, bridges • Water supply projects • Our multi-disciplined Building Division remains one of the most trusted in the industry charged with constructing some of Kigali’s most iconic structures such as: • Rwanda Revenue and Auditor • General’s Head Offices • BCDI Building (now part of ECOBANK Group) • Kigali Institute of Science & Technology Phases 1, 2 & 3 • Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINICOFIN) Headquarters

58

FAIR CONSTRUCTION originally launched its building and civil works operations in Uganda in 1986 but was established in Rwanda in 1995. A pioneer in the the indegenous large scale construction

industry here in Rwanda, today we are still one of the leading construction firms in Rwanda.

Kivuwatt Methane Gas Plant (25MW) for Wartsila Finland Oy

FAIR CONSTRUCTION Ltd.

Enterprise Magazine Plot no 5299, Avenue Des Poids Lourds B.P-3109, Kigali, Rwanda.

Tel: (+250) 7 38 309 202 | (+250) 7 38 309 200 www.fairconstructionrw.com

Company - Logistics The economical and logistical added value of owning and controlling the following resources is passed on to our clients: Concrete batching plant • Concrete precast yard • Stone quarries • Joinery section • Metal workshop Fully equipped mechanical workshop for the service and repair of one of the largest fleets of plant, equipment and vehicles in the country.

Company - Business Operations Jabana Hydropower Plant (20.5 MW) for Wartsila Finland Oy

were completed for our other international partners:

6 Micro Hydro Power Project (6MHHP) for TIANJIN MINGSHUO TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LIMITED (MS-Tech) of China

Earthworks, road works, site leveling and erosion protection in Kibuye for Contour Global, USA 648 kms of Fibre Optics cable for the National Fibre Backbone Project in several parts of the Country

Rukarara (9.5MW) for ECOPOWER Sri Lanka In addition, the following related civils construction assignments

Water supply project in Eastern province of Rwanda for Tone Engineering of Japan

FAIR CONSTRUCTION is headed by its original founder and still it’s Chairman, Mr. Joseph Mugisha under who are 15 senior management personnel, plus a compliment of 250 technical and administrative support staff.

On-site operations are overseen by teams of experienced project Manager, Engineers, Foremen and Quantity Surveyors who oversee anything up to 2,200 artisans and labourers and various categories of sub-contractors.

59

Enterprise Magazine

EAGI playing a key role in import substitution and export promotion

By Joseph Mudingu

T

he industrial atmosphere hits you as you approach the East African Granite factory (EAGI). Once inside, the hiss and hum of the machines as stones are cut and smoothed into different sizes and shapes by the stone cutting machines is engrossing.

Built on 72 hectares of land, the US$ 15 million factory, a Joint Ven-

60

ture between Crystal Ventures and Rwanda Social Security Board was officially opened by His Excellency President Paul Kagame.

The factory that took about two years to construct saw its Partners invest a total of $13m of which $9.5m is equity and $3.5m is debt financing from Rwanda Development Bank (BRD).

To many residents of Rutaraka village, the rocks seemed undesirable and a menace to their land. Little did they know that these rocks were a treasure in their midst until

the discovery of the natural granite and the subsequent construction of a granite factory.

While operating the stone washing machine, Mugabo, 26, a machine operator at the factory says he has benefited from working at the factory and that he has acquired skills through training offered by the company. “Am assured of a monthly income and I can now look after my family and take my children to school,� he says.

Talking about the company, Kazungu Mohamed an engineer

the Nyagatare factory says EAGI plays a key role in import substitution and export promotion earning the country the much needed foreign exchange and reducing on the trade balance deficit.

The plant currently employs 130 workers,20 % of which come from the Eastern province who are working closely with expert engineers and technicians to ensure knowledge transfer and ensure sustainability.

According to Mbaraga Uwase Alice, a lady engineer at the Plant, the out-put for finished products varies between 250 and 450 sq meters of granite. Exploration studies by geologists estimate commercial granite rock reserves at 380,000 cubic meters (15million square meters), slated to last for over 85 years with the plant operating at its maximum full capacity. “With the acquiring of new machines from Italy, the plant will be able to produce 234,000 sq meters of granite per year� says Alice There are 4 other granite sites that EAGI has explored around the country including Nyagatare (Kirehe), Nkuri (Musanze), Ruyenzi (Ka-

monyi) and one marble site on a Lake Kivu Island (Karongi).

The factory produces mainly three products; granite tiles, granite slabs and aggregates from waste generated by the process (for Kitchen-tops).

These are used for: Tiles (wall and floor) and customized products like tombstones, plus Granite blocks from the factory sludge and cobble stones for road construction from waste granite rocks

EAGI flagship brand: Thousand Hills Gray Thousand Hills Gray serves as EAGI’s core colour portfolio.

This granite is hard enough to resist most abrasion, strong enough to bear significant weight, inert enough to resist weathering and it accepts a brilliant polish.

These characteristics make it a very desirable and useful dimensional stone. The colour offers pleasant aesthetics that make it a contender for any project, or as a great complement to more vibrant, flashy colours

61

ACCESSORIES

P. O Box 3771, Kigali - Rwanda Tel: 0785 197 512 Email: pbhoti@gmail.com

GENERATORS SETS FROM 2 kVA TO 2000 kVA

CALL NOW +250 788 300 594

www.az-impex.com

KIGALI SOURCE COMPANY LTD

W

e are the leading suppliers of all types of Electrical, Lighting and Bathroom equipment.

Visit our show room on KN 76 St, Kigali, just next to Gloria Hotel for great deals on:

Lighting: Bulbs, Chandeliers, Lamps, Street Lamps, Lamp Holders Electrical equipment: Solar Panels, Sockets, Switches etc.

Bathroom facilities: Ceramic and Metallic sinks, Bathtubs, Showers, Shower heads, Soap Holders, Toilet bowls, Toilet seats etc

CONTACT US: Tel: +250 788 521 147 | +250 783 123 781 Email: clementinekandera@yahoo.com

63

Union Trade

OUR PORTFOLIO

Centre(UTC)

HYGEBAT has been trusted to handle

Plaza  Rehabilitation

small, medium to large projects some of

the Social Security Fund of Rwanda

which have been completed while others

Headquarters

and

Extension

are in the process of completion.

 Extension of the Supreme Court Main

Completed Construction projects

Room  Construction of Genocide Memorial

 Construction

Site at Gisozi

of

Union

Trade

Centre(UTC);

 Water Adduction Project

 Birembo Substation for Electricity Water and Sanitation Authority(EWSA);

 Construction of a Water Pump Station

 Construction of Nyarugenge Pension

in Nyarubuye  Construction of Gasabo Pension Plaza

Consruction of genocide

Extension of the supreme court

memorial site at gisozi kigali

main room

rwanda Social Security Fund of Rwanda Headquarters

Construction site Construction site

NTONGWE HOSPITAL WITH GROSS AREA OF 10000M2

64

of

Construction site

O

Kigali,

Rwanda,

and

we

experience

and

engineering and hydraulics.

Thanks

to

the

professionalism service.

We

of

have

our a

team,

network

HYGEBAT LTD HYGEBAT was established in 1995 to operate in the construction industry.

Since then the company has built a very solid experience in this field and has won the esteem of our clients.

of

partners that will reduce costs in many jobs. Based in Kigali, we work mainly

in

Rwanda

region

to

ensure

and our

the

sub-

customers

the expertise of a recognized business

Company Services the following services: 1. Building/construction 2. Civil engineering

Chic Ltd commercil complex with gross area of 10000m2

3. Water supply Our Portfolio HYGEBAT has been trusted to handle

Civil Engineering Under civil engineering, HYGEBAT but are not limited to the following:  The

construction

of

any

civil

engineering

As a construction company, we offer the following services: 1. Building/construction 2. Civil engineering 3. Water supply

small, medium to large projects some of which have been completed while others are in the process of completion.

Samples of Completed Construction projects

 The repair and / or construction of complex, large works;

Rural Water Supply;

 The development and maintenance

 Installation

and

Construction sell

of public parks or private;

hydraulic

 Road building and maintenance

supply,

 The study, implementation of Highways and various networks

repair of hydraulic pumps;

(HHT);

wells and water pumps;

 The

establishment

of

equipment,

all

kinds

hydraulic

construction,

of

parts

maintenance,

architectural projects, the exercise of

Why choose HYGEBAT As

an

HYGEBAT

is

construction

When you choose us for business, we

exception

in

Under water supply, we engage in various services which include but are

promise the following:

the way it deals with its various clients.

customer needs, a higher return on

 Building

investment;

retention basins

of

A

transparent

Extension of the Supreme Court Main Room Construction of Genocide Memorial Site at Gisozi Construction of a Water Pump Station in Nyarubuye Construction of Gasabo Pension Plaza

implementation

Sanitation

A short lead time; and and

A service reliability, production cost;

-

A

lower

Tel: +250 255 121 856

 The hydraulics in general and the

Kigali

Extension

methodology;

 Construction of pumping  Hydraulics, Environment;

and

Water Adduction Project

Well analyzed and projects tied to

not limited to: dams,

Plaza

Headquarters

experienced

Water supply

of

Birembo Substation for Electricity Water and Sanitation Authority(EWSA);

Rehabilitation

company,

construction

Trade

the Social Security Fund of Rwanda

internal or external;

 The

Union

Construction of Nyarugenge Pension

 Water supply, drilling, development

all

the mastery of work, both in regard to

of

Centre(UTC);

P. O. Box 1969 Kigali, Rwanda

www.twitter.com/hygebat

www.facebook.com/hygebat

www.hygebat.net

65

161

QUINCAILLERIE BETA LTD

We are also reliable suppliers of electrical equipment

Our unwavering commitment to good quality service has earned us various awards.

WANDA, Tel/Mob: (250) 0788303350, 0788682970,0788596877, 0788596877, IGALI- RWANDA, Tel/Mob: P.O .Box 4179 (250) KIGALI- 0788303350, RWANDA, Tel/Mob: 0788682970, (250) 0788303350, 0788682970, 0788596877, 0788500058, Email: qu_beta2005@yahoo.fr 0788500058, qu_beta2005@yahoo.fr 88500058, Email:Email: qu_beta2005@yahoo.fr

-FO OHT TRAFO (TURKEY) - METSEC CABLES LTD REPRESENTANT: OHT TRAFO (TURKEY) (TURKEY) - METSEC CABLES LTD

METSEC CABLES LTD

Rwanda Energy Group

Rwanda Energy Group

MT MAGASIN “LE TRIO”

M

agasin “le Trio” is the biggest supplier of Electrical, Plumbing and Construction materials in Kigali.

We import original, high quality Hardware, Electrical equip-

ment and industrial materials Magasin “Le Trio” is a certified partner of Schneider-Electric (formerly known as TELEMECANIQUE), one of the most respected manufacturers and distributors of exceptional electrical supplies in the world.

Our offices and showroom are located on Gloria House (KN 76 St, Kigali) in the city centre, to ensure easy access for our customers. Visit us and enjoy the best quality Electrical, Plumbing and Construction products at the best prices in town.

OUR PRODUCTS Electrical materials:

Construction Equipment:

Lighting:

Adapters, Electric Cables, PVC Cable conduits, Water heaters, Automatic Voltage regulators, Solar Panels, (Wire) Stripping tools, Sockets, Switches etc.

Safety wear, Hammers, Pliers, Gloves, Screw drivers, etc

Bulbs, Lamps, Street Lamps, Lamp Holders and so much more

Plumbing and Bathroom facilities: PVC pipes, Ceramic and Metallic sinks, Bathtubs, Showers, Shower heads, Soap Holders, Toilet bowls, Toilet seats etc

CONTACT US: P.O. Box: 4154 Gloria House Kigali, Rwanda.

Tel: +250 788 300 657 Email: magasinletrio@yahoo.fr

Enterprise Magazine

The growth of enterprising people

By Emmanuel Rutayisire

W

hen it came to the fore I was to be part of the team to put together this edition of The Enterprise, I felt a sense of challenge and perfect joy at the same time. I envisaged a challenge of too many exciting initiatives by our enterprising community competing for limited space.

Yet I was equally fascinated by the beauty of working with nascent businesses many of them owned by charming youths who are making the best out of the opportunities of their time.

Talking to different actors in our private sector, you come to see the goodness in this ‘no dream is too big’ spirit that has infused into the citizenry to become an enabler in doing remarkable things.

In doing this work, I have witnessed a rare sense of encouragement in our young people to seize opportunities of their time by being active, creative, and socially responsible citizens.

Growing up in an environment of equal opportunities, inspired

68

by a grand and attainable national dream, these youths conform to an old saying – no decisions made about us without us.

These are dividends of a two decade long effort in this country to create opportunity for the youth. It shows it is easily done – with the appropriate policies - including those on youth entrepreneurship.

And, the substitute is not desirable. A generation of unem-

Taking advantage of youth talent requires investments in the education, skills training, infrastructure, and other services which young entrepreneurs need to succeed – same essences our government takes serious

ployed and unemployable youths that are withdrawn and disconnected from reaps of their generation cannot be the procedure of advancement of any country.

Taking advantage of youth talent requires investments in the education, skills training, infrastructure, and other services which young entrepreneurs need to succeed – same essences our government takes serious.

This work has given me a chance to interface with officials at multinationals who are full of pride not for margins made from this market, but the fact they have assisted in a building a critical mass of skills through indepth hands on trainings.

I have listened to educationists at lower technical institutes and UR of the good job by companies in training our young and upcoming engineers with great amazement.

There is no other social responsibility than this.

Emmanuel Rutayisire is an editor at The Link Publications Ltd.

Simera Transport Rwanda Ltd Professional. Fast. Safe.

Affordable

ensure safe handling and quick delivery of your goods, all at the imera Transport Rwan- most competitive market rates.

“Our trucks are monitored da Ltd is the leading 24hrs with the latest trackclearing and ing system technology transsuch that you can p o r t Once you hand over know the position of comyour goods to us, you can your truck in less pany in Rwanthan 5 seconds on relax. SIMERA takes up all the da, and is part request. We are headache of transporting them of SIMERA Inhere to provide safely to your destination in ternational Ltd better service to record time, at a very Rwandans,” says headquartered good rate and with SIMERA Rwanda in Tanzania with Ltd MD Ahmed Hasuperb service a fleet of over 120 mad. trucks total.

SIMERA are the exOur Services include: perts at moving any contain• Road Transport erized cargo both for import and export. We move your cargo any- • Clearing and Forwarding Agent • Warehousing where you want it.

We offer 5-star service to our • Delivering clients with experienced drivers, • Transport Adviser well-trained staff and new trucks • Packing & Movers that use the latest technology to

S

Meet the MD

M

r. Ahmed Hamad is the Managing Director, SIMERA Transport Rwanda Ltd. He has worked with the company in Rwanda for the last 15 years and is fluent in Kinyarwanda, English, French, Kiswahili and Arabic.

“Most clients are Rwandan and like me because I can speak their language,” Ahmed remarks, adding: “This is just one example that shows that at SIMERA we make it a point to cater for all clients from different backgrounds and all walks of life.”

New Rwanda office

ADDRESS 2nd Floor, Chadel Buiding Street No 78, Building No 2 P.O. Box 508, Kigali, Rwanda.

Tel: +250788423040 | +250738423040 Email: ahmed@simeratz.com | edyedy26@yahoo.fr

SIMERA Transport Rwanda Ltd officially opened an office in Rwanda in January this year and hopes to invest in 20 new trucks for Rwanda, bringing its total fleet to more than 140 trucks for both Tanzania and Rwanda.

“Our main target is to cut the cost of transportation for cargo in Rwanda,” explains Ahmed Hamad, the company MD. “Since we started in January, we have already reduced freight costs between Kigali and the port by 10% and our target is to bring this even lower to 15%,” he says.

Today SIMERA Transport employs about 10 Rwandans but Ahmed hopes to see this number grow in the near future to more than 50 local staff.

69

KIGALI BUS SERVICES LIMITED

Moving to a Brighter Future!

KIGALI BUS SERVICES GOES GREEN!

OUR MISSION & VISION

Our mission is “to be the best public service transporter for passengers in the Region.”

Our Vision is “is to be the reference of a quality passenger transport system in the whole of East Africa”.

Executive Chairman Charles Ngarambe

The welfare of our passengers and the citizens of Kigali are always of great concern to us hence we were the first to introduce EURO III Emission Standard buses.

The benefits of reducing emissions & introducing EURO II/III Buses

       

Reduction of Pollution Levels of CO and CO2 Healthier air for the citizens to breath Less health problems and cost to due effects of Air Pollution Less emission of greenhouse gases Less global warming Cleaner city More modern city appearance from proper public transport buses

More safety and comfort for the passengers Our company therefore became the first to be providing support of Cleaner Air and a smaller carbon footprint in Kigali which all goes to help reduce the Greenhouse gases emissions which cause Global warming and reducing the amount of Particulate Matter Particles of 10 micrograms or less which are the main cause of respiratory illnesses from air pollution.

70

TAP & GO

Why waste time looking for change when you can just Tap & Go!!!!

Once again Kigali Bus Services set the standards by being the first to introduce a Smart Card electronic payment system in support of the move to a cashless economy as per government policy!

Benefits to Commuters of Smart Card

   

Quicker transaction time Reduced cash handling Discounts ,benefits and loyalty programs Increase in convenience

Best ingredients, Best protection.

Engen Lubricants are designed with only the best ingredients to ensure you give your engine the best possible protection against wear, even in extreme conditions. With exclusive access to unique base oils, some of the best quality oil in the world, our superior lubricants consistently exceed industry requirements and have been proven to help extend engine life. And with our tamper-proof bottle cap, you can be sure you’re getting exactly what it says on the bottle - true Engen quality. for more information please contact +250 788 175 100 / +250 788 302 424, email us at info@engen.rw or visit www.engen.rw

71

Royal Express making a mark in city passenger transport

T

he City of Kigali is growing at a phenomenal rate.

Population is increasing at a high rate. Lifestyles are changing so fast in every aspect of life, so are choices in passenger transport.

These recent remarkable changes in the city, current demographics and astute business skills blended to give birth to Royal Express, now a key player in city passenger transport.

Starting as a small cooperative

72

with small and not up to date minibuses in 2008, the company has grown to make a signature in this important sector where it provides modern city buses.

“When KCC reorganized passenger transport we tendered for some routes…which we got and are still servicing.

We got 12 routes that have since expanded to 17. We have grown into a relatively bigger operation with 112 buses and more than 300 staff,” says Mr. Nilla Mu-

neza, MD Royal Express Ltd. The transporter is conscious of a sustainable growth which requires adherence to protection of the environment.

“We have Euro III buses that operate with minimum carbon emissions. And the policy is that our future acquisitions have to go in hand with the fight against lintoxication of our space. We have plans to automate and keep on improving our operations,” Muneza affirms.

Route Magerwa Email: dtherese@atcrwanda.com Tel: 0788 300 330, 0783 228 797, 0788 447 630

ATC Rwanda LTD is the exclusive representative and Distributor of MERCEDES BENZ, NISSAN and FUSO vehicles brands for the Rwandan territory with a strong experience of more than 20 Years in automotive Industry.

MITSUBISHI FUSO

ATC Rwanda operates one of the largest, modern and sophisticated mechanical workshops in Rwanda with state of the art equipment and tools.

ATC Rwanda grants its technicians the opportunity to have access to training programs provided by our represented manufacturers.

ATC Rwanda maintains a physical stock of Original spare parts that is purchased directly from manufacturers represented with their proprietary IT systems and software.

MERCEDES BENZ

ATC Rwanda is able to acquire urgently needed spare parts that are unavailable in stock within a maximum of 10 days by airfreight.

At ATC Rwanda LTD, all business processes and services are computerized and a fully operational backup system has been put in place to ensure data recovery.

To reinforce the safety of the vehicles and equipment, ATC Rwanda has sufficient insurances coverage needed to cover customer vehicles and equipment while in our garage.

NISSAN

Kigali welcomes the world ENTERPRISE MICE SPECIAL

World Economic Forum on Africa comes to Kigali

The news that Rwanda is to host this year’s World Economic Forum on Africa was a big announcement. For the first time in the East Africa, this annual prestigious meeting will be held in Kigali, Rwanda, between May 11 and 13, 2016.

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Kigali welcomes the world ENTERPRISE MICE SPECIAL

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reparations to hold the 26th WEF- Africa that will be attended by some of Africa’s richest men and women are currently on at Camp Kigali, a former military facility, where the conference will be held, across its main halls and tented venues.

This enormous gathering of leaders will discuss Africa’s growth, development and prospects as the world faces the Fourth Industrial Revolution ‘Connecting Africa’s Resources through Digital Transformation.

This represents a unique opportunity for Africans to create a future where economies are empowered, and societies strengthened, by technology.

In 2014, the summit was held in Abuja, Nigeria; last year, in Cape Town, South Africa- two large cities in Africa’s largest economies, respectively.

Only this time round, the forum will be coming to a smaller city but in one of the fastest growing economies on the continent.

In this year’s Forum, participants will discuss solutions and advance actions to address the following challenges like adapting to an economic age where manpower is increasingly challenged by machine learning, building smart cities and having inclusive societies capable of supporting Africa’s unprecedented urbanization boom and building vibrant rural economies The leaders will also discuss growth strategies around environmental sustainability, creative industries, and creating policies that champion Africa’s people as well as its natural resources

They will also explore the many ways that technology will change the way that people live, work and relate to each other, and how diverse and cutting-edge technologies such as block chain, along with neuroscience, quantum sci-

This year’s summit has already registered 1500 delegates and will gathers policy makers, economists, scholars, leaders and private sector investors from across the globe to discuss solutions to some of the most pressing needs and challenges facing African

Why Rwanda?

Rwanda has demonstrated that Africa can rise even from the ashes having lost over a million of our most treasured resource, our people, during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi ence and big data can help address Africa’s development challenges.

What’s WEF-Africa?

The WEF-Africa is an annual event organized by the Switzerland-Davos based World Economic Forum (WEF) and this year’s summit will mark 26 years since its inception and will attracted over 2000 participants from 75 countries.

The successful hosting of the two events, African Development Bank annual meetings and the World Export Development Forum (WEDF) that took place in May and September in 2014 respectively tested and qualified Rwanda as a viable hub for important global meetings with the AfDB annual meetings alone attracting close to 5000 participants.

So far all the meetings held in Rwanda were flawlessly organized, from the transport to food plus, the internet is amazingly good The Finance and Economic Planning Minister Claver Gatete said last year while inviting delegates to Rwanda at the last concluded WEF in South Africa that there’s no better place to take forward the discussion other than in Rwanda.

“Rwanda has demonstrated that Africa can rise even from the ashes having lost over a million of our most treasured resource, our people, during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi”

What this means for Rwanda With over 1500participants already registered, this gives the country a chance to successfully market itself by telling its post-Genocide success story.

Delegates from all over the world will attend the WEF-Africa and experience the warm hospitality, the green ambiance and the clean city and will indirectly, be-

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Kigali welcomes the world ENTERPRISE MICE SPECIAL

come voluntary goodwill ambassadors.

The tourism sector in Rwanda has continued to record impressive growth over the last 5 Years.

Rwanda achieved growth of 12%, far above the global average of 3% to 5%.

Apart from marketing the country’s post-Genocide success story, next year’s WEF-Africa summit will also boost the country’s newly created programme of Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events (MICE).

MICE is a very critical initiative for Rwanda’s tourism sector, a major foreign exchange earner;

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participants in events and meetings that take place in Rwanda normally spend and benefit the entire value chain including hotels, tour and travel as well as leisure spending.

As of last year, According to RDB’s Department for Tourism and Conservation, total revenues based on MICE tourism in 2013 were US$49m and were projected to triple to US$150m in 2015, which is 16 percent of all national export earnings and 34 percent of the overall tourism receipts.

Lastly, many or most travellers complain about is the number of visa requirements and the pro-

cess of acquiring one.

Rwanda has been at the forefront of supporting the transformation of visa requirements by providing opportunities for all African travelers to get visas on arrival.

So delegates will experience the smoothest immigration process that will facilitate first and foremost African travelers to have an experience entering an African country as they have never experienced before. All African travelers don’t have to apply for a visa; they will get it on arrival.

GETTING MUCH MORE THAN A ROOM The Hotel features an executive lounge and bar wich opens onto a wide sundeck overlooking the newly refurbished swimming pool THE HOTEL IS IN CENTRAL KIGALI RWANDA, JUST 10KM AWAY FROM KIGALY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Reservations: kigalireservations@serena.co.rw . P. O. Box 7469, Kigali . Tel: +250 252 597100 / +250 788184500 . Fax: +250 252 597101 E-mail: kigali@serena.co.rw . Web: www.serenahotels.com

Kigali welcomes the world ENTERPRISE MICE SPECIAL

Rwanda hospitality sector gears up for WEF

By Solomon Asaba

With many conferences coming to Kigali, majority of businesses are making it a habit to make the best out of their selves to tap into the opening occasioned by a number of services required to make an event a success and memorable. A few days to the World Economic Forum, Mr. Denys Bizimana, the human resource manager of Lemigo Hotel is one such people who explain of adjustments put in place for the guest to feel at home.

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e have been t r a i n i n g and holding meetings with other stakeholders on how to maintain and provide good managerial skills so that guests to the meetings receive first class reception from our staff,� explains a delighted Bizimana.

Kigali welcomes the world ENTERPRISE MICE SPECIAL

We have been using both small and big cars, and the process has been there since, but now they will be using only big cars commonly known as Avensis Verso.

We have been requested to sell the previous small ones called carina E, and buy the big ones before the arrival of the guest

The official adds inside and out checks for competence in areas of customer care, hygiene and general service provision has been done to ensure meticulous adherence to best practices.

“Few rooms have been booked, but expectations for more bookings are high gear before the end of this month [April],” he says.

Guests seem to have more at their disposal; even cab drivers have pimped up their services.

For example Jean Nisingizwe, a taxi cab operator from Kigali International Airport looks at generating more income from the visitors.

“I believe this forum is an opportunity for us to make an extra coin from the visitors who are coming next month,” says Nisingizwe Nisingizwe however reassured that there won’t be a hike in price, but only that more trips will be made per day without compromising the quality of Rwandan hospitality.

John Munanira, a taxi driver from the same airport also shares similar

views and expects to tap from the many delegates arriving in Kigali.

“During normal days, I make four trips daily but now that the country is expecting to have more guests next month, I think the trips will double,” Munira explains.

Munanira however says that they will charge Rwf 10,000 per head, regardless of where the client is going and making more trips means more money.

To add flavor to their trade, drivers say they will deploy relatively better machines like Avensis Verso type which are bigger and more comfortable.

Organisers say predict some 1500 delegates will attend the African Edition of the World Economic Forum slated to take place 11-13 May 2016, and to businesses these are not just delegates but customers as well.

The Rwanda Development Board explains that guests will begin arriving about 10 days to the event with possibilities of staying days after the Forum.

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Kigali welcomes the world ENTERPRISE MICE SPECIAL

EVENT: Aviation Stakeholders Convention WHEN: 07-09 May 2016 VENUE: Serena Hotel, Kigali – Rwanda NUMBER OF EXPECTED GUESTS: 400

Kigali to host Aviation Stakeholders Convention

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his May, Rwanda is set to host the 5th Aviation Stakeholders Convention, organised by the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) and hosted by Rwandair, Rwanda’s national carrier. The annual event has for its main aim the desire to bring together the suppliers and potential customers of a whole range of airline products and services and the potential customers for purposes of networking, knowledge exchange and business negotiations.

The Kigali event will run from the 7th to the 9th of May under the theme “Winning Together Through Innova-

tion and Collaboration” with a number of objectives, prominent among which are: developing the aviation business support base on the continent; facilitating interaction among aviation organisations and industry suppliers; advancing sharing of knowledge, information and experience among industry players and discussion of emerging technologies and ways in which they can improve service delivery in the industry.

The target participants of the convention include top executives and managers from airlines, Civil Aviation Authorities, Air Navigation Service providers, Airports on one hand and aviation solution and service providers, manufacturers and suppliers on

the other hand.

Attendees can hope to gain valuable insights from industry leaders on how to improve their supply chain management, discover how to leverage new technology the smart and cost-effective way; deliver customer-centric service, increase operational efficiency and reduce cost through smart integration of airline and airport systems, and deepen partnerships with airlines and industry suppliers The previous (4th) Aviation Stakeholders Convention was held in april last year in Johannesburg – South Africa, and was attended by 350 registered delegates from 40 countries.

EVENT: Africa Hotel Investment Forum WHEN: 5-6 October 2016 VENUE: Radisson Blu Hotel & Convention Center, Kigali, Rwanda NUMBER OF EXPECTED GUESTS:

Continental hotel meet comes to Rwanda as investment in sector soars

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oteliers and other hospitality players in Africa are warming up for the Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) that is slated for 5-6th October, 2016 in Kigali. The event will be hosted at the posh Radisson Blu Hotel & Convention Center, Kigali, by the Rwanda Government of Rwanda through the Rwanda Development Board.

The timing of the event comes against the backdrop of considerable growth registered in the hotels sector, with latest figures from the annual W Hospitality Group Hotel Chain Development Pipeline Survey indicating that

the number of planned hotel rooms in Africa has soared to 64,000 in 365 hotels for 2015/2016, representing an increase of close to 30% from the previous year.

The increase is largely down to strong growth in sub-Saharan Africa, which is up 42.1% on 2015 and is significantly outstripping North Africa which achieved only a modest 7.5% pipeline increase this year.

Commenting on the development, W Hospitality Group Managing Director, Trevor Ward, said: “The evidence from our survey is clear - investors remain confident about the future of the hospitality industry on the continent.”

Rwanda’s tourism sector has positioned itself as the leading foreign earner for the country. For the financial year 2013 to 2014, the sector registered a 3% increase in the number of visitors to Rwanda. These numbers grew from 1.14million visitors to 1.2 million visitors also accounting for an increase in revenue from $293.4m in 2013 to $303m in 2014.

AHIF 2016 Rwanda will provide participants an opportunity to meet and forge partnerships with local organisations and, and allow them to enjoy some of Rwanda’s famous attractions.

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Radisson Blu Hotel & Convention Centre welcomes you to Kigali

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premier in the hospitality industry that offers a contemporary luxury and personalized Yes I can! Spirit of service, the Radisson Blu Hotel & convention centre, Kigali features exclusive hospitality facilities and functional technology with clear reference to the culture and traditions of Africa.

Located just minutes away from Kigali international Airport and in close proximity to the city center, major corporate and diplomatic missions, the Radisson Blu Hotel & convention centre is perfect for business and convention travelers. Its also ideal for the leisure traveler who is looking for comfort, efficiency and convenience.

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DELIGHTFUL DESIGN The hotel is built to showcase international standards that combine state of art technology and facilities that reflect the inviting nature of the African hospitality. Also, Radisson Blu Hotel’s contemporary design epitomized in style colorful weaving basket stripes along its walls that exhibit the inviting warmth and vibrancy guests can expect to enjoy.

STYLISH DINING Prepare for an incomparable dining experience at The Larder Restaurant, an all-day venue that blends local cuisine with a flair of global fusion.

The Filini restaurant is passionately Italian, providing a unique mix of sophistication and casual design that is as fresh as a “Mercato” with a walk through seasonal deli show kitchen.

Our Auditorium Club offers exclusivity and luxury aspiration for VIP convention dining, while the Business Club and Piazza Bar is the perfect scene for pri-

vate functions for the discerning business class traveler. Superbly positioned overlooking the swimming pool the Lounge Bar is local, relaxed and informal, offering the city’s widest array of drinks with selected international wines paired with succulent nibbles and snacks.

CONVENTION AND MEETING ROOMS The multifunctional meeting space and convention centre caters for over 5,000 delegates and can be flexible to smaller events as boardroom meetings. Our facilities host the latest in technology and a complete range of support services and business centre.

A CHOICE OF ROOMS AND SUITES Radisson Blu Hotel & Convention Centre, Kigali provides a unique living experience aimed at exuding that home-away-fromhome experience. Drawing inspiration from the spirit of Africa, all 292 rooms and suites are de-

signed to offer the best in comfort and efficiency.

AMAZING AMENITIES In-house amenities incorporate LCD flat screens that are fitted in every room, free internet and WiFi hotspots in every area of the hotel that guarantee 24 hr access to high speed internet access. Every room comes equipped with personal mini bar, in-house safe deposit box, coffee and tea making facilities, hair dryer and iron facilities. An exceptional detail of the en-suite rooms is the bathrooms that feature 2 hand basins and trendy rain showers.

Other amenities offered at the hotel comprise of laundry services, multi-lingual concierge services, pick and drop services to and drop services to and from the airport/around the city, gift shop within the facility, baby sitting services with prior arrangement, 650 complimentary parking for guests, and currency exchange among other personalized services.

YOUR WELLBEING For relaxing experience away from the hustle and bustle of the fast enlarging city, Radisson Blu Hotel & Convention Centre, Kigali offers a world-class Spa by Amani including various treatment rooms, rain mist shower, steam bath, sauna, relaxation lounge and multi-purpose gym. Let us help you melt your cares away.

SAFETY AND SECURITY Safety and security is of paramount importance to us and Radisson Blu Hotel & Convention Centre, Kigali is one of the most secure Hotel in the region. Additionally the complex has a fully independent backup power system in case of disruption at the main national power grid.

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DREAM, EXPLORE & DISCOVER

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Enjoy Rwanda’s sights from the air on a helicopter flight with clear glass sides and glide above beautiful Rwandan hills in great comfort and safety.

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CHARTERS • PILOT TRAINING • EMERGENCY MEDICAL EVACUATIONS AIRPORT MEET & GREET • AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY & SURVEY • HELICOPTER MAINTENANCE Kigali International Airport, Main Terminal Building P.O. Box 6619, Kigali, Rwanda Tel: +250 (0) 280 280 600 • Mob: +250 (0) 788 308 382 • office@akageraaviation.com • www.akageraaviation.com

Kigali welcomes the world ENTERPRISE MICE SPECIAL

Great service will keep customers coming.

Doing business the “Discover Rwanda” way 8 tips on how to thrive in the hospitality sector from Rwanda’s No.1 Hostel and B&B

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wanda’s tourism industry is the country’s biggest foreign exchange earner.

It employs tens of thousands and is seen as a viable undertaking by many entrepreneurs. However, hospitality

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can be a highly volatile business, and many ventures into the industry have been forced to close their doors.

Despite these uncertainties, some small and medium hospitality enterprises, by adopting sound business principles, have not only survived, but are thriving.

One such enterprise is the Rwandan-born “Discover Rwanda” chain of budget accommodation facilities that started from humble beginnings and has grown into one of the topranked bed and breakfasts in the country, according to the popular Trip Advisor customer review website.

Kigali welcomes the world ENTERPRISE MICE SPECIAL

bed and breakfasts do not provide meals, drinks, events and information about visiting Rwanda. So it is often a pleasant surprise for guests to find that we provide these small extra services.”

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According to Christian, listening to customer feedback and acting on it promptly are key.

“Treat all complaints as important and act on them immediately, no matter how small you think they are,” he says, “especially if many clients raise the same issue.”

The stunning Discover Hostel in Gisenyi Speaking to The Enterprise magazine, Discover Rwanda’s Managing Director, Sam Boarer, and Christian Uwizeye, the Marketing Manager, shared from their experience some tips on how small businesses can flourish in Rwanda’s hospitality sector.

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Find a niche

“Choose one area that is underserved and strive to be the best at it. For us, this was provid-

Listen to your customers

ing quality budget accommodation which was lacking at the time,” Sam says.

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Exceed expectations

“In hospitality, people pay for value: the best service, great facilities and breathtaking location together make up the total experience,” he says.

“At Discover Rwanda, our principle is to exceed expectations, always.

For instance, many budget hostels or

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Hire character, develop competence

Staff in the hospitality sector need to have certain unique traits: they should be warm and friendly (to make guests feel at home); honest and trustworthy (you don’t want things going missing from rooms) and diligent. These are not things you learn in school.

Thus, in hiring, Discover Rwanda places a premium on character first,

About Discover Rwanda: a brief history Discover Rwanda started as an educational tour program for students visiting Rwanda to learn about the Genocide against the Tutsi, visit different parts of the country and volunteer. However, being students, the group members could not afford the prices charged at most hotels in Kigali at the time.

“So we put together their hotel money and used it to rent temporary accommodation in various parts of Kigali,” discloses Discover Rwanda MD, Sam

Boarer – formerly in charge of coordinating their trip.

“With trip numbers growing, we saw the opportunity to run it as a business, create jobs, fill a niche in the market for budget accommodation and generate funds for the work which Aegis Trust (www.aegistrust.org) and Kigali Genocide Memorial do.

Thus, the first Discover Rwanda Kigali Hostel (Kacyiru – now Kimihurura) was born in mid2014,” Sam recalls. “We kept the name “Discover Rwanda” as we really wanted our guests

to experience all that Rwanda has to offer – culture, history, music, dance, places and, most importantly, its people”.

In the two years since, three more properties have been acquired, bringing the total to four: one in Kayonza, another in Gisenyi and most recently, a higher-end property just behind the Kigali Convention Centre.

“Our dream is to turn this into a regional chain providing the best budget accommodation, while also supporting our social mission,” Sam reveals.

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Kigali welcomes the world ENTERPRISE MICE SPECIAL while qualifications come second. The staff then undergo intensive skills training before and during their term of service.

5

Be daring in times of crisis

The 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa led to a drop in tourist numbers across the continent.

Most businesses chose to tighten their belts and wait for the storm to pass.

The Discover Rwanda team, on the other hand, chose a counter-intuitive response: they opened another branch!

“We knew many Rwandans (as well as Congolese and others) like to travel to Gisenyi for short holidays. And they, too, need quality budget accommodation. So we opened the Gisenyi branch targeting them, and it got us through that difficult time,” says Sam.

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Diversify your offering Discover Rwanda has diversified its services in order to fit

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ambo Travel and Tours Agency is a leading safari specialist and destination management company in Rwanda and Uganda, and is strategically positioned to provide all of your ground arrangements and customer service needs, while on safari in both countries.

The company’s highly specialized staff – with excellent knowledge and expertise in their respective fields, guarantees that you get personalized, reliable and professional service.

We offer different tour packages and itineraries, tailormade to meet your specific needs and budget. Our aim is to provide value-for-money, without

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the different needs of customers. From the newest branch that caters for the higher-end budget clients (it offers basic en suite services, has a swimming pool etc), to organizing tours of Kigali city and performances from cultural dancing troupes to the now-famous “Discover Pizza” at the Kayonza branch for tourists headed to Akagera National Park, the business tries to find ways of responding to the needs of their target market.

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Foster partnerships

It will not always be possible for a budget facility to fulfil all their guests’ needs; but fostering business-to-business partnerships can help you overcome this challenge.

Sam cites a familiar concern: “We often get guests who would like to go out on Lake Kivu from our Gisenyi location; but we don’t have any boats. So we struck up a partnership with Kingfisher Journeys who offer

compromising on quality. We also offer a wide range of corporate travel services ranging from airticketing to hotel bookings, meet and greet services to airport transfers.

We are committed to achieving a high level of customer satisfaction.

We operate a fleet of comfortable 4x4 land-cruisers, fully equipped with all the necessary on-safari accessories - for comfort, safety and security.

Our vehicles are serviced and maintained in-house, and driven by well-trained and experienced English & French-speaking driver-guides.

Kayaking adventures on the lake so that our guests can have an amazing experience travelling on Lake Kivu at great rates,” he says.

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Remember why you started

Businesses start to die inside when they lose the passion that got them going in the beginning.

“The Discover Rwanda Program started as a way to tell Rwanda’s story to students from around the world and contribute financially, first to the Genocide Memorial and also to the under-privileged in society, through training opportunities and jobs. Those objectives still remain our first priority and a chief motivation for many of our team and customers,” Sam emphasizes. “However, as a hospitality business, delivering great customer service to our guests, regardless of their interest in our social mission, underpins everything we do.”

CONTACT US Tel: +250 784 345863 | +250 788 307648 | +250 727 351153 Email: info@jambotoursrwanda.com |Website: www.jambotoursrwanda.com

NEW YORK The city that never sleeps

3 TIMES WEEKLY FROM JULY 2016

Ethiopian Airlines 1946-2016

RWANDAN TRAVELLERS TO BENEFIT FROM TURKISH CORPORATE CLUB

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lients of Tu r k i s h Airlines in Rwanda are set to enjoy even more benefits from the flyer with the introduction of Turkish Corporate Club, a corporate travel program that helps business, both big and small, to meet their travel needs quickly, easily and in a cost-effective manner.

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In February this year, Turkish airlines signed an agreement with Rwanda’s Private Sector Federation (PSF) that will see the federation’s members become Turkish Corporate Club members and make the most of the program’s benefits.

In addition, membership in the club allows one to change or cancel their tickets without being penalized. For business people, this flexibility is important, especially when their sched-

ules change abruptly.

“This will enable corporates save a great deal of money while still being able to respond to the needs of the ever-changing business world,” says Turkish Airlines General Manager for Rwanda, Ömer Faruk Korkmaz.

Moreover, members of the Turkish Corporate Club also get a very generous baggage allowance that is open to both Economy and Business Class passengers, enabling travellers to carry more luggage with them whenever they are travelling.

Finally, members will get a Turkish Corporate

Club Card, one which is branded ‘TCC Card’ and another ‘TCC Turkey’, one of which will afford them special pre-boarding benefits. Economy Class passengers will be able to check-in at Business Class counters and use lounges for free prior to boarding international flights.

“The Turkish Corporate Club program is a great opportunity for companies to lower their travel expenses and enjoy the various benefits the membership offers,” explains Ömer.

About Turkish Airlines Turkish Airlines is the national flag carrier airline of Turkey, headquartered at the Turkish Airlines General Management Building on the grounds of Atatürk Airport in Istanbul.

As of February 2015, it operates scheduled services to 280 destinations in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, making it the fourth-largest carrier in the world by number of destinations.

Turkish Airlines is also the operator that flies to most countries. With Istanbul Atatürk Airport being the main base, the Turkish car-

rier has secondary hubs at Esenboga International Airport, Sabiha Gökçen International Airport, and Adnan Menderes Airport.

Turkish Airlines has been a member of the Star Alliance network since 1 April 2008.

With an operational fleet of ten cargo aircraft, the airline’s cargo division serves 52 destinations.

It made its maiden flight to Kigali in May 2012 and has not looked back ever since, changing the airline industry in Rwanda for the better.

TURKISH AIRLINES BRINGS WORLDCLASS HEALTH CARE TO RWANDANS

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wandans in need of world class medical interventions for complicated cases have one more reason to smile, thanks to a new intervention by Turkish Airlines aimed at promoting Medical Tourism between Rwanda and Turkey.

It is not uncommon for patients, particularly those suffering from chronic or more complicated ailments to seek treatment abroad, either in the West, or in India.

Why go to Turkey for treatment?

Turkey offers a viable option for patients by combining high international healthcare standards (world class hospital facilities, top quality equipment) with competitive, affordable pricing for services.

“Turkey has a worldclass health system capable of dealing with all sorts of health com-

plications. Through this initiative, we want to help Rwandans benefit from it too,” says Turkish Airlines General Manager for Rwanda Mr. Ömer Faruk Korkmaz.

Moreover, the beautiful, serene environment in Turkey, with its rich culture and numerous historic touristic spots makes it the ideal environment for patients who need to stay there for an extended convalescence period, as well as their caregivers when they need to relax a bit.

Turkish Airlines benefits Turkish Airlines offers direct flights from Kigali to Istanbul, meaning that patients will not have to put up with the discomfort of connecting flights. In addition, Turkish airlines will provide a 50% refund on air tickets for all medical tourists on their return.

The airline has also struck up partnerships with over 30 hospitals in Istanbul to provide

Omer Faruk Korkmaz

dedicated and subsidized healthcare for Rwandan citizens. It is also working with doctors to refer complex cases to Turkey, as well as travel agencies that can arrange the trips.

“As of May 2016, the

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Turkish Embassy started issuing the visas in Kigali, Rwanda. This will help save on time for those who want to travel to Turkey,” Ömer remarks.

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Davis & Shirtliff: Solving all your water needs

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ccess to clean water is a universal human right. This is more urgent in Rwanda where more than 20% of the population has no access to an improved water source and sanitation facilities.

For over a decade now, one name has come to be associated with quality products and service in Rwanda’s water sector: Davis & Shirtliff (D&S).

Davis & Shirtliff, Rwanda is a subsidiary of the respected Davis & Shirtliff Group headquartered in Kenya, the leading supplier of water related equipment in the East African region. Aside from Rwanda and Kenya, D&S also operates in Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, South Sudan and has a partnership in Ethiopia.

The company’s business activities are focused on six principal product sectors - Water Pumps, Boreholes, Swimming Pools, Water Treatment, Generators and Solar Equipment.

Specifically, D&S distributes high quality equipment sourced from

tions alike, and has over the past decades grown steadily in capacity, reach and revenues by introducing a number of innovative solutions and undertaking several landmark projects.

Providing innovative solutions

a number of industry leading companies from around the world as well as carrying out manufacture and assembly of various water related products. Because of its focus on quality, the company is also ISO 9001:2008 certified.

D&S Rwanda strives to offer affordable quality solutions to communities, individuals and institu-

D&S designed a mobile water treatment system for the Rwanda National Police. The system has come in handy for the country’s peacekeeping force overseas by allowing the troops to treat and clean water till it is suitable both for drinking and other purposes.

Further, D&S has partnered with Rwanda’s Energy Water and Sanitation Authority (EWSA) in a project codenamed SolarRwanda, which enables institutions and individuals alike to purchase solar water heaters at subsidized rates.

SolarRwanda has been very helpful in lowering electricity bills for heating water, especially in hotels and other hospitality providers.

D&S also offers domestic water treatment units that provide clean drinking water and save on costs for boiling.

Landmark projects • Water supply system in Rwanda’s tallest building, the Kigali City Tower • The fountain at the main city roundabout, part of Kigali city’s landmark, runs with pumps and filtration equipment from D&S • The water supply system in the Kigali Special Economic Zone • Waste water treatment plants that are able to provide irrigation water quality done in Umutara (UR) and Mageregere, Remera, Gatenga, Kanyinya health centers.

Recognising that the provision of efficient water supply is essential for Rwanda’s economic development, Davis & Shirtliff is committed to playing a major role in this vital industry by offering a comprehensive and competitive product range with regional availability and unrivalled technical and service support.

93

SULFO Rwanda Industries: Diversifying to serve Rwandans better

S

ULFO Rwanda Industries is one of the pioneer manufacturing companies in the country. Established in 1962 it was the first industry in independent Rwanda.

Over the last five decades, the company has seen periods of diversification, modernisation, expansion and consolidation. Today, SULFO is one of the most diversified companies in East Africa, offering a product portfolio of over 150 items.

SULFO’s main activities include: Manufacturing of Soaps, Cosmetics, Toiletries, Packaged Drinking water, Confectionery, Packaging, LPG Bottling & Distribution, Importers, Exporters, General Trading, Garage & Tool Room.

Great care is taken to ensure that the products meet national and international quality standards, and currently SULFO’s 39 products bear the Rwanda Standards Bureau’s (RSB) ‘S’ mark certification.

The company has also been awarded international Management System Certification for Quality, Food Safety, Environment and Occupational Health & Safety, among others.

According to SULFO Managing Director, Mr. Hariharan Dharmarajan: “Our Corporate Strategy takes into account the application of sound management principles to all facets of our business operations. SULFO shall strive for excellence in all our business activities consistent with

the best recognized practice in the respective fields’.

SULFO is committed to consistently maximizing customer satisfaction by quality, dynamic innovation and diversification of their products and services.

The company is also sensitive to protecting the environment and strives to reduce the level of emissions into the air, water and soil, including noise and odour and solid waste production and to promote Cleaner Production.

Calm, Freedom, Harmonious

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Parc Industriel de Gikondo Tel. : 25

2 500

2 57

Tel : 252 500 257 Hotline : 3570 info@amekicolor.com www.amekicolor.com

Improving and expanding horticulture in Rwanda

T

raditionally, agriculture export commodities comprised of coffee, tea and pyrethrum. However, over the years the scope of agriculture export crops development has been expanded to include other crops like fruits and vegetables, flowers and new export value chains like livestock products, cereal, and grains to name a few.

With the aim of increasing agriculture exports, NAEB along with its stakeholders are continuously implementing different interventions, on different priority value chains.

Horticulture has been identified as a promising subsector for increasing smallholderfarmer incomesand foreign exchanges for the national economy. One strategy adopted for increasing its output

96

is to expand the area under floriculture, fruits and vegetables. This has resulted into having increased quantities of horticulture sold on the domestic and regional markets through cross border and informal trade.

Between January to December 2015, the quantity of fruits and vegetables sold in the export markets was 23.4 MT with a value of $ 6.4 Million.

Priority horticultural crops under this component include roses and summer flowers, fruit species like avocado, banana, pineapple, passion fruit, tree tomatoes, and a variety of vegetables (French beans, chilli pepper, onions, snow peas, sugar snaps, etc.).

During the reported year, NAEB put forth more effort to increase the area under plantation, especial-

ly for mangoes (95,560 seedlings that covered 477.8 ha) and avocadoes (75,755 seedlings that covered 378.7 ha). The mangoes are mainly meant for import substitution as the country is purely a net importer of this fruit, yet theclimate and soil condition can allow for good growth.

Avocado is developed mainly for the EU and Middle East export markets. Other fruits targeted include macadamia nuts and pineapples.

Though important fruits like passion fruits and tamarillos have faced serious disease pressure, during same reporting year, NAEB supported their development through FAIM, a private firm that produces virus-free plantlets.

Vegetable Production During this fiscal year, the area planted with vegetables in season C

2014 and A&B 2015 reached 4,240.31 ha. The production from this area was estimated to be 70,080.45 MT. The cumulative area planted was 996.86 ha in season C 2014, 754.95 ha in early season A 2015 and 2488.5 ha in late season A and whole season B 2015.

Flower Production There are cooperatives currently growing flowers to supply local and international markets. Summer flowers production was on 20 ha and the area has increased to 48 ha, mainly in the high altitude areas of the Northern, Western and Southern regions.

In order to increase the area of flower production, NAEB will continue to sensitize flower growers on improving the use of clean flower planting materials. Five varieties of flower planting materials will be distributed to the farmers to prepare the next flower shipment.

Tea Enhancing productivity per unit area in tea plantation was found to be more useful in improving output because it allows efficient use of land and resources to realisehigher yields. It also increases net economic returns per unit area, and leads to easier canopy management suited for different cultural operations such as spray and weed control.

The production of tea has increased steadily, from 60 tons of black tea in 1958, 1,900 tons in 1990, 14,500 tons in 2000 and reaching at a peak of 25. 4 tons in the year 2015. The export of tea during this period generated 72.7 M USD. From 51.9

exported volumes of green coffee increased from

15,973,377

Kg in 2014 to

18,793,308 in 2015 that means an increase of

17.6% Yet there was a general increase of

3.95%

M USD of exported tea revenues in 2014, the country made an increase of 40.1% in revenues by making 72.7 M USD of revenues in 2015. The fact of the increase was due to an increase in the export of made teas as well as the world tea prices.

Rwandan coffee Rwandan coffee is predominantly an export-oriented commodity, with over 95% of the coffee produced in the country being exported, and the balance being locally consumed. Recently, exported volumes of green coffee increased from 15,973,377 Kg in 2014 to 18,793,308 in 2015 that means an increase of 17.6%. Yet there was a general increase of 3.95 in revenues when comparing 2014 and 2015.

This increase is normally attributed to the value addition of coffee whereby farmers applied fertilizers and by so doing increased the productivity of coffee trees.

We can also attribute the increase of both exports and revenues to the quality of coffee: fully washed coffee increased from 42% in 2014 to 48% in 2015.

The development of these crops will contribute to various facets of economic development such as reduction of the trade deficit, creation of new jobs and export diversification.

in revenues when comparing 2014 and 2015. contacts Email: info@naeb.gov.rw website: www.naeb.gov.rw

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Enterprise Magazine

Ensuring standards right from the farm, while impacting the farmer 98

T

he Karenge Coffee Washing Station in Rwamagana district in the Eastern Province is one among many other washing stations owned by coffee giants, RWACOF a brand associated with high quality coffees originating from Rwanda.

This particular station that set up dates way back in 2004 is testament to RWACOF’s commitment to improvements in coffee produc-

tion in Rwanda. It brings to the fore the story of those efforts to revamp coffee production after many of years of neglect.

In 2000, the Government of Rwanda, in cooperation with USAID, began an initiative to systematically upgrade the supply of Rwandan coffee; Karenge station was born out of such initiatives.

Today, according to the station manager Niwemugenyi Celine, the station employs over 200 workers of which 75% are women.

In 2005, the washing station joined Starbucks coffee to be third party verified or certified through Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E.), a sustainable coffee initiative that was created to both guide coffee farmers, processors and suppliers toward more sustainable coffee production, as well as provide the assistance and incentives to do so.

To ensure that all coffee sold to RWACOF meet high quality

On average 800 to 900 farmers attend the group thematic training every month, meaning that 70 percent of the farmers within the 4C Unit attend the meetings voluntarily.

standards, farmers on arrival go through a thorough check of their cherries and have to pick out are the undesired green coffee beans that are not ideal before it is accepted for purchase.

One Kalisa Caliste a 35 year old coffee farmer who had brought his produce for sale at the coffee washing station said they lose a lot of money if they don’t follow the required procedures “We strive to pick only the ripe coffee beans that meet the required standards but it is hard to supervise the workers because the more beans they pick the more they earn so they end up plucking the coffee that is not ready for picking” According to the station manager, RWACOF works on-theground with farmers to help improve coffee quality, ensure environmental best practices and invest in loan programs for coffee growing communities To maintain the standard of quality coffee at the station,

99

RWACOF creates programs that are financially accessible for small farmers and that reward all suppliers for ongoing improvement of social and environmental practices.

In 2007 RWACOF formed a partnership with 4C Unit, an entity of Sucafina SA, a Swiss Coffee trading company based in Geneva, which was a good opportunity to include the full range of quality form of certification and verification schemes into its processes.

Since joining, RWACOF has used the 4C Code of Conduct as a guideline to organize activities with the farmers and in the overall coordination of the unit. All the 1200 producers and business partners all of whom come from Mugesera Lake region are integrated both in the C.A.F.E Practices scheme and in the 4C Unit

Activities of the RWACOF 4C Unit

100

RWACOF works with the farmers around the washing station to implement good agricultural practices and optimize pre-harvest and post-harvest processes in order to improve the quality management system of the 4C Unit.

Development of tools and training programs In 2008, a Farmer Field School program (FFS) for the business partners was started. Farmers formed groups of 25 producers each, who then received monthly training on good agricultural practices.

On average 800 to 900 farmers attend the group thematic training every month, meaning that 70 percent of the farmers within the 4C Unit attend the meetings voluntarily.

This is an encouraging indicator for the interest of the producers in improving sustainability.

The RWACOF washing station is also a training center for other washing stations in the country in-

cluding clients from other cooperatives in the region.

On the social scope, all business partners of the unit are entitled to the benefits of a health security scheme and are sensitized on AIDS/ HIV related issues. RWACOF also provides crop pre financing so that farmers can pay their children’s fees on time and invest in tools and labor for both farming and harvesting. Pre financing brings improvements in the economic dimension and is the result of the long term relation established between RWACOF and the producers.

By purchasing commodities directly from the farmers, maintaining the company’s high standards, retaining skilled staff and investing in machinery and logistical support will remain a strength and priority of RWACOF.

“ The pride of the land of a thousand hills �

The 1st Industry in independent Rwanda Manufacturers of:

Laundry & Toilet Soaps, Powder & Liquid Detergent, Personal Care Products (both Hair & Body Care Cosmetics), Scouring Powder, Packaged Drinking Water, Confectionery, Plastic Moulding & Novelty Items, Corrugated Cartons, Paper Packets, Casseroles & Tin Containers.

Trading - Importers & Distributors

Popular brands of Tyres (MRF, Dunlop, Ceat, Falken, Hercules, Triangle etc) & Batteries (Yuasa, Kobe - Sun, FB, Standard, Bosch etc), Automobiles, Automotive Spare- parts, Liquid Petroleum Gas, Cooking Range, Refrigerators,Plastics Novelty items and Imported FMCG Products (PZ Cissons, Bitez etc).

9

Garage & Machine Shop

Fully equipped executive garage in the centre of Kigali.

Propelling entrepreneurship to great heights through dedicated service Your Strong Partner

B

arely two decades old, Petrocom has grown its portfolio to impressive levels, and made a firm foot print in the business of transport and manufacturing, among other items.

We well know that our desire to grow into a regional giant in our different lines of business requires serving the Rwandan market, the launch pad operations to great satisfaction.

For this reason we have built a firm ground to adequately cater for the increasing demand for our products and services through quality and affordable cost.

Such noble objectives necessitate great creativity to achieve, the reason we constantly innovate to meet recent market desires. We will strive to invest with environmental conservation at the back of our mind to ensure a healthy, green and clean ecosystem for us all.

Having started humbly with a fleet of 15 trucks, Petrocom now boasts of over 80 trucks all plying the regional routes to transport various commodities with exceptional care not to disappoint.

Our portfolio includes Interna-

PETROCOM

tional Transportation of Petroleum We also maintain a wellExclusive Dealer of MAN Truck and Bus in garage Rwanda & and Burundi Products, Manufacturing of Steel, equipped are the exEngineering the Future - since 1758 Construction Materials, and Proclusive representative of MAN duction of Dairy Products.

Truck and Bus AG in Rwanda and Focused on the key technologies in transport and energy, MAN and services range from trucks through city and intercity buses Burundi. arenumerous proudly associated with providesWe you with products, these reputable organisiations asUfametal: our clients; SP Ltd, Rwanda MounThrough this ultra-modern fatain Tea, SDV TRANSAMI, INTER- HEAD OFFICE cility in Poids Kigali Building, Avenue des Lourdwe produce tubes FREIGHT, Departments ofPetrocom Energy P.O. Box 1576 Kigali profiles, - Rwanda and colour roofing and and Water, REB, Ministry DePhone: 250of 788306238/+250 788 309650/+250 786543999 plane sheets.

Currently, Ufametal Email: info@petrocom.rw, www.petrocom.rw fence, SP Aviation Ltd, HORIZON NYABUGOGO BRANCH KICUKIRO BRANCH serves more than of the steel REMERA BRANCH RUBAVU60% BRANCH GISOZI BRANCH Ltd,Chez FAIR CONSTRUCTION Ltd, and Mutangana +250 783 018009 +250 788 558272 +250 786 067896 +250 788 735542 products market in Rwanda. +250 783 262035 REAL CONTRATORS.

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Exclusive Dealer of MAN Truck and Bus in Rwanda & Burundi Exclusive ExclusiveDealer DealerofofMAN MAN Truck Truck and andBus Bus in inRwanda Rwanda &and &Burundi Burundi Exclusive Exclusive Dealer Dealer of of MAN MAN Truck Truck and Bus BusininRwanda Rwanda&&Burundi Burundi Engineering the Future - since 1758 Engineering Engineeringthe theFuture Future - since - since1758 1758 Engineering Engineering the theFuture Future- since - since1758 1758 Focused on the key technologies in transport and energy, MAN and services range from trucks through city and intercity buses Focused Focusedononthe the key keytechnologies technologies in in transport transport and andenergy, energy, MAN and and services services range rangefrom from trucks trucks through through city city and and intercity intercity buses buses Focused Focused on the the key key technologies technologies inMAN in transport transport and and energy, energy, MAN MAN and and services services range range from from trucks trucks through through city city and and intercity intercity buses buses provides you withon numerous products, provides providesyou youwith withnumerous numerous products, products, provides provides you you with with numerous numerous products, products, -- -

HEAD OFFICE HEAD HEADOFFICE OFFICE HEAD HEAD OFFICE OFFICE Petrocom Building, Avenue des Poids Lourd Petrocom PetrocomBuilding, Building,Avenue Avenue des des Poids Poids Lourd Lourd Petrocom Petrocom Building, Building, Avenuedes desPoids PoidsLourd Lourd P.O. Box 1576 Kigali -Avenue Rwanda P.O. P.O. Box Box 1576 1576 Kigali Kigali Rwanda Rwanda P.O. P.O.Box Box 1576 1576 Kigali Kigali- Rwanda - Rwanda Phone: 250 788306238/+250 788 309650/+250 786543999 Phone: Phone:250 250788306238/+250 788306238/+250 788 788 309650/+250 309650/+250 786543999 786543999 Phone: Phone: 250 250788306238/+250 788306238/+250 788 788309650/+250 309650/+250786543999 786543999 Email: info@petrocom.rw, www.petrocom.rw Email: Email:info@petrocom.rw, info@petrocom.rw, www.petrocom.rw www.petrocom.rw Email: Email: info@petrocom.rw, info@petrocom.rw,www.petrocom.rw www.petrocom.rw NYABUGOGO BRANCH KICUKIRO BRANCH REMERA BRANCH RUBAVU BRANCH GISOZI BRANCH NYABUGOGO NYABUGOGOBRANCH BRANCH KICUKIRO KICUKIRO BRANCH BRANCH REMERA REMERA BRANCH BRANCH RUBAVU RUBAVU BRANCH BRANCH GISOZI GISOZI BRANCH BRANCH NYABUGOGO BRANCH BRANCH KICUKIRO KICUKIRO BRANCH BRANCH ChezNYABUGOGO Mutangana +250 783 018009 REMERA REMERA BRANCH BRANCH RUBAVU RUBAVU BRANCH BRANCH GISOZIBRANCH BRANCH +250 788 558272 +250 786 067896 +250 788GISOZI 735542 Chez ChezMutangana Mutangana +250 +250 783 783018009 018009 +250 +250 +250 788 788 558272 558272 +250 +250 +250 786 786 067896 067896 +250 +250 788 788 735542 735542 Chez Chez Mutangana Mutangana +250 783 783 018009 018009 +250 783 262035 +250788 788558272 558272 +250 +250786 786067896 067896 +250 +250788 788735542 735542 +250 +250783 783262035 262035 +250 +250783 783262035 262035

103

104

Food Items

Stationery

Farm Tools

Household Items

KIMIHURURA BR ANCH

105

ISPA facilitating Rwanda’s digital revolution

Since its entry onto the scene as an internet service provider in 2005, ISPA has set itself apart as a leader in a fast-paced and highly competitive field. According to Robert B. Rugema, the Sales and Marketing Manager for ISPA, what sets the company apart are its wide variety of products custom made for the clients as well as offering fast and reliable internet at an affordable price. ISPA offers a wide range of products including: Fast, Reliable and Affordable Internet Access 1. Wireless broadband Internet 2. 4G LTE 3. Fibre optics

70 106

ICT SECTOR REVIEW

Domain Name Services Web Browsing VoIP Voice Systems (PABX) Video Conferencing Live Streaming; Local and

International Conferences, Meetings, Weddings Fiber and Wireless Leased lines (VPN) IP TV Network Solutions

I

nnaddition, addition,ISPA ISPAhas hasinvested investedheavily heavilyin inputting puttingup up infrastructure infrastructureover overthe theyears, years,and andcan cannow nowprovide provide connectivity connectivityin inall alldistricts districtsof ofRwanda.

Rwanda.

“Our “Ourgoal goalisisto toensure ensurethat thatall allRwandans Rwandanshave haveacaccess cessto toreliable reliableand andaffordable affordableinternet, internet,in inline linewith with the thegovernment’s government’sobjectives. objectives.That Thatisiswhy whywe weare are working workinghard hardto toincrease increasethe thenumber numberof ofsubscribers subscribersfor forour our internet internetnot notjust justamong amongcorporate corporatebodies bodiesbut butalso alsofor forprivate private residences,” residences,”Rugema Rugemaexplains. explains.

Working Working with with MYICT MYICT Over Overthe theyears, years,ISPA ISPAhas hasenjoyed enjoyedaaclose closeinstitutional institutionalrelarelationship tionshipwith withthe theMinistry Ministryof ofYouth Youthand andICT ICTas asthe thesector sectorhas has grown grownfrom fromstrength strengthto tostrength. strength.

“The “Thebiggest biggestsupport supportwe wehave havehad hadfrom fromMYICT MYICTisisthe theenorenormous mousinvestment investmentthey theyhave haveput putin insetting settingup upthe thebackbone backbone ICT ICTinfrastructure infrastructurecountrywide countrywidewhich whichhas hasbeen beenindispensable indispensable for forus usto totap tapinto intoas aswe wealso alsoexpanded expandedour ourown owngrowth,” growth,”says says Rugema.

Rugema.

The Thecompany companyhas hasalso alsopartnered partneredwith withMYICT MYICTover overthe theyears years to tocarry carryout outawareness awarenesscampaigns campaignsin inthe thedifferent differentdistricts districtsto to help helpRwandans Rwandansunderstand understandthe theimportance importanceof ofinternet. internet.

Further, Further,Rugema Rugemareveals, reveals,“ISPA “ISPAfrom fromtime timeto totime timesets setsup up free freeaccess accessinternet internethotspots hotspotsin indifferent differentparts partsof ofthe thecity cityfor for limited limitedperiods periodsso sopeople peoplecan canhave haveaapractical practicalexperience experienceof of the thedifference differenceusing usingour ourinternet internetgives.” gives.”

Exciting Exciting new new projects projects ISPA ISPAhas hasaacouple coupleof ofexciting excitingprojects projectsin inthe thepipeline pipelinewhich which are areset setto totransform transformthe theway wayRwandans Rwandansinteract interactwith withthe the internet. internet.

Mr. Mr.Rugema Rugemasays saysthat thatmost mostRwandans Rwandansdo donot notmake makefull fulluse use of ofthe thesuper superfast fastinternet internetthat thatthey theyhave haveaccess accessto, to,and andso so ISPA ISPAisisworking workingon onintroducing introducingsome somegreat greatnew newproducts productsthat that will willhelp helpthem themdo dojust justthat. that.

“Today “Todaywe wehave havepeople peoplepaying payingfor forsuperfast superfastinternet internetbut but they theyuse useititonly onlyto tocheck checkEmail, Email,WhatsApp, WhatsApp,Facebook Facebooketc, etc,yet yet they theycould coulduse useititfor forso somuch muchmore. more.At AtISPA, ISPA,we wewant wantto tohelp help our ourcustomers customersmaximize maximizethe thehigh highspeed speedinternet internetthey theypay pay for,” for,”he heexplains. explains.

Cut Cut down down call call costs costs with with VoIP VoIP First Firstin inthe thepipeline pipelineisisthe theVoice Voiceover overIP IP(VoIP), (VoIP),which whichbasibasically callyinvolves involvesmaking makingphone phonecalls callsover overthe theinternet. internet.

“Currently, “Currently,we weare aretesting testingfeasibility feasibilityof ofVoIP, VoIP,and andtrials trialsare are going goingvery verywell. well.When Whenwe weintroduce introduceit, it,ititwill willchange changethe theway way people peoplemake makecalls: calls:ititisisvery verycheap cheap(almost (almostfree freeof ofcharge charge compared comparedto totraditional traditionalphone phonecalls), calls),and andititallows allowsyou youto to communicate communicateworldwide,” worldwide,”reveals revealsRugema.

Rugema.

Towards Towards aa digital digital economy economy Rwanda Rwandahas hasmade madeconsiderable considerablestrides stridestowards towardsachieving achievingaa digital digitaleconomy, economy,and andMr. Mr.Rugema Rugemabelieves believesISPA ISPAcan canbe beat atthe the forefront forefrontof ofmaking makingititaareality. reality.

“Rwanda “Rwandaisismoving movingvery veryfast fasttowards towardsachieving achievingaadigital digital economy. economy.Everywhere Everywhereyou youturn, turn,systems systemsare arerunning runningon ontechtechnology,” nology,”he hesays, says,adding addingthat thatISPA ISPAisisplaying playingaalead leadrole rolein in this thisprocess processby bycontinuing continuingto toinvest investheavily heavilyin ininfrastructure infrastructure to tomake makesure surethat thatthe theinternet internetisisaccessible accessiblein inall allcorners cornersof of the thecountry. country.

“At “Atthis thispace, pace,in inaafew fewyears, years,Rwanda Rwandawill willhave haveno nocompeticompetition tionwithin withinthe theregion regionin inthe thefield fieldof ofICT. ICT. ISPA ISPAcontinues continuesto to attract attractnew newclients clientsbecause becauseititoffers offersaareliable reliableservice servicethat that customers customersare arehappy happywith, with,and andin inthe thenear nearfuture futurewe wehope hope to totake takethis thisexperience experienceand andtechnology technologyout outof ofhere hereto toother other countries,” countries,”Rugema Rugemaremarks. remarks.

ICT ICT SECTOR SECTOR REVIEW REVIEW

71 71 107

Entertainment for the whole family

But all work without play makes Jack a dull boy. After their study sessions, when the children need to cool off, ISPA’s upcoming product- the Android TV Box- will come to the rescue.

The Android TV Box will be packaged specifically for families and allow users to access thousands of TV channels, movies, children’s games and so on.

“It will be great for families since children will have access to movies, sports and games so they do not have to move around,” he explains.

Android TV Box

Helping children do homework

ISPA current and upcoming products offer families special benefits, particularly by boosting the children’s learning and keeping them entertained when it is time for relaxing.

High internet speeds come in especially handy in the area of education by making it easier for school-going children to do their homework research online.

“Homework today has evolved and assignments normally require children to do some research online, watch video tutorials on the internet and so on. The feedback we get from parents consistently indicates that children benefit a lot from our super-fast internet because it enables them complete their homework easily,” says Rugema.

For more details on ISPA’s services, call +250 788 303427 / 0788 303181 or drop them an email at: info@ispa.rw, or visit their website: www.ispa.rw

108 72

ICT SECTOR REVIEW

Telecomunication System | Computer Network Materials & Hardware

P.O. Box 5858 Kigali -Rwanda | Tel: (+250) 0788 682 433 | (+250)788 529 036 Email: sales@visiontechnologiescompany.com Website: www.visiontechnologiescompany.com

109

TigerSoft Ltd: More than just an IT company

I

f there is any organisation that should be called inspirational, TigerSoft Ltd is it. Over the years, TigerSoft Ltd has established itself as a giant in Rwanda’s ICT sector by taking on a string of ambitious projects that were formerly regarded as the preserve of foreign-owned companies and executing them perfectly at a fraction of the cost.

From its very beginnings, TigerSoft Ltd has been led by a simple philosophy, as expressed by the group’s Managing Director, Mr. Roger MIGABO, a respected technology executive within ICT circles in Rwanda.

“Our job is to make it possible for the Government to provide the best services to Rwandans by creating top quality, stable and secure ICT systems at affordable costs,” he says.

The company’s portfolio includes setting up the National Identification system that is crucial for the running of banks, telecom companies, among others. In 1998, TigerSoft Ltd set up the first Wide Area Network (WAN) in the country for use at the airport, a move that revolutionized the way banks operate in Rwanda. Furthermore, TigerSoft Ltd

110

NIDA staff update citizens' ID information using software developed by TigerSoft.

created and manages the public service payroll system, and its other clients include the Rwanda National Police, MIFOTRA and the National Bank of Rwanda.

Services offered TigerSoft Ltd is able to create any applications, software, website development and design, mobile applications, BPand QA Consulting for any client quickly and economically.

The company is currently developing a number of projects that are set to transform the ICT sector.

“TigerSoft Ltd acts as an incubator for ICT systems, investing in fields that most people would consider risky and developing them to a level where they are viable,” Mr. Migabo says.

Inspiring local talent TigerSoft Ltd makes it a point to hire talented ICT professionals in the country, while working with an all-Rwandan staff for project implementation, in order to inspire fellow Rwandans to aspire for excellence in ICT. “We want to show that Rwandans can do the jobs that are considered difficult, and

do them well,” says Mr. Migabo.

Towards a cashless economy TigerSoft Ltd set up the first cashless system in Rwanda on behalf of the Ministry of Defence, a model which was also adopted by other government bodies, banks and microfinance institutions.

“Time is money. We believe that the biggest service our IT solutions offer the public is saving time which can then be put into other economically productive activities,” Mr. Migabo remarks.

Accelerate Your Business Growth With Us Tiger soft is involved in ;

Payroll & HR Outsourcing

Mulit-readable Travel Document System

web portals System Integration

F i n a n c i a l Management Information Systems

Web Service

Mobile

Electoral Tiger soft ltd has strongManagement knowledge in IOS app and Android & Information System apps development

QA CONSULTING

WEB DEVELOPMENT

(BPO) for global companies looking for business growth and innovation

Network & Security

Tiger soft ltd provides wide range of Graphics and image

Population & Civil Registration Services OFFSHORE TEAM

BPO

Adapt Testing Strategy to Meet the Quality Needs

DESIGN

Custom web application development.

We work with .NET Django.

web portals

Dedicated proffesional resources along with complete infrastructure.

Accelerate business growth with us Mobile

Tiger soft ltd has strong knowledge in IOS app and Android apps development

QA CONSULTING

WEB DEVELOPMENT

Document Management

Custom web application development.

We work with .NET Django.

BPO

Adapt Testing Strategy to Meet the Quality Needs

36

National I.D Production

(BPO) for global companies looking for business growth and innovation

DESIGN

Tiger soft ltd provides wide range of Graphics and image

OFFSHORE TEAM

Dedicated proffesional resources along with complete infrastructure.

Accelerate business growth with us 14th Floor, Kigali City Tower, 2 KN 81 Street

P. O. Box 6428 Kigali, Rwanda

twitter.com/TigersoftCo

www.facebook.com/TigersoftCo

www.tigersoft.rw

Enterprise Magazine

Passion for Quality

112

Enjoyment for Life

Respect for People, Society and Environment

A sneak peek into our brand new A330s RwandAir is the first East African carrier to acquire this type of aircraft. The two brand new A330s with unmatched comfort will be equipped with full flat beds in business class, inflight connectivity and inflight entertainement across the entire cabin.

A330-200 named Ubumwe will be delivered in September 2016 A330-300 named Umurage will be delivered in December 2016 Cabin configuration A330-200 : 20 Business class, 21 Premium economy class and 203 Economy class A330-300 : 30 Business class, 21 Premium economy class and 223 Economy class.

Cabin Business class Pemium Economy class Economy class

A330-200 44 inch pitch 38 inch pitch 32-33 inch pitch

A330-300 44 inch pitch 38 inch pitch 32-33 inch pitch

Business class

Business class

Premium economy class

Premium economy class

Economy class

Economy class

(+250) 788177000 (24 hour Service) info@rwandair.com

Fly to Toronto and onwards to all corners of Canada.

NEW 5 flights weekly