Rwanda Development Board’s (RDB) preliminary projections suggest that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows will reach US$800million, this year, the highest in the history of Rwanda.

According to official figures, FDI to Rwanda increased by 57.2 percent to $626million in 2011, up from $398 million in 2010, a reflection of the direct impact of the business reforms that were rolled out mainly in the area of policy and regulation.

The 2011 statistics also reflect a $76 million surplus compared to the target of $550 million, which, according to RDB, was occasioned by new strategies that were adopted, last year, particularly where every department in the agency has an extra role of attracting investors in addition to its main task. Tourism, ICT, agriculture and construction attracted most investments in 2011

There is no doubt the country needs these investments to achieve its ambition of becoming a middle-income economy by 2020.

More so, such investments are necessary for local firms to be actively involved in international business through access to global markets, hence increasing the country’s exports and offset its trade imbalance.

As a result, RDB should maintain the pace because FDIs are vital for attracting excellent technology, technical knowhow, as well as competition, which is necessary for improving the much needed quality of products and service delivery.

However, the initiative should be implemented alongside other projects aimed at increasing local investments because they (local investments) are also a vital link to development.

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