The Minister of Trade and Industry, Beata Habyarimana has mapped out some of the most investment-needing areas in the economy of Rwanda to Belgian business people who are in the country.
If you are looking for a wide market having among the windows of the entry points, Habyarimana told the Belgian entrepreneurs, "We have defined some areas we would like to regain pace.”
She outlined; agro-processing, textile, automotive sector, especially electric mobility, and ‘a special touch’ on green industrialization (fertilizers, renewable energy, environment-friendly packaging), and e-commerce.
"We think that our own policy and vision through the single market on the African continent can be focused on those specific areas.”
Elaborating more on the e-commerce sector, she said that despite the significant uptake of the digital economy over the past two years mainly driven by the series of lockdowns the country went through, there is still a lot to be built in that area.
"Before March 2020, we had about four e-commerce platforms in the country but within six months, they increased to 63 e-platforms trending…but there is a lot behind, IT security, database management, cyber-security,
There are opportunities that business operators can tap into knowing that we are shifting on our way of doing business,” she added.
Habyarimana was addressing the Belgian delegates in a meeting that concluded their trade mission in Rwanda on March 31.
During the course of a five-day visit, the business executives engaged with various players in Rwanda’s economy ranging from ministries, development institutions and the private sector to study the feasibility of doing business in Rwanda.
Zephanie Niyonkuru, Deputy CEO of Rwanda Development Board, said that the institution registered more than $63 million in value investments received from Belgium.
"When you invest in Rwanda, you have access to the market across East Africa, COMESA and we believe that through the AfCFTA (African Continental Free Trade Area) operationalization, investors will still get opportunities to tap into the rest of the African market,” he said.
He added that they look forward to making sure that the prospects that were identified during the visit are operationalized and start seeing investments happen.
Habyarimana also told the delegates that the remaining part is for private sector operators to conclude, discuss, negotiate and be bold enough to penetrate the Rwandan and regional markets.
Dominique Dellatre, Deputy General Manager, Wallonia Export and Investment Agency, as well as the head of the Belgian delegation said that due to the small size of Belgium, as a country they have to export and develop international investment partnerships.
He disclosed that there are already potential prospects of partnerships identified by the entrepreneurs to venture into the Rwandan market.