Nick Barigye has been appointed the new Group Chief Executive Officer of Crystal Ventures Ltd (CVL), replacing Jack Kayonga, who has been at the helm of the investment holding company since 2022. CVL is a leading investment company and the largest private sector employer in Rwanda through its subsidiaries, including Inyange Industries, NPD Limited, ISCO Security, Real Contractors, and East African Granite Industries. “We're especially proud to welcome him [Barigye] back as an alumnus of CVL and are confident that under his leadership, valuable global and local perspective, CVL will continue to thrive and advance its strategic goals,” reads an appointment statement. Prior to this appointment, Barigye was the Chief Executive Officer of Rwanda Finance Limited, a company spearheading the development of Kigali International Financial Centre (KIFC) as an initiative that seeks to transform Kigali into a regional financial hub capable of attracting foreign investments as well as encouraging the creation of highly skilled jobs in the sector. Barigye has broad experience in finance and investments, managing companies across Africa for the last 15 years. Before joining Rwanda Finance, he was the Managing Partner of Karisimbi Business Partners, an Africa-focused investment and advisory firm. From 2008 to 2014, he was a Senior Executive at Crystal Ventures. He holds an MBA in Strategic Management from Strathmore Business School in Kenya and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from the National University of Rwanda. CVL was established in 1995, initially under the name Tri-Star Investments Limited, with a mission to revive Rwanda’s economy post-Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994. This was during a period where the private sector and manufacturing industry were almost non-existent and the country struggled to supply even basic necessities. CVL was established to spearhead investments in different sectors, especially unexplored sectors with high socio-economic returns. While the total turnover of the company is not public, in 2023, CVL companies paid over Rwf50 billion ($45 million) in taxes, and there was a plan to introduce its listing on the Rwanda Stock Exchange by 2025.
