Category: Business

Introduced just less than five years ago, the Rwanda stock exchange market has excited many following the successful acquisition and profiting from Bralirwa shares. Bank of Kigali has revealed plans to issue an Initial Public Offering soon of which Rwandans are upbeat about…

Robert Mathu, executive director of Capital Market Authority (CMA) has called upon Rwandans; especially the youth to embrace a savings culture most importantly through the acquisition of shares on the Rwanda Stock Exchange (RSE).

A stock exchange is a marketplace for securities in the form of company shares and government bonds where the general public can acquire shares of a company at a specific fee per share. The shares fluctuate in value depending on the performance of the company.

Recently Bralirwa, a brewery and soft drink company, sold its shares to the public for the first time; the new shareholders have seen their shares gain value by 62%. This has since encouraged the buying of shares on the stock exchange.

The stock exchange market in Rwanda started in January 2008, preceded by Capital Markets Advisory Council (CMAC) setup in 2007 as a transitional body responsible for establishing a capital market in Rwanda and writing up regulations.

CMAC has transformed into the current Capital Market Authority (CMA) a regulatory body of the Rwanda Stock Exchange (RSE).

During its establishment, CMAC faced a challenge of finding Rwandan companies ready to sell shares on the new stock exchange. The government took the initiative to sell government bonds and set stage for private companies.

Government bonds are a type of security issued by government, which pays back the money paid for the bond with interest after a certain period of time.

While waiting for Rwandan companies to issue shares, CMAC ventured abroad. KCB and NMG, companies listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange, were invited to sell their stock on the newly formed RSE. A company selling its stocks outside its original stock market is usually referred to as cross listing.

Another major challenge was attracting foreign investors to invest in the RSE. The RSE started during the beginning of the global economic downturn, and foreign investors were cash-tight. Due to its underdevelopment, the RSE didn’t experience much repercussion from the global financial crisis.

Mathu explains, “CMA is now working on implementing the legal framework and improving on investor protection.” A stock exchange just like any other marketplace needs regulation especially in protection of investors, who are essentially the buyers of securities.

Mathu also stresses the need for transparency if the RSE is to mature into an efficient capital market. Transparency is especially needed in everyday transactions, transparency during transactions guarantees that sellers and buyers are given fair deals. Investors will be confident of the stock exchange if they see that it is fair and efficient.

“We intend to introduce an electronic system within the next year. Such a system would improve on speed, transparency and efficiency.” Mathu said, explaining CMA’s future plans.

The CMA in collaboration with stock brokers have embarked on an initiative aimed at educating the public about the stock exchange. Brokers act as middlemen between buyers and sellers on the stock exchange. As the RSE is still in its infancy, the Rwandan public needs to be educated on benefits accruing from investing on the stock exchange.

“We have had to invest more time by meeting people on the streets explaining to them the benefits of capital market investments”, explained Shehzad Noordally, general manager of CDH Capital-Rwanda. CDH is a broker firm operating on the RSE.

Bank of Kigali (BK) has revealed it will issue an Initial Public Offering (IPO) -financial jargon for selling new shares. The bank’s IPO may be another opportunity for Rwandans to make money on the stock exchange.

BK’s IPO has caught attention of the people. There seems to be confidence for a successful IPO; much like that of Bralirwa, as was pointed out by Shehzad Noordally, “Many people made money from the Bralirwa IPO and have spoken to their friends. People will be happy to invest in the BK IPO.”

Bank of Kigali hopes to use money from the IPO for small lending to customers, expanding more branches and electronic banking. The bank’s chief operating officer, Lawson Naibo, points out that the stock exchange is the best source for the bank to raise the funds for its projects.

The stock exchange gives Rwandan businesses a new medium of acquiring cash for investment. The money invested on the stock exchange provides long term capital necessary for continual economic growth. The stock exchange is going to be crucial to maintain Rwanda’s economic growth.

Increasing investment in the stock exchange by Rwandans will also boost Rwanda’s average income. Stockholders can earn an income through dividends paid out by companies.

Rwanda has joined fellow EAC countries Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania in having a capital market. All regional stock exchanges have been around longer and are more active than the RSE-the Nairobi Stock Exchange being the most developed.

The government’s privatisation scheme might see more companies issue shares on the RSE. The Bralirwa and upcoming BK IPO were triggered by the government selling off the shares it controlled in these companies.

In the near future, the government might sell off more shares in other companies that will give Rwandans more investment options on the RSE. More IPOs may lead to more investment as Rwandans see the profits to be made on the stock exchange.

Robert Mathu wants Rwandans to know that they can make money while helping build the economy through stock market investment.

Today the RSE recorded one transaction of 1,000 BRALIRWA shares traded at Rwf 220; the closing price for the last 5 trading days and the total turnover for the day was Rwf 220,000.

BRALIRWA had the first Annual General Meeting (AGM) after going public last Tuesday, June 21st, 2011 and the company’s books were also closed on the same day. Dividends will be paid on July 21st, 2011.

At the close of business, there were outstanding offers of 21,900 BRALIRWA shares at Rwf 220 and 2,100 KCB shares at
Rwf 180 and no bids.

KCB and NMG counters did not record any transaction today and their share prices remained unchanged from yesterday’s closing prices of Rwf 175 and Rwf 1200 respectively.

Rwanda has been known for its infamously pitiable and pathetic customer service. Recently, however, enormous strides have been taken to improve comfort, luxury and service of hotels and restaurants countrywide, focusing on better delivery to customers.

The Work force Development Authority (WDA) has been the driving force behind these commendable efforts which have contributed substantial positive feedback.

The program has undertaken this challenge by training people on a nationwide aspect especially in areas such as Rusanzi, Rubavu and Kayonza districts.

For the third time in Kigali, the weeklong training was categorized into four sections; front office, food and beverage service, housekeeping and culinary arts.

Commenting on the lessons, Beatrice Mutoni, the curriculum facilitator noted that. “Among what we teach include all the skills encompassing customer care within the four domains that are housekeeping, culinary arts, front office and food and beverage service.”

Yet much emphasis is put on culinary arts (cooking) module, food hygiene since they’re among the main basics that ensure better service.

Edwinson Ndizeye, acting head of culinary arts says: “There have been numerous reporting of food poisoning and this is something that can easily be prevented if certain hygiene principles in the kitchen are emphasized and negligence reduced.

Mutoni was also quick to point out that. “ We also teach many types of cooking methods such as the well celebrated “mise en place”method ,” she also added that, “many waiters make mistakes and are incredulous to certain things such as how to serve properly, the right way to address a customer, we cover all those fundamentals through what we teach,” Mutoni remarked.

Customer care service in Rwandan hospitality is one element that has been identified to be lacking in areas that go beyond the skills – the general attitude of the service providers. Mutoni sheds some light on this mystery by pointing out the fact that employers are the ones that can considerably contribute to the improvement of this factor.

“The receptionists, waiters and other service providers, in some cases work extremely long hours with an unsatisfactory remuneration, and these poor working conditions lead to negative attitudes and in the end, it’s the client that suffers.

“Despite this obstacle, it is apparent that employees still need a major acquisition of skills and with the work of the WDA, there has been a major success.

“Employers countrywide have appreciated the skills that we give to their employees , the knowledge they acquire soon becomes evident by the way services are improved, ” Mutoni said adding that, “positive feedback from employers can be seen with the recent increase in trainees that showed up in this month compared to April.”

Alex Munyaneza , acting head of hospitality unit highlighted that, “this time around we received a surplus of trainees ( a total of 168 )from owners of hotels and restaurants who were more than eager to have their staff employed for a better and efficient service provision”

This affirmative and optimistic response wasn’t only seen with the employers but the employees themselves. Vincent Gakwaya , a waiter from Sky Hotel noted that. “This training has really taught us much and we feel that with these new skills, we shall be operating more efficiently and better”.

Gilbert Kiza also sided with Gakwaya adding that. “With these new skills we feel that we are better prepared to face the day-to-day challenges in our duties as restaurant waiters.”

Today, the RSE remained in the same trading range as far as prices are concerned but went up in volume.

BRALIRWA shares closed unchanged from last week’s closing price of Rwf 220. A total turnover Rwf 2, 820,000 was recorded from 11,200 BRALIRWA shares transacted in 3 deals at Rwf 230 and Rwf 220.

The KCB and NMG counters did not record any transaction today and their share prices remained unchanged from last week’s closing prices of Rwf 175 and Rwf 1200 respectively.

At the end of formal business hours, there was an outstanding bid of 10,000 BRALIRWA shares at Rwf 215 each and outstanding offers of 32,000 BRALIRWA shares and 21,900 BRALIRWA shares at Rwf 230 and Rwf 220 respectively.
There was also an outstanding offer of 2,100 KCB shares at Rwf 180 eac

Falling food prices in May helped slow the inflation rate in Rwanda’s urban centres for the first time in seven months to 4.54 percent, official data showed on Thursday.

The National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda said the country’s urban consumer price index rose less than 0.1 percent in May from a month earlier as a 0.92 percent fall in food and non-alcoholic beverages prices was off-set by increases in the cost of transport and housing and utilities.

“The increase in the consumer prices index … is attributable primarily to the increase in housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (0.73 percent) and Transport (0.87 percent),” the statistics office said in a statement.

Year-on-year, food prices rose by 4.69 percent in urban areas.

Rwanda’s overall inflation rate, which has a higher weighting for food, increased to 3.82 percent in May from 3.05 percent a month earlier.

Rwanda has the lowest inflation rate within the five-nation East African Community trade bloc. Uganda has the highest inflation rate at 16.0 percent, followed by Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and then Rwanda.

Rwanda’s Finance Minister John Rwangombwa said in his budget last week he forecast inflation rising to about 7.5 percent this year. This story was first published by Reuters.

Today, the RSE traded higher in volume than yesterday but went slightly down in price. BRALIRWA shares traded at Rwf 230 and Rwf 220 and closed at Rwf 220; a decrease of 2% from yesterday’s closing price of Rwf 225.

A total turnover Rwf 2,333,000 was recorded from 10,600 BRALIRWA shares transacted in 5 deals.BRALIRWA shares are trading ex-dividend since Monday 14 June, 2011.

The KCB and NMG counters did not record any transaction today and their share prices remained unchanged from yesterday’s closing prices of Rwf 175 and Rwf 1200 respectively.

At the end business, there were outstanding bids of 5,000 BRALIRWA shares and 10,000 BRALIRWA shares at Rwf 216 and Rwf 215 respectively. There were also outstanding offers of 6,900 BRALIRWA shares at Rwf 225 and 47,300
BRALIRWA shares at Rwf 226 each. On the other hand, there were outstanding offers of 2,100 KCB shares at Rwf 180 each.

Ones commitment to their work doesn’t really provide better customer care but rather team work has proved to be the most essential due to joint effort, three women who are currently pursuing their diploma in leadership skills and hotel management at Akilah Institute for Women are quick to explain how perfect communication facilitates unity.

Anita Umutoni who now has a permanent job as a receptionist at the Manor hotel, explains that her occupation involves a lot of communication to ensure that clients get answers to their questions and demands.

The Manor’s receptionist noted that many are times she receives calls from clients who need various services in the hotel which means she has to collaborate well with the hotel’s departments to know for instance available meals or events.

Her friend Noella Abijuru who once worked as a waitress in the same hotel, noted that her post helped her realize that a meal or a drink would never reach the customer in time if there was lack of joint effort. “I mean those who serve the client should communicate well to the bar man or chef on what is needed if not so the client will either complain or leave, which is a shame and loss to the hotel,” the former waitress warns.

“Indeed we learn communication as a special lesson at the institution,” responds Florence Mukundwa who works as a chef at an Indian restaurant situated in the same hotel, her argument is that some servers give wrong orders to her especially meals which are not on the menu but lucky enough she can distinguish some of the special orders since she’s used to international cuisine.

She further added that even accountants should be aware of what’s going on in the hotel.”I remember there was a time we ran out of chicken and the accountant didn’t have money to buy more, so what happened a colleague sacrificed her money to buy what was required in order to keep the clients around, you see this was so unprofessional because the chefs didn’t communicate earlier that they’d ran out of chicken meat in their stock,” Mukundwa.

Professionalism is also important especially for waiters and waitress. Health and nutrition for instance is a very important knowledge for servers since it helps them communicate to the chef on the kind of food their clients want since there people who are allergic to some food spice like vinegar or cheese. “Of course a chef who has a detailed demand would prepare a meal which is friendly to their client’s health,” the chef remarked.

The Rwanda Stock Exchange was very active and the BRALIRWA shares are now trading ex-dividend. A total turnover Rwf 295,783,000 was recorded from 1,260,100 BRALIRWA shares traded between Rwf 220 and Rwf 235 in 15 deals.

BRALIRWA share price closed the day unchanged from yesterday’s closing price of Rwf 235.

The KCB and NMG counters did not record any transaction today and their share prices remained unchanged from yesterday’s closing prices of Rwf 175 and Rwf 1200 respectively.

At the end of business, there was an outstanding bid of 100,000 BRALIRWA shares at Rwf 220 each and an outstanding offer of 7,300 BRALIRWA shares at Rwf 260 each. There was also an outstanding offer of 100 KCB shares at Rwf 180 each.