As Rwanda works to achieve its ambition of becoming a globally competitive knowledge-based economy, the importance of competent lawyers as a catalyst for the journey has been emphasized.
Officials from institutions like the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) are always working to position the country for increased Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), take advantage of regional economic integration, boost the service sector, and oversee the society’s digital transformation, among others.
However, as such efforts go on, law experts say, there is a need for more and more lawyers that can ably, or competently, provide advisory services on major deals, transactions, opportunities or even handle lawsuits that may come along with them.
Speaking to Doing Business, Felix Manzi, the Director of the CERTA Center for Law and Innovation, a new initiative championed by lawyers to facilitate the coexistence of law, innovation for justice, and sustainable development, explained how skilled lawyers are important in Rwanda’s economic voyage.
"The entire African continent is trying to attract FDI. When investors come and want to invest in robotics, for example, they need lawyers who will assist with related registration, due diligence, and so on. These lawyers should understand their language,” he said.
"If they (investors) come to Rwanda and find no manpower and skill, they will go to Kenya. If we are competing on a common market in East Africa, we need people who are talented and skilled to compete. If Rwanda has such, it is a good place to invest. Lawyers are facilitators of transactions and discussions around investment,” Manzi added.
The CERTA Center for Law and Innovation aims at promoting legal research, fostering the exchange of skills and knowledge between local and foreign lawyers, facilitating discussions between relevant local institutions, as well as equipping Rwandan lawyers with knowledge so as to manage business deals or handle lawsuits that may involve new technologies.
Florida Kabasinga, the founder of the Certa Foundation, an entity that gave birth to the CERTA Center for Law and Innovation, also believes that as the government pushes for huge economic ambitions, lawyers should make sure they have what it takes to provide the required legal services.
"We want to make sure that while the government has those dreams and policies, we have the capacity to actually provide the legal services that are actually needed,” she said.
Rwanda is positioning itself as a key financial hub in Africa, and this also requires more, and better, legal services.
The country is working hard to showcase how the Kigali International Financial Centre (KIFC) is an attractive destination for international investors. As part of the journey, the formulation of laws and legal instruments for supporting the financial sector in the country is an important aspect.