Igihe

Author: b_igi_adm1n

  • President Kagame at 19th African Union Summit

    President Kagame speaking to President Sirleaf at Opening of 19th Ordinary Session of the AU Summit in Addis Ababa, 15 July 2012
    President Paul Kagame was in Addis Ababa on Sunday to participate in the 19th Session of the AU Assembly taking place from 15-16 July 2012 under the theme “Boosting Intra African Trade.”

    President Kagame was received at Addis Ababa Airport by Amin Abdulkadir Ethiopian Minister of Culture and Tourism along with Rwandas Foreign Affairs Minister Louise Mushikiwabo and Ambassador Joseph Nsengimana.

    With only 10-12% of intra African trade in comparison with 40% of intra North American trade or 63% of intra Western European trade, members of the African Union gathered in Addis to build upon the commitment of all nations to achieve integration, economic growth and development.

    On the agenda of the 19th Session of the AU Assembly new elections for the Chairman of the African Union Commission. The two candidates running for elections included Madam Dlamini Zuma and Jean Ping.

    According to Minister Mushikiwabo, “Rwanda has expressed its support for Jean Ping as candidate for the African Union Chairmanship although we have worked closely with the highly qualified Madam Dlamini Zuma during her time as foreign minister of South Africa.

    Rwanda values the principle of a large country not taking the top job in the AU.”

    The opening session was marked by speeches from Mr. Jean Ping, the newly elected Senegalese President Macky Sall and representative from Palestine and guest of honor His Royal Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah of Kuwait.

    Reflecting the spirit of the founders of the African Union, President Macky Sall told the audience that Africa has all it needs to succeed and that its strength lays in its unity.

    Preceding the voting session, President Kagame held a bilateral meeting with DRC President Joseph Kabila before attending the meeting of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region chaired by Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni.

    The 11 heads of states are expected to reaffirm their commitment to the recommendations made by ICGLR foreign ministers earlier this week.

    The latter committed to a renewed focus on strong and decisive action against the FDLR who remain a threat to Rwanda as well as to Rwandophone and other comunities in Eastern DRC; and to reinforcing the surveillance on the border between Rwanda and the DRC, supervised by a mutually-agreed third-party.

    The leaders also proposed a summit to look into to the root causes of conflict in the DRC.

  • Museveni Commends Iran for Resisting Western Powers

    The Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has commended Iran for persistently resisting western pressure directed against Iran’s nuclear program.

    Museveni said, “We know what is happening in Iran, too much pressure from the West but we are glad that you can manage,” he said.

    He noted that Uganda supports all countries having nuclear energy for peaceful purposes especially for energy.

    Museveni has in effect accepted an invitation to attend a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement due next month in Iran.

    The Non-Aligned Movement is a group of states considering themselves not aligned formally with or against any major power bloc. As of 2012, the movement had 120 members and 21 observer countries.

    Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania are East Africas major economies that have strong and historical cooperation with the Islamic republic of Iran.

    In 2009 a Canadian firm, IBI Corporation, was hired to give Uganda technical guidance on how to generate nuclear energy.

    IBI President met President Museveni in January 2009 with a proposal that they can turn the recently discovered uranium into nuclear energy.

    A team of experts, businessmen and Uganda government officials coordinated by IBI, formed an advisory board that sought to develop the Nuclear Energy Programme for Uganda (NEPU).

    However, experts warned Uganda to go slow on a plan to generating electricity using uranium arguing it is a very costly venture.

    It takes about 10 years to build a nuclear power plant at a minimum cost of $10 billion and at least 15 years to train a nuclear scientist to run a plant.

    Uganda oil industry is expected to bring in more cash to the economy that the government badly needs to modernize and push its economy to a takeoff level.

    A few weeks ago, Tanzania was in the spotlight over the issue of suffering possible sanctions slammed against Iran by the United States. Tanzania was accused for allegedly reflagging of Iranian Oil tankers.

    U.S. lawmaker Howard Berman had earlier said that Tanzania could face sanctions that President Barack Obama signed into law if the Iran tankers were allowed to continue sailing under the Tanzanian flag.

    Berman said Congress would also have “no choice” but to consider whether to continue the range of bilateral US programmes with Tanzania.

    In 2009 November, the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad travelled to Kenya with a delegation of more than 100 officials and private businessmen.

    The Ahmadinejad led government believes that expanding political and economic ties with east Africa’s largest economy is a priority for Iran.

    Iran exports industrial oil, chemicals and carpets to Kenya and Kenya considers Iran a key market for its tea.

    Iran’s volume of trade with Kenya is estimated at over $500 million.

    Kenya government clearly told Iran president that it was urgently looking for a partner, who can provide technical know-how to develop a nuclear energy program for Kenya.

    The United states government hold a view that Iran must abandon its nuclear program.

    The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)

    The organization was founded in Belgrade in 1961, and was largely the brainchild of Yugoslavia’s President, Josip Broz Tito, India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, Egypt’s second President, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Ghana’s first president Kwame Nkrumah, Indonesia’s first President, Sukarno and Ethiopia’s emperor Haile Selassie.

    All five leaders were prominent advocates of a middle course for states in the Developing World between the Western and Eastern blocs in the Cold War.

    The phrase itself was first used to represent the doctrine by Indian diplomat and statesman V.K. Krishna Menon in 1953, at the United Nations.

    The purpose of the organization as stated in the speech given by Fidel Castro during the Havana Declaration of 1979 is to ensure “the national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of non-aligned countries” in their “struggle against imperialism,colonialism, neo-colonialism, racism, and all forms of foreign aggression, occupation, domination, interference or hegemony as well as against great power and bloc politics.”

    The countries of the Non-Aligned Movement represent nearly two-thirds of the United Nations’s members and contain 55% of the world population. Membership is particularly concentrated in countries considered to be developing or part of the Third World.

  • Region urged on Positive Attitude towards Rwandan CPA

    During an annual retreat at Kivu Serena Hotel, The Institute of the Certified Public Accountants of Rwanda (ICPAR) embarked on the knowledge towards enhancing the ‘profession’ as the main contributor to national development.

    “Accountability, transparency and robust public financial management practice draws from the contribution of the accountancy profession,” observed Peter Rutaremara ICPAR president.

    He added, “we are not looking at accountability itself, but also how the profession can protect and bring a robust economy. I hope participants here are the very responsible people and even decision makers, meaning all the ideas shared within this seminar can be implemented easily.”

    Felicien Muvunyi, Chief Finance Officer of Cristal Ventures Told IGIHE, “Having such seminars helps strengthen accounting profession in Rwanda because we want people who are professionally qualified. The topics being covered here will not only help Accountants but even Business Managers.”

    The institution also signed a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) with all members in the East Africa that allow them move and work freely in the sister countries.

    According to them, the integration efforts among the East Africa Countries will provide surmountable ingredients for the respective residents to demand more in terms of Public Accountability.

    The session also sought to equip players with sufficient emphasis and influence while linking Public Accountability to; Economic Development, Public Accountability, Public Financial Management Reforms, and Link Between Reforms and Economic Development.

    Robert Kamoga Tebasuulwa a Senior Accountant from the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda recommended quick attitude towards Rwandans CPA qualifications.

    “Rwanda’s ICPAR is still young but the number of qualified CPA is increasing steadily.”

    During the seminar, negotiations were made for the institution to work with the office of the Auditor General in order to overcome and reduce challenges in the many of the public departments’ reports.

  • Presidents Kagame, Kabila Discuss Kivu Crisis

    Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame held a private meeting with President Joseph Kabila of DRC this afternoon in Addis Ababa Ethiopia.

    Details of their discussions are underway. However, it was expected that the two presidents would discuss the ongoing crisis in eastern part of DRC.

    President Kagame arrived today in Addis Ababa for the 19th Session of the African Union Assembly taking place from 15-16 July 2012 under the theme “Boosting Intra African Trade and which aims to build upon the commitment of all nations to achieve integration, economic growth and development.

    President Kagame will participate in a closed session for the voting of the Chairman of the AU Commission and in a session for the heads of state of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region following the meetings of foreign ministers of ICGLR.

    Kagame is also scheduled to hold several bilateral meetings with counterparts from the continent.
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  • Africas Richest Woman Made US$ 4 million Wedding

    Isabel dos Santos (pictured), the eldest daughter of Angola’s President, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, is now considered to be the most powerful and richest woman in her country and on the continent, possessing legit nine-figure fortunes.

    Isabel is worth to be $170 million (Sh272 billion), according to Forbes Magazine.

    At the tender age of 24, Isabel got her start in business, thanks to her father’s influence to corner lucrative state contracts. Having kept close ties with Portugal, Isabel fully owns a Maltese-registered investment, plus a 10 per cent in Zon Multimedia, a Portuguese media conglomerate.

    In 2010, Isabel acquired the stake for 164 million Euros going further to own major stakes in Portuguese banks such as Banco Espírito Santo and Banco Português de Investimento, and in Energias de Portugal, which generates and distributes electricity.

    Isabel is described by the Portuguese newspaper Público as a good business woman, extremely dynamic and intelligent, and also professional and friendly.

    The starting point, however, was the creation of Unitel in partnership with Portugal Telecom. Together with her father, she constituted the Geni Holding, as an umbrella for their Portuguese investments.

    The holding company is active in the banking, oil, diamonds and construction.All in all, Isabel dos Santos’ fortune in Portugal amounts in mid-2012 to more than 1.4 billion Euros.

    In 1997, she started her first business by opening the Miami Beach Club, one of the first night clubs and beach restaurants on the Luanda Island that is part of the bay of Luanda.

    Using her father’s influence, she also founded Urbana 2000, a subsidiary company of Jembas Group that won the contract for cleaning and disinfection of the city.

    Later she worked for Ascorp, a legal trading company for diamonds in Angola. Ascorp had partnered with Lev Leviev.

    Over a period of 15 years she expanded her business interests and this led her to create several holdings, in Angola and abroad, and to make substantial investments in a series of enterprises, especially in Portugal.

    Since 2008 she has relevant interests in telecommunications, media, retail, finance and the energy industry, both in Angola and in Portugal. In addition to her commercial interest in oil and diamonds, Isabel dos Santos also owns shares in the Angola cement company Nova Cimangola.

    To cap it all, Isabel’s wedding was something to remember.

    She is married to a Congolese, Sindika Dokolo,the son of a millionaire from Kinshasa.
    The wedding, a 4 million-dollar party with 1,000 guests, was one of the largest weddings in the history of the country.

    Reports in Portuguese newspapers have it that the guests were flown in from France and Portugal without visas. Best man was the former Minister of Petroleum of Angola, Desidério Costa.

    The husband acquired the exploration rights for a mining concession from Endiama, the Angolan state company for diamond exploration and bought a further 5 per cent of Portugal’s leading pay-TV and Internet provider Zon Multimedia from Spain’s Telefonica.

  • Rwanda Rejects M23 Rebels, takes Custody of 7 FDLR

    Rwanda has taken custody of seven rebels of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) based in eastern DR Congo.

    The seven rebels were part of 29 ex-combatants transported saturday to Rwanda aboard a truck from the camp DDRRR (Disarmament, Demobilization, Repatriation, Reinsertion and Reintegration) of the UN Mission for Stabilization in Democratic Republic Congo (Monusco) to the border with Rwanda.

    However, Rwanda rejected to take custody of the others whom Monusco said were former members of the M23 rebel group who surrendered to UN in DRC claiming they were Rwandan Nationals.

    Rwanda authorities told Monusco that those who fought in the M23 be handed to the DR-Congo government, because “this movement does not exist in Rwanda.”

    The twenty-two Rwandan combatants of M23 spent almost 45 minutes in the no man’s land (neutral zone) between the DRC and Rwanda, before being taken back to DRC.

    DRC has consistently accused Rwanda of having a hand in the ongoing crisis in Eastern DRC, where the M23 rebels have staged a fight against government forces. M23 rebels have made significant battle successes in the past weeks where they seized Bunagana a major boarder city and threatening to go and capture Kinshasa.

    In an interview with the BBC,President Paul Kagame said, “We (Rwanda) do not support the M23 and we do not intend, because we do not know what they want. It makes no sense to be involved, because our relationship with the DRC was very good. Before all this happened, we worked together to eliminate the problem that existed between the two countries. ”

    He said the problem of the M23 is “an internal problem of the Congo, and a failure of the authorities to solve their own problems.”

  • UK Wants Rwanda-DRC to Resolve Kivu Crisis

    The British Secretary of State for Cooperation, Andrew Mitchell, said Friday, July 13th in Goma that Britain is concerned about the security situation in the province of North Kivu, where there is the rebellion of M23.

    After meeting with Rwandan authorities in Kigali, Andrew Mitchell arrived in Goma to inquire about the situation and assess humanitarian operations financed by the countries in North Kivu.

    “As part of our good relations with Rwanda and the DRC, Britain wants to work together with the UN to help solve the problem,” he said.

    According to Andrew Mitchell, Britain has a very important cooperation program in the DRC, especially in humanitarian support, but also in Rwanda, with which his country also maintains friendly relations.

    To the Secretary of State for Cooperation British, his second visit in three months in North Kivu is a “very strong signal that shows the importance his country attaches to its relations with the DRC, and the situation current “.

    The DRC accused Rwanda of supporting the rebellion of M23.

    FARDC and Monusco bombed Thursday, July 12 positions of the rebels to stop their advance towards Goma, capital of the province of North Kivu.

  • 24% Rwandans Use Mobile Money Transfer

    Rwandans and people of Mali are the least likely to make mobile money transactions compared to other money transfer modes in sub-Saharan Africa. This was revealed in a survey by a US-based research group Gallup Inc.

    The report titled “Payments and Money Transfer Behavior of Sub-Saharan Africans” released in June indicates that 24% of Rwandans that transferred money in 2011 used mobile money services.

    Accodring to the report, Kenyans and South Africans were the most likely to having made any transactions in the 30 days prior to the survey (76% and 69%, respectively), while residents in Rwanda and Mali were the least likely to do so (24% and 27%, respectively).

    Uganda(53%) is second to Kenya(76%) in the number of people that use mobile money transactions. Statistics also show that only 44% of Tanzanians embraced mobile money transfer. The survey was conducted in 11 countries.

    South Africans and Kenyans were also the most likely to only have used non-cash (electronic) channels (18% and 15%, respectively). In all other countries, fewer than 1 in 10 respondents used only electronic payment channels.

    In Mali, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone just a handful of respondents reported this (1%-2%).

    However, even in South Africa and Kenya, the two countries with the most advanced payment markets, respondents were more likely to report that they only used informal cash payments than to have used only electronic payment methods; 31% of South Africans and 22% of Kenyans used only informal cash payments in the past 30 days.

    These shares translate into 10.9 million and 5.2 million potential consumers, respectively.

    The fact that cash transactions are still prevalent even in Kenya, where mobile money penetration is nearly complete, is likely due to some people carrying money or sending it with traveling relatives to save on the money transfer fees rather than to lack of coverage within the country.

    Residents of Sierra Leone were clearly the most likely in the region to exclusively make cash transactions (47%).

    The study finds huge differences in payment behavior between educational groups- More than 8 in 10 (83%) of respondents with high levels of education had made any transactions in the 30 days prior to the survey, compared to 6 in 10 (59%) of respondents with average levels of education and 4 in 10 (41%) of respondents with low levels of education.

    The highly educated were almost 6 times as likely as those with the lowest levels of education to have made only non-cash transactions (23% vs. 4%, respectively).

    Youngest respondents (15-18 years) were less likely than older respondents to have made any transactions (36% vs. 50%-54% of other age groups).

    The youngest were also less likely to have used only electronic channels (3% vs. 7%-9% of other age groups). The survey did not find significant differences in payment behavior of men and women.

    Focusing on differences between various levels of urbanization, large city dwellers and those living in suburbs of large cities more often reported to have made a transaction than residents of rural areas or small towns.

    More affluent respondents and city dwellers were also more likely than the poor and rural residents to have only made electronic transactions.

    That said, high shares of large city dwellers, those living on more than $2 a day and the richest 20% and of the population made only informal cash payments (34%, 28% and 27%, respectively) implying a large underserved market among all groups.

  • Why Rwanda Leads East Africa in Healthcare

    Rwanda leads in the East African Community (EAC) in one important aspect – government expenditure on healthcare per capita, that is, the average amount of money in US dollars that a government spends per person per year based on official exchange rate.

    Rwandan government spent $48 on each individual’s healthcare in 2009 according to the most recent report.

    The Rwandan amount is almost twice as much as Tanzania’s $25 in fourth place, but what is so surprising is that Rwanda has increased spending fivefold since 2000 while Tanzania has increased only two and half times from $10.07.

    This news may not be a surprise but is still important considering the fact that Kenya and Tanzania have recently been hit by medical personnel strikes.

    In December 2011 Kenyan doctors went on strike and within a month their counterparts in Tanzania did the same, in both cases the issues being pay and working conditions.

    In March 2012 Kenyan nurses went on strike before Tanzanian doctors resumed their strike in June which is still troubling the nation.

    According to the report published by the Society for International Development (SID), Uganda had the second highest per capita healthcare expenditure with $43 followed by Kenya with $33 and as usual Burundi was the last with $20.

    There is a lot of financial data on healthcare expenditure, but this one piece regarding per capita expenditure paints a very lucid picture on how strategic each country is.

    Since Tanzania is going through a crisis, let me zero in on it based on World Health Organisation (WHO) data covering the period between 1995 and 2009.

    Starting with total healthcare expenditure as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Tanzania spent 3.77% in 1995 and this figure never went up significantly until 2006 when it spent 6.53%.

    By 2009 the figure had dropped to 5.12%. Notably, the United Nations wants Tanzania to reach 15%.

    From another observation, in 1995 the government spent 40.10% of the country’s total healthcare expenditure with the remainder coming from non-government sources, but come 2005 the government raised it to 48.51%. As a result of massive donor support by 2009 the government was spending 73.59%.

    In absolute amount of money presented in US dollars, based on official exchange rate, in 1995 the country spent a total of $114 million with the government spending $46 million of that, about 40% as mentioned above.

    As of 2009 the country spent $1,462 million of which the government share was $1,076 million, with the Ministry of Health spending $596 million.

    Looking at donor support one may be surprised at the figures. Back in 1995 external resources on health as a percentage of total health expenditure was only 9.29 per cent, but that figure reached 36.48 in 2005, then jumped to 59.21% and 56.47% in 2008 and 2009 respectively.

    Imagine if donors say enough is enough, you have adequate natural resources, please take care of yourself!

    Another dimension is general government expenditure on healthcare as a percentage of general government expenditure which gauges the attention of government on healthcare.

    In 1995 the figure was 9.13 %, increasing to 14.40% in 2006 before reaching 18.08% in 2009, twice as much as it was in 1995. Not bad, but still more is needed.

    When he addressed the nation on June 30 in his monthly speech, President Jakaya Kikwete hinted that his government has increased the healthcare budget from Sh300 billion in 2005/06 to Sh1.2 trillion in 2011/12, making it the third largest area after infrastructure and education.

    Note that, average annual inflation rate was below 5% in 2005/06 but has mostly been above 10% since October 2008, and is currently close to 19%.

    While in local currency this appears to be a fourfold increase, in foreign currency that isn’t the case.

    WHO data shows that in 2005 it was $301 million, and based on the current average exchange rate, the 2011/12 amount is about $750 million approximately two and half-times. Again, impressive but not enough!

    Frankly, based on our pathetic situation, population explosion, and other known challenges, we need to do far better than this.

    So, where is the magic wand? We need to increase our GDP and the nation’s total expenditure on healthcare as well as the government’s spending; assuming embezzlement and corruption will not interfere.

    Finally, it is time we escaped from donor-dependency syndrome if we truly want to be in charge of our own destiny.

    This is not to mention a host of measures such as effectiveness and efficiency, training, equipment, facilities, various public health programmes and taking care of our medical personnel.

    I don’t think being overtaken by almost all EAC members is a good sign at all.

    Matinyi is a consultant based in Washington, DC.

  • ‘Iam With Tigo’ Campaign Launched

    Tigo-Rwanda has unveiled its new ‘I am with Tigo’ campaign, a celebration of having the freedom to connect with the people who matter the most to Rwandans.

    The Campaign “I am with Tigo” is inspired by actual testimonies gathered from asking Tigo customers why they prefer the Tigo brand.

    Chantal Umutoni, Tigo Rwanda Head of sales and Customer care said at the launch of the campaign, “it is a reflection on how they feel about the service we provide and the recognition of understanding their needs. We aim at keeping Rwandans connected and on trend with the latest telecommunications technology available”.

    It is a reflection of how customers feel about the brand and is a recognition of what Tigo has done to keep them connected with the people they care about the most.

    This concept is based on real testimonies and insights gathered from Tigo customers, essentially Rwandan youth.

    “As part of our activations, a number of activities will follow to ensure that everyone gets to tell their story on why they are with Tigo”, Umutoni added.

    Since entering the Rwandan market, Tigo has connected over 2 million customers by providing a quality network, affordable tariffs and innovative products to suit the everyday needs of Rwandans.

    Tigo has been first telecom company to allow customers to choose their number and borrow airtime and pay back later with Tira Tigo.

    Also customers have benefited from Tigo Muzika-setting favourite song as ringtones on their handsets

    Also Vuga Packs customers were able to talk to each other without paying unbearable rates.

    Tigo has also supported Rwandan talent, bringing together artistes Urban Boys, Kitoko, Dream Boyz, Radio and Riderman for the creation of their hit-single ‘Rwanda Uri Nziza’. The song describes the pride of being and feeling Rwandan and can be heard playing in every radio station across the country.