Cranes are busy offloading containers at Rwanda’s multi-billion franc Convention Complex at Kimihura.
Here, investors are building a five star hotel with 200 rooms, office block, a recreation park and convention centre of 1,600 sitting capacity.
The project is the brainchild of Ultimate Concept, a consortium of Rwandan investors who are investing about Euros 230 million (US $300 million). The complex will be ready next year, says Clare Akamanzi, the chief executive officer in charge of business operations and services at Rwanda Development Board (RDB).
This is one of the multi-million dollar projects Rwanda has attracted despite the world economic downturn which forced investors to cut down on investments.
Indeed a quarterly update on business reform and investments in RDB covering the period between July-September 2009 shows Rwanda has withered the storms of the global economic downturn.
The country registered investments of about US $40.7 million which are expected to create 2,457 jobs, upon implementation. And between January and June this year, the country attracted projects worth US $645.7 million. Statistics from RDB further indicate that 7,173 new jobs are to be created compared to 6,907 jobs during the same period last year.
However, there is a slight drop in the number of projects registered, from 63 between January and June 2008 to 57, a 9.5 percent drop. Despites this fall, the cost of projects is higher at US $645,777,724 compared to US $414,435,752 during the same period last year January to June this year.
The Free Trade Zone and Free and Industrial Park expected to be commissioned this December were cited by RDB as some of the projects that attracted large sums of money.
Be that as it may, the drop in the number of new projects came at the back of the global financial crisis. At the height of the meltdown, banks and other financial lending institutions became more conscious of how much to lend, to whom and for how long.
But Akamanzi says though the effects were felt in Rwanda, the country “did not suffer as much compared to other countries†whose economies almost came to a stop.
“In-fact Rwanda is doing better than the world average,†she said, estimating that the world average calculated by the World Bank was 40% losses of investments projects but in Rwanda the value increased by 50 percent.â€
“In terms of value we exceeded our targets. We had targeted a ten percent increase in investments but we registered 50 percent increase in investments,†she says.
RDB is now focusing its efforts on attracting investors in the finance sector to cash in on the countries expanding economy. Already banks like Kenya Commercial Bank, Ecobank, Finabank and Access are operating in Rwanda. Some of these banks have guaranteed Rwanda investors access to long term loans.
“If you have more investors in the financial sector this will translate in more and lending,†Akamanzi.
Communications is the other area Rwanda is looking to attracting investors. Already, Tigo, a third telecom national operator which recently launched its operations is proving to be one of the big investors in Rwanda. It has already invested $53 million this year and the whole project is estimated to bring in over $100 million.
Tigo Rwanda is part of the Millicom which offers mobile telecommunication services in 13 countries, three in Central America, three in South America and seven in Africa.
Other names on this year’s Rwanda investor roll include Kivuwatt Ltd, an energy company and Bakhresa, a maize and wheat milling company.
According to Akamanzi, Kivuwatt Ltd, a subsidiary of ContourGlobal is to invest $325 million in extracting methane gas from the Lake Kivu to generate power. This project is in two phases: The first one planned to generate 25mw becomes operational in 2010 while the second phase of 75 MW is to be completed in 2012.
According to RDB, Bakhresa Group with operations in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Malawi plans to invest $11 million in Rwanda.
There is also a stone processing project in Nyagatare where $6 million has been invested. Rwanda will start shaping stone for finishing houses and making tiles.
This year, US $11 million has been invested into a distilling plant in Kayonza. The plant will use 10 tonnes of bananas and eight of molasses to produce liquors Rwanda has been importing.
Both local and foreign investors are gaining confidence in Rwanda partly due to Government’s wider efforts to promote Rwanda as a business and investment destination aimed at driving growth of the private sector and generate wealth are paying off.
Subscribe to this comment's feed
