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Economic integration is also taking place within the Economic Community of Great Lakes Countries( CEPGL) consisting of Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Regarding solvency, we have not scored quite high yet because although we have enacted law reforms, not many cases have been taken to court and resolved. If you consider business registration, it now takes six hours to register a business in Rwanda, thus it is difficult to improve. In terms of ease of tax filing, we are making progress— tax filing is now available online.
We strive to make it easier to do business in Rwanda. This year, we have undertaken several new reforms such as upgrading our online system for company registration with a new system that will be easier to use, more efficient, and in our three national languages instead of just English.
The Rwanda Development Board opened a help desk dedicated to insolvency cases where advice on insolvency issues— especially restructuring as opposed to liquidation— can be obtained. The law regarding insolvency is under review, notably on the topic of cross border insolvency. This is critical given
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the ongoing integration agenda of the East African Countries and other regional trading blocks.
We also want to promote judicial transparency, thus all judgements regarding contractual and commercial disputes will be made public online.
For many years, the bilateral relationship between Rwanda and Japan was made through the Embassy of Japan to Kenya. In 2010, Japan opened an embassy in Rwanda, a sign of the strengthening relations between the two countries. What do you see, or hope to see, in the future of Rwanda-Japan relations?
Because there is now an embassy— as well as a Japan International Cooperation Agency( JICA) office in Kigali— we can engage with the Japanese government more efficiently and continuously than when Rwanda was covered by the Japanese Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, or the embassy in Kinshasa, DR Congo. The officials would only travel to Rwanda once every two or three months, which was not enough for them to
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Foreign investment is a key factor in any country’ s development. What would you say to Japanese investors to persuade them to choose Rwanda?
Rwanda is probably a virgin economy. We are not yet a sophisticated, developed economy thus, everything can be an opportunity in Rwanda.
One of the priorities that we are focusing on is energy, because we are convinced that without energy we cannot attract investors. We have several rivers that can produce electricity through hydro-dams and methane gas in Lake Kivu that can be exploited. Moreover, Rwanda is located in the Graben area of Africa, with several inactive volcano mountains and hot springs, indicating a potential for geothermal energy. We also have peat, which can be used to produce energy, and of course solar power is also a possibility. Therefore, energy is one area in which the Japanese can invest in.
We are also known to have various minerals, especially tin, tungsten, colombo-tantalite( also known as coltan), and some gold. The three T’ s( tin, tungsten and tantalum) are critical to the electronic industry of which Japan is a leader. Japan acquires Rwandan
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JULY 2015 // 75 |