German entrepreneurs in Rwanda are worried about their business because their employees are experiencing challenges when travelling to the European country. A group of German business owners in Rwanda has criticised the visa issuance process for Rwandan citizens, in a letter to the German Federal Foreign Office. ALSO READ: Schengen visa application process amended Schengen visas are no longer processed in Kigali. Rwandan nationals currently must apply for their Schengen visas in Kenya. This adds significant time, cost, and logistical complications, making business travel hard to plan and execute. They say this will have an impact on business operations between German and Rwandan partners urging the German embassy in Kigali to temporarily resume issuing selected visas, as it did two months ago. ALSO READ: German companies in Rwanda eager to invest in R&D, services – survey The letter's signatories complain that the postponed application process involves considerable additional time and financial expenditure. This development has serious consequences for our business and cooperation models, which depend on regular personal exchanges between Rwandan and German partners: in many cases, business trips – and thus business relationships – are rendered uneconomical or even impossible. ALSO READ: Rwanda, Germany set up Rwf20 billion credit facility to support SMEs The ministry confirmed receipt of the letter, as announced by Table.Briefings, a newsletter by Table Media GmbH based in Germany. The Federal Foreign Office is continuously evaluating the situation and examining more customer-friendly solutions to facilitate the visa process for the affected group of people. The 15 signatories are predominantly companies from the IT sector. The German Association of SMEs in IT (BITMi), the German Association of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (BVMW), and the German-African Business Association also signed the letter. Due to cost pressure and the persistent skills gap, German IT companies are often dependent on international cooperation, explained BITMi President Oliver Grün in response to a Table.Briefings inquiry. What we need are efficient – not discouraging – visa procedures that continue to facilitate the economic cooperation that is so important for our sector. ALSO READ: Germany commits Rwf100 billion to Rwanda for SME, pharmaceuticals Christian Knoop, the Managing Director of the Rwanda-based IT company Test Solutions, which is among the signatories, expressed a similar view: “If we want real partnerships, we need structures that enable them.” A functioning visa process in Kigali would do far more for a partnership on equal footing than the next development policy ceremony in Berlin.” The TestSolutions company, for example, have to bring Rwandan colleagues to Germany every now and then . “We just had seven from our Kigali team in Frankfurt to be onboarded in projects with our international/German clients. Going through Kenya means extensive time and travel costs, and also not being able to plan ahead. The process will go much slower.” What could be done , it stated , is that Germany, at least for the period of finding a new solution, issues visas from the embassy. “They could also bring in one or two more people to cope with the additional workload. Two months ago, for example, the German embassy would still issue selected visas; this was recently stopped by the headquarters in Berlin. There are solutions that can be found, if the interest is there. If there is no solution in the next few months, it will mean a drastic reduction of international business.” According to the industry association Bitkom, Germany could face a shortage of more than 660,000 IT specialists by 2040. Rwanda is a promising partner for the industry as it aims to become a regional IT hub and is also relying on foreign companies to achieve this. The signatories argue that a simpler visa process is also a prerequisite for a successful Africa policy. It is contradictory for Germany to emphasise economic partnership with Africa while effectively denying Rwandan partners access through cumbersome visa procedures, Claudia Voß, Deputy Managing Director of the German-African Association, told Table.Briefings. A quick solution is now needed, Voß said, otherwise we will squander the trust of our local partners and our opportunities. Visas have long been a snare in European-African relations. Businesspeople and scientists on both continents complain that the restrictive visa issuance is making exchange and work more difficult. As research by Ethiopian migration researcher Mehari Taddele Maru shows, the rejection rate for African Schengen visa applications rose from 18 per cent in 2014 to 30 per cent in 2022. This puts Africa well above the average rate of 17.5 per cent. These high rejection rates [...] and the restrictions for African applicants are detrimental to Europe's efforts to foster strong partnerships between the private sectors of both continents, comments Maru. He sees an urgent need for a reform of EU visa policy that ensures fairness and accessibility for all applicants: A fairer and more inclusive visa system that is consistent with the overall objectives of the European-African partnership.
