Category: Business

Rutongo Casiterites miners have challenged the current policy governing Mining License noting that the given period on license is too short; hence there is a need to comply it with deposit capacity.

While commenting on the License of Rutongo Mines, Kevin Buyskes, General Manager – Rutongo Mines pointed out that current 4 years License which nearing the end must be extended to about or even 30 years.

He noted that the policy behind mining license should be revised to avoid losses which can be caused by the license limit.

“It is only through license that you can only invest” Said Buyskes while addressing East African Legislative Assembly Committee on Agriculture, Tourism and Natural resources.

The EALA committee was touring at Rutongo Mining concession to eyewitness and critically assesses the level of Mining sector in Rwanda.
Caroline Kayonga, The PS at the Ministry of Natural resources said the Rwanda Mining Law is clear.

She noted that the only problem is that investors have not yet shown the available quantity of Minerals at the site.

“….,they have to come up with correct data which show the capacity of the deposit and ask a License depending on it;…if it is clear that exploitation take more than 4 years, why can’t we provide a license of more than 4 years?” Caroline said.

“Our duty is to make sure that these resources are well managed and contributing to Rwanda’s economic growth and benefiting both Rwandans and investors on their side”

However, during the field work, Bazivamo Christophe of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) appreciated activities of the Mining Company which include the construction of new tunnel situating at Nyamyumba Mining site of Rutongo Mining concession.

Leonidas Simpenzwe, the Senior Group Geologist revealed that around 1930s, a yearly production of casiterites was about 2000 tones.

With significant progress in Mining, only Nyamyumba site produce 50,000 tones yearly-Said Simpenzwe during an Interview and one tone cost around 20 000$.

Currently, Rutongo Mining concession employs more than 35 000 people.

Newly developed underneath tunnel is being constructed at the site.

CNBC Africa named Jack Kayonga, MD, Rwanda Development Bank a Young Business Leader of The year.

CNBC Africa is an African television network for Sub-Saharan Africa. It was launched by CNBC and Africa Business News (Pty) LTD on June 1, 2007.

CNBC Africa is headquartered in Sandton, Johannesburg.

The award Ceremony is taking place at the Vodadome in Midrand, South Africa on Thursday, October 25, 2012, and will honour winners from West, East and Southern Africa.

Rakesh Wahi, the founder of the ABN Group, said: ’All Africa Business Leader Awards is a recognition and tribute to African Business Leaders who have made a qualitative and quantitative difference to the companies, industries and communities that they serve.

Supported by the CNBC brand and through an exhaustive process of diligence by KPMG, these awards will be the most coveted in the African Continent.’

Others nominated in various categories include:Business Leader of The Year sponsored by Telkom: Phakamani Hadebe, CEO, Landbank, James Mwangi, CEO, Equity Bank and Mitchelle Elegbe, CEO/ MD,Interswitch.

Entrepreneur of The Year sponsored by the IDC: Jannie Mouton, CEO, PSG Group, Vimal Shah, CEO, Bidco Group and Ernest Azudialu-Obiejesi, CEO & President, Nestoil.

Business Woman of the Year category: Jennifer Barassa, CEO, Top Image Ltd and Funke Opeke among others

On the RSE market, only Bralirwa counter recorded the transactions.

October 24, trading session recorded a turnover of Rwf 3,289,000 from 7,000 Bralirwa shares traded in 3 deals compared to October 23, trading session which recorded a turnover of Rwf 4,618,000 from 11,300 BK shares and 6,700 Bralirwa shares traded in 2 deals.

Bralirwa shares traded between Rwf 460 and Rwf 470 and closed at Rwf 470, unchanged from yesterday’s closing price whereas BK counter was quiet and remained unchanged from yesterday’s closing price of Rwf 130.

KCB and NMG shares last transacted at Rwf 154 and Rwf 1,200 respectively.

At the end of formal trading hours, there were outstanding bids of 50,000 BK shares at Rwf 125 and outstanding offers of 308,800 shares between Rwf 129 and Rwf 131.

On Bralirwa counter, there were outstanding bids of 7,000 shares between Rwf 430 and Rwf 461 and no outstanding offers.

As at October 23, On RSE, the market prices continued an upward trend as Bralirwa share hit a new high price of Rwf 470 on a fifth consecutive day.

The total turnover for the day was Frw 4,618,000 from 11,300 BK shares and 6,700 Bralirwa shares traded in two deals compared to yesterday’s trading session which recorded a turnover of Frw 5,928,000 from 27,200 BK shares and 5,200 Bralirwa shares traded in five deals.

BK shares traded and closed at Frw 130, unchanged from yesterday’s closing price while BRALIRWA shares traded and closed at Frw 470; registering an increase of Rwf 10 compared to yesterday’s closing price.

KCB and NMG shares prices last transacted at Frw 154 and Rwf 1,200 respectively.

At the end of formal trading hours, there were outstanding bids of 5,000 BK shares at Frw125 and outstanding offers of 247,300 shares between Frw 130 and Frw132.

On Bralirwa counter, there were outstanding bids of 105,200 shares between Frw430 and Frw461 and no outstanding offers.

Rwanda’s performance in the Doing Business Rankings in recent years has been exemplary, drawing attention from international observers and investors alike. Improvements have been made across the board.

The 2013 World Bank Doing Business Report has ranked Rwanda 52nd out of 185 countries. In the overall performance, Rwanda is still the best performing country in the East African region as well as 3rd easiest place to do business in Sub-Saharan Africa (1st is Mauritius which ranks 19th globally, 2nd is South Africa which ranks 39th globally, 3rd is Rwanda which ranks 52nd globally, 4th is Botswana at 59th globally and 5th is Ghana which ranks 64th globally.

A non-Sub-Saharan African country that also performed well was Tunisia at the 50th position globally.

According to the survey; 185 Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business. A high rank on the ease of doing business index means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.

The report, Doing Business 2013: Smarter Regulations for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises found that from June 2011 to June 2012, 28 of 46 governments in Sub-Saharan Africa implemented at least one regulatory reform making it easier to do business-a total of 44 reforms.

Rwanda particularly stands out as having consistently improved since 2005. A case study in this year’s report features Rwanda, which since 2005 has implemented 26 regulatory reforms (over half of Sub-Saharan Africa’s annual reforms) as recorded by Doing Business.

Rwanda has been recognized for making improvements in two areas of regulations: Enforcing Contracts (39th) and Getting Electricity (49th).

The country made enforcing contracts easier by implementing an electronic filing system for initial complaints whereas the country eased getting electricity by reducing the cost of obtaining a new connection by 30%. Rwanda’s ranking per indicator has improved.

Looking at areas where Rwanda is still strong, the Starting a Business rank has remained the 8th easiest in the world, with Company registration taking only two procedures and the whole process of incorporation is concluded in just 6 hours. In ease of Paying Taxes, Rwanda is 25th easiest place globally.

Rwanda recognizes that the momentum to reform should be maintained if not doubled and in particular where we have challenges.

This is precisely why Rwanda managed to improve over the last ten years. Rwanda has moved from 150th in the 2008 report to now 52nd in the 2013 report with consistent reforms every single year.

In comparison to her neighbors in the East African region, Rwanda still leads her partner states. Uganda is the second in EAC ranked at 120th globally, Kenya the third in EAC and ranked at 121st globally, Tanzania is fourth and ranked at 134th globally whereas Burundi comes fifth in EAC and ranked at 159th globally.

Outside the EAC, but neighboring Rwanda is the DRC ranked at 181st globally.

Beyond the Doing Business index, Rwanda’s performance is consistent with the World Economic Forum (WEF) Competitiveness index where for the second year running, Rwanda emerged among the top countries (3rd) in Sub-Sahara Africa.

The Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) is based on 12 indicators that include the strength of the economy, education and social welfare, innovation among others.

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Hon. Kanimba Francois welcomed the report. “We have seen consistent improvement, both in competitiveness and ease of doing business. Rwanda continues to be one of the top places to invest in Africa,” he affirms.

“For all these records, Rwanda’s performance in this year’s index is a sign of the country’s commitment to achieving its economic goals,” said Clare Akamanzi, the Chief Executive Officer at the Rwanda Development Board (RDB).

“This demonstrates Rwanda’s commitment and consistency in its vision of economic development. We will work very hard to address remaining challenges to make Rwanda even more attractive as a business destination,” she added.

Rwandair has added to its fleet a brand new CRJ900 Bombadier aircraft. Now Rwandair owns seven planes.

It arrived at Kigali International Airport October 22.

The CRJ900 aircraft is the first of its kind to operate in the east and central Africa.

RwandAir Chief Executive Officer, John Mirenge, says the new plane will concentrate on regional routes.

“We want to increase our destinations and by the end of this year we shall be operating in South Sudan, Cameroon, Zambia and Zanzibar,” he said.

in the next six years, the National Carrier targets to expand its fleet to 18 planes.

Minister of Infrastructure, Albert Nsengiyumva says, “The purpose of purchasing more planes is also to attract other airline companies.

Besides, the number of passengers coming to Rwanda is increasing because of different destinations that RwandAir makes.”