Author: b_igi_adm1n

President Paul Kagame will deliver key remarks Wednesday in Washington, D.C., at a tribute in honour of outgoing World Bank Vice President, Dr. Obiageli “Oby” Ezekwesili, for her contribution to the African continent throughout her tenure.

During her last visit to Rwanda in late 2010, as World Bank VP, Dr. Obiageli “Oby” Ezekwesili reaffirmed the Bank’s support and commitment to Rwandans in their development process.

She stated,“You can be assured that the World Bank will stand a steady course of partnership with the people and the leadership of Rwanda.”

The top three sectors in Rwanda currently funded by the World Bank are energy, agriculture, and private sector development.

The event will be jointly organised by the Whitaker Group, the Tony Elumelu Foundation and the Wilson Centre.

Rosa Whitaker, CEO of the Whitaker Group, said the evening is meant to “To recognize Dr. Oby’s personal dedication, pioneering initiatives and sterling achievements at the Bank in support of Africa.”

Also as part of his visit to the United States, President Kagame is expected to meet with the Atlantic Council, think tank and public policy group based in Washington, D.C.

The Atlantic Council was founded in 1961 to promote transatlantic cooperation and international security.

An African Woman Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has been nominated to compete for the World Bank top job. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala is Nigeria’s Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister for the Economy.

The African Union believes Dr. Okonjo-Iweala has undisputed credentials to be the next president of the World Bank.

However, United States has nominated Jim Yong Kim to lead the World Bank.

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala has been at the World Bank for 21 years; she is an economist Ph.D. from MIT with undergraduate degree from Harvard”.

The African Union said the crux of development issues in the world today resides in Africa, and therefore, the World Bank needs to have at its helm someone with deep knowledge and expertise in a wide-range of development issues.

Ambassador Harold E. Doley, Jr. the first U.S. Executive Director to the African Development Bank says Dr. Okonjo-Iweala can get the Bank presidency if developing countries unite behind her candidacy and with the endorsement of one developed country.

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala said during the weekend: “Sincerely, I feel honoured over by the decision of African leaders to back me for the job. It is elating that across the continent, the leaders spoke with one voice, and their gesture is directed at me; I am eternally grateful to them all for their support.”

Speaking at the National Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party at the Eagle Square, Abuja, She insisted that the opposition of the American government to her nomination would not dampen her spirit.

“For the developing countries need to coalesce behind her candidacy, and you will need one of the major developed countries to support her, and that most likely candidate would be France,” Doley notes.

He said France; with its dependence on Africa for its economic growth and triple “A” bond rating must support Dr. Ngozi for the presidency of the World Bank.

Doley described this year’s selection process as a watershed moment in terms of opening up the World Bank to full participation and moving beyond what he calls the so-called gentleman’s agreement.

Analysts say Africa has the greatest development needs, and should be better represented at the Bank, at the IMF and other multi-lateral institutions.

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki announced yesterday to Kenyans the discovery of oil in the East Africa’s economic powerhouse.

Kibaki said, “Oil has been found in Ngamia-1 exploration well in Northern Kenya, Turkana. It is the first time Kenya has made such a discovery.”

Tullow drilled an intermediate depth of 1,041 metres to hit the oil, which has similar properties to the light waxy crude discovered in Uganda. The difference is that while Tullow has to dig deeper to reach the oil in Kenya, Uganda’s oil is closer to the surface—about 600-800 metres.

In their communiqué, Tullow Oil said it confirmed the discovery after the well encountered in excess of 20 metres of net oil in a reservoir capable of producing hydrocarbons.

“This is an excellent start to our major exploration campaign in the East African rift basins of Kenya and Ethiopia,” said Angus McCoss, the exploration director.

“To make a good oil discovery in our first well is beyond our expectations and bodes well for the material programme ahead of us.”

The Rwanda Development Board officially launched a new national wide campaign titled “Na Yombi” in order to influence behavioral change both in the public and private sector.

Clare Akamanzi, the Chief Operating Officer at RDB stressed that the new campaign will create more awareness through public dialogue.

“It is different this time because we consulted the private sector in particular and the general public at large and we envision a more positive impact because we will have feedback loops where the public can tell us the areas that need improvement and how they think this should be done,” she said.

The “Na Yombi” campaign will also involve training of trainers in customer care and it is expected, through community mobilization, the media and experiential marketing, to reach at least 1 million adults this year only.

The Minister of Labor, Anastase Murekezi stressed that quality of good service is always needed.

“Good quality service sustains the economy and keeps attracting customers. Treat them well because it is your interest and the customers’,” he said.

The priority areas earmarked specifically for this campaign are hotel industry because they are the primary interface with visitors from within and outside Rwanda and local government officers because they serve a variety of clients.

RDB in partnership with the private sector have developed a set of tools to address poor customer service including the Service Toolkit which can be customized to any business and Customer Care Handbook.

The customer care project began in 2009 aiming at raising consumer awareness on the levels of service delivery they should expect. It is also aimed at raising awareness of the importance of customer care to service providers and users.

New Telecom entrant Airtel, announced Monday that they are ready to start serious business in Rwanda. The news has caused excitement among potential clients.

Airtel launched a public awareness campaign at hilltop hotel at Remera where promotional materials including T-shirts were given out. Currently posters with Airtel Red and white Logo are getting pinned onto shops in city suburbs.

According to Nsanze Yuhi Didier Business man in Kigali working with the Mazengi Company said Airtel’s existence is a big opportunity for him as a business distributor; he expects more income from Airtel.

He is looking forward to the difference Airtel is here to make. “My role as a distributor is to see that products are availed to customers,” he said.

Mukamuza belthlde one of the potential clients says she has great expectations from Airtel, she claimed the current next works are not stable – the networks are quite disturbing, she said she loads airtime and it is curbed when she takes long to call or send a text, I expect Airtel to help us through these problems soon she added.

Hakizimana Felicien said with airtel’s coming it’s going to create competition among the three networks and this is going to be one way of improving services in Rwanda because each network will be targeting more customers though he is more interested in the employment part of it.

The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and the National Bank of Rwanda in partnership with Visa International have launched a Financial Literacy campaign aimed at helping citizens with money management skills.

The campaign includes road shows to equip the population with information and tools that will help enable access to financial services.

The launch highlights a country-wide financial education campaign involving the public, private sector and civil society.

It marks the first of 25 performances over a three month period across Rwanda, with the aim of reaching a broad audience.

The show will impart knowledge on key financial tools such as budgeting, saving, opening a bank account and how to use an ATM in an engaging, fun and humorous way.

The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, John Rwangombwa stressed the importance of financial literacy in building Rwanda’s economy.

“Accessing and understanding financial services endows people with opportunity to take advantage of their abilities. The Government plans to turn Rwanda into a regional financial hub. As Rwanda’s economy grows, we believe that financial partners like Visa will be critical in attaining Vision 2020 targets,” he stated.

The Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda, Ambassador Claver Gatete noted, “Financial literacy is effective in achieving financial inclusion. Thus calls for an all-inclusive approach with all stakeholders both public and private sectors.” he said.

70 female police officers have been conferred upon the rank of Police Constable. This marks the first ever largest number of female recruits into the Rwandan National Police force.

The massive pass out included 77 new police officers including seven men.

The Minister of Internal Security Sheikh Musa Fazil Harelimana noted that the massive pass out of female Police officers shows the intent to bridge the gap between men and women in the Police force.

“The constitution calls for at least 30% gender representation in all activities but given what I see here, we can even surpass the required percentage as the constitution does not bar us,” Minister Fazil noted.

Harelimana noted Rwanda National Police is currently focusing on quality more than quantity given the changing nature of crimes that require Police officers qualified in other disciplines.

“You are on demand to serve in several United Nations missions where your predecessors have served and made the country proud,” Harelimana said.

The New officers were however, cautioned to uphold discipline and work hard as it was the only way to progress in their profession.

Rwanda’s Prime minister Dr. Pierre Damien Habumuremyi has urged those involved in the extraction of methane gas at Lake Kivu to scale up their efforts so that the project is completed on time.

Dr. Habumuremyi was at the site of Methane gas extraction in Karongi district to assess progress of the project.