Business Times

Rwanda Integrated Improved Livelihoods Program (IILP) will soon inject US$ 12.5 to boost access to finance among the rural poor. Amy Davis, chief of party United States Agency for International Development –USAID said the project locally known as USAID Ejo Heza (A brighter future) aims at building the capacity of low income households to effectively identify and access appropriate financial services necessary to strengthen their enterprises.

The net profit of Rwanda’s banking sector shot up by 42.2 percent to Rwf22.8 billion in 2011 from Rwf15 billion the previous year, down to new entrants and improved risk management. National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) targets to continue supervision and improved regulation as well as compliance with corporate governance by market players. The financial sector is expected to strengthen even further.

Hannington Namara, formerly of Commercial Bank of Rwanda-(BCR), has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Private Sector Federation. He was appointed last week, replacing Rogers Munyampenda, who resigned last October, citing personal reasons.  Until recently, Yvette Mukarwema occupied the position in acting capacity.

Government is set issue two bonds on the stock market this year to increase the number of tradable securities and avail more opportunities for long term investment, the central bank said.
Central bank Governor, Ambassador Clever Gatete, announced this during the reading of the monetary policy and financial stability statement last week.

Central bank governors in East African nations are due to meet in Kenyan capital Nairobi on Tuesday next week to discuss causes of soaring inflation in the regional countries, Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) said on Friday.

The issue of poor customer care is taking a centre stage of every bit of business in the country with government agencies and private partners pumping in money to see how they can turn around the image of the service industry tainted by poor customer care. But in real business world, that ‘smiling and talking well’ customer care has never been a driver to service delivery or improvement in your sales. It is a component of knowing your customers. So what is important is to know your customers first.

When it comes to business we are always told of how good competition is and how it benefits the consumers by compelling companies to bring their prices down. What we rarely get to hear is the pressure that emanates from this competition. Company executives spend afternoons with severe headaches caused by the constant threat of being run out of business by their competitors.

PricewaterhouseCoopers, (PwC) conducted a 2011Global Economic crime survey that examined the current fraud landscape, taking a closer look at who is committing fraud and what new types of economic crimes are emerging.