Rwanda Development Board (RDB) CEO, Clare Akamanzi, says the board is committed to ensuring that all services under one-stop-center are delivered efficiently and in the quickest time possible. Several government institutions have handed their licensing powers to RDB’s One-Stop Centre in a bid to facilitate investors who were required to seek business licences and permits from multiple institutions. During Umushyikirano on February 27, one of the local investors, Denis Karera expressed concerns that investors were having difficulty requesting licences from up to five institutions, instead of accessing them through the single-window system. ALSO READ: How Rwanda is positioning as global business service destination Karera said the long process was affecting investors who want to utilize the African Continental Free Trade Area, which seeks to increase intra-continental trade. President Paul Kagame expressed frustration at the fact that the One-Stop Centre had taken too long to be operational as intended when the RDB was established in 2008. As explained by RDB chief executive Clare Akamanzi, the One-Stop Centre had been offering only cross-cutting licences, while the other institutions offered sector-specific ones, like banking or mining licences. President Kagame ordered all the concerned institutions to hand the licensing powers over to RDB. ALSO READ: PM woos investors as gov’t extends incentives for manufacturers In almost identical announcements, at least eight government institutions have since communicated publicly that, with immediate effect, all the licenses and permits required by investors at the business set-up phase will be issued at the RDB One-Stop Centre. Some 20 institutions are supposed to have part of their staff represented at the One-Stop Centre. Following a turn of events, the RDB CEO Akamanzi, said in one of the tweets that: “The President challenged us to move faster and more efficiently to deliver a true one stop centre with all services investors need. We are doing our best to deliver on that commitment.” ALSO READ: Government extends manufacturing recovery programme by two years The institutions that have now relinquished their licensing powers include the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA), the National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB), the Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority, Rwanda Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board. There is also Kigali International Financial Centre, Rwanda Land Authority, Capital Market Authority Rwanda and the Rwanda Inspectorate, Competition & Consumer Protection Authority (RICA). The RDB was created as a department that would integrate all government agencies responsible for the attraction, retention and facilitation of investments in the national economy. According to its website, the RDB says that its One-Stop Centre services include business and investment registration, visa facilitation, tax incentives management, among others.
