The Rwanda Development Board (RDB), in partnership with Irembo, is working to digitise all services offered through its One‑Stop Centre (OSC), integrating them into an online platform to improve the investor experience, RDB CEO Jean‑Guy Afrika announced. Speaking at the CEO Forum in Kigali on Tuesday, June 24, an event that brought together government officials, business leaders, and private sector stakeholders, Afrika said the initiative aims to streamline access to roughly 460 services across 24 agencies by end of 2026. The first phase will focus on priority sectors for investment, including agro‑processing, mining, real estate, manufacturing, agriculture, financial services, and tourism. According to RDB, in 2024 Rwanda registered $3.2 billion (approx. Rwf4.48 trillion), in investment commitments, up 32.4 per cent from 2023. Manufacturing, including agro‑processing, led with $1.35 billion, or 43.6 per cent of the total, followed by financial and insurance services with $811 million, and real estate with $378 million together making up nearly 78 per cent of all investments. Meanwhile, the tourism sector earned $647 million (approx. Rwf923billion). ALSO READ: Rwanda records 32% rise in investment in 2024 Afrika described the initiative to avail more services online as more than a technology upgrade. “Our objective is to simplify processes, reduce turnaround times, eliminate duplication, and improve transparency,” he said. “This reform is not technical, it's structural. A digitised and fully automated service model will allow us to provide faster approvals, remove manual interventions, better integrate data, and generally offer a smoother experience for investors.” Afrika also announced plans to integrate services that still remain outside the One‑Stop Centre, such as certain land and construction permits. The commitment we are making right now is to initiate a conversation with the City of Kigali to facilitate faster issuance of land and construction permits through the One Stop Centre, he said. The new system also aims to eradicate delays caused by manual processes across the 460 services. According to Afrika, every request will be automated from submission through review and final decision. “The services of the One‑Stop Centre are time‑bound,” he said. “For example, a construction permit must be issued within 21 days, and a business must be registered within 6 hours. “But when you have 460 services that aren’t fully digitised, it's humanly impossible to track every interaction. With the new system, every request will be logged, a ticket generated, and the clock will start.” ALSO READ: Top investment projects registered in Rwanda in 2024 Irembo CEO Israël Bimpe said that the platform will also prioritise seamless connections between government services and businesses. “It's tied to the Rwanda Revenue Authority platform with all the TIN numbers, and it's secure, so you can verify that you are actually affiliated with that business. When verification is done, you can go through the process of applying for a service,” Bimpe said. He explained that one goal is to reduce redundant requirements for applicants. “For example, if an application used to require ten attachments, we want to reduce this over time,” Bimpe said. “We envision a seamless journey, you apply once, put all your requirements forward, and we manage the rest across the backend. You don’t have to attach ten documents every time.” He added that by end of 2025, 50 per cent of services will be available online.
