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  • Final trial of microbicide ring to be conducted in Rwanda

    Rwanda is in the third and final phase of testing a vaginal ring containing antiretrovirals, which, if successful, could provide an important female-controlled method of HIV prevention. 

    Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa and Zimbabwe have all been selected to conduct the final phase of the trial. Phases I and II – conducted in Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa – assessed the safety and acceptability of a daily application of a gel containing the ARV,dapivirine. 

    “Phases I and II were completed successfully ; this means that the microbicide has been evaluated and found to be safe and acceptable,” Gilles Ndayisaba, the principal investigator at Project Ubuzima. “Even if in Rwanda we conducted phase I and II on the gel, these phases have been done with the ring in several others [countries] and they were successful,” he added. 

    Phase I trials involved small numbers of women, followed by expanded safety trials, Phase I/II, which gathered additional safety data among more participants over longer periods. Once the safety trials are complete, longer-term safety and efficacy trials begin. Phase III trials are conducted among high-risk participants so that researchers can see if there is a difference in infection rates between women who use the active microbicide product versus those who use a placebo. This phase looks specifically at the efficacy and gathers information to proceed with putting the product on the general market. 

    In Rwanda, the trials are being conducted by a local NGO, Project Ubuzima, with the International Partnership for Microbicides. The project has carried out safety trials for dapivirine gel among more than 60 women and has conducted an HIV incidence study among 1,250 female VCT clients and 800 high-risk women in the capital, Kigali, in preparation for the final phase. 

    An estimated 3,000 HIV-negative women aged between 18 and 40 will participate in the trial in all selected countries – between 400 and 600 will come from Rwanda ; the trial is expected to last three years. 

    “Potential participants are well-educated on clinical research in general and first have to sign an informed consent form which includes all information concerning risks and benefits while participating in the study,” said Marie-Michelle Umulisa, the community outreach manager at Project Ubuzima. “These are reviewed by the Rwandan National Ethics Committee to protect participants’ rights.” 

    Each participant will use the ring for a minimum 15 months or a maximum 33 months. “It is likely that products that can be applied less frequently like the ring will be more acceptable and will achieve better adherence,” Ndayisaba said. “Vaginal rings need only to be replaced every four weeks and may therefore have benefits over dosage forms that need to be used more frequently.” 

    The researchers say dapivirine is advantageous because it is not used in current HIV/AIDS treatment regimens so there is less potential for drug resistance. They say the vaginal ring is cheap to manufacture, comfortable, flexible and can be self-inserted ; it is intended to provide long-term protection during anticipated and unanticipated sexual intercourse. Uncertainties 

    According to Evelyn Kestelyn, executive director of Project Ubuzima, there are advantages to being one of the countries conducting a trial. “When the products finally come on the market… countries that were selected to implement phase III will get the products for free or will purchase them at a subsidized price.” 

    However, women in Kigali remain uncertain about whether they would use a microbicide ring should the ongoing trial prove successful. 

    “I would need to be extremely sure it works well before I can entrust my life with such a thing ; I mean I would want to be sure it doesn’t have any particular side-effects,” said Agatha Ingabire. 

    Should the product make it on to the market, Project Ubuzima plans a major campaign to sensitize Rwandans on the microbicide’s function. 

    “We intend to undertake a huge sensitization process, starting with community leaders and gradually we shall trickle this down to the other masses,” said Umulisa. “Community acceptability of this project is key for its success.” 

    Globally, a number of microbicide trials are ongoing, testing gels and rings. In 2010, the biggest success was recorded in a study by the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa, which found that a vaginal gel containing the ARV tenofovir was 39 percent effective in reducing a woman’s HIV risk when used for about three-quarters of sex acts and 54 percent effective when used more consistently. 

  • Communications conference kicks off in Kigali

    The 18th annual congress of the East African Communications Organisations (EACO) kicked off today at the Kigali Serena Hotel, Kigali. The three-day meeting is scheduled to end on 27 May 2011.

    In an interview with IGIHE.com, the Minister in the President’s office in charge of ICT, Dr. Ignace Gatare, said that the Congress would try to outline challenges and seek possible solutions to the communications and telecommunications sector in the region.

    It will also discuss different issues related to communications particularly regulatory policies and tools, and communication networks of the EACO member countries. It will also outline possible ways of facilitating intra-EAC business in the communication technologies.

    Regis Katarayiha, the Acting Director, Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA) told the media that the congress would also look at possible ways to interconnect fiber optic cables and seek for quick measures to shift from analogue to the digital broadcasting platform within the region.

    The meeting has attracted has attracted over 300 delegates from the region. These include regulatory authorities, telecom operators, postal organisations, broadcasting organisations, and other experts involved in broadcasting and telecommunication services within the region.

    The congress which is held on a rotational basis is intended to harmonise policies and regulations governing the communications sector in the East African bloc.

    EACO’s predecessor was the East African Regulatory, Posts and Communications Organizations (EARPTO).

  • Gorillas: Using natural assets to build a future

    What do you do when you come face-to-face with a mountain gorilla ? I opted to crouch. I’d fallen behind, with my back to the rest of our trekking group, when I was confronted by a young male coming the other way. It was a moment I’ll long remember. Dark, unblinking eyes fixed on me in an instant.

    Then, all huge knuckles and hairy shoulders, he approached. Fascinated, I was rooted to the spot. He sauntered past, no more than 30 centimetres away from me.

    Rwanda is renowned for its gorillas and they didn’t disappoint. In the far north-west of the country, in the Volcanoes National Park, seven groups of eight visitors get to spend an hour each day near some of the planet’s last remaining mountain gorillas.

    We’d set off an hour earlier after Fidel, our guide, had given us a briefing. “We’re visiting the Sabyinyo group,” he had said. “It comprises 12 gorillas, including the largest silverback, Guhonda. His name means ’chest beater’. All of the gorillas have names ; we tell them apart by the shape of their noses.”

    Our trek through bamboo forest and fat-leafed foliage was relatively sedate but at nearly 2750 metres above sea level, it still occasionally had me panting for breath. During our hour with the group, which passed incredibly quickly, we were also lucky enough to get very close to Guhonda. He, too, eyed us over, almost posing.

    Further turns around clumps of bamboo brought us to a huge blackback, a smaller male and a baby. We watched enthralled as he clambered and tumbled around in the bamboo. He was charming. Father looked on unperturbed as visitors just metres away snapped like mad with their cameras. It was so close, so intimate, that I felt almost embarrassed.

    The choice of gorilla group was apt. The lodge where we were staying was called Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge, the most comfortable of the accommodations around the national park. It was here I was asked an unexpected question : “How is the Queen ?” Merarry, the receptionist, was a keen royalist. But why ? Despite its lack of a previous connection to Britain, Rwanda was officially welcomed into the Commonwealth in 2009, as the 54th and newest member.

    “Do people even know what the Commonwealth is ?” I asked. “For sure !” Merarry said. “We have information in the newspapers and on TV. We are very pleased. It is a good thing for our country’s future.”

    The future is what everyone in this tiny east African country is fixed on. Putting past horrors behind them, a new generation of Rwandans is making ambitious plans for development.

    This includes tapping into the business and cultural opportunities the Commonwealth offers and new allegiances with Anglophone neighbours – Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

    Unsurprisingly, tourism is an integral part of the mix. The Rwanda Development Board (RDB) is working hard to encourage visitors to do more than just visit the gorillas. And rightly so.

    A two-hour drive brought me to Kigali, the capital. The road dipped and swooped past tiny mud huts perched precariously on steep hillsides, each an island in a sea of banana and cassava plants. The warm air was full of the scent of eucalyptus and cooking smoke.

    Once a backwater, Kigali now throbs with urban life – but with little of the chaos of many African cities. I shared a dinner at funky lounge bar Republika with my expatriate friends Jim and Sava and a local, Boaz.

    We drank cold beer and munched burgers laced with piri piri sauce, surrounded by the hubbub of Kigali’s movers and shakers. And they certainly knew how to move. Rwandans love to dance. The dance floor at Top Tower nightclub of a Friday night was packed with waggling bottoms and flailing arms to an eighth-floor backdrop of the night-time cityscape.

    After the urban excitement of Kigali, I took a RwandAir flight to Kamembe in the far south-west of the country. A further one-hour drive brought me to another of Rwanda’s park highlights – Nyungwe. Nyungwe is a big part of RDB’s tourism plans.

    Covering a massive area, it’s the largest slice of protected medium-altitude rainforest in Africa, stuffed with species – orchids, birds, reptiles and, in particular, chimpanzees. It’s the kind of place visitors ought to hang around longer to see.

    The problem used to be the accommodation : just a cheap hostel or campsite was on offer. That has since changed. I was booked into the new Nyungwe Forest Lodge. Hidden among slopes covered with tea plants, it features designer chalets with balconies overlooking the rainforest. A 4.30am start meant there wasn’t long to enjoy its comforts but the early start was worthwhile. Above me, the night sky was cloudless, with a sprinkling of stars ; the wind in the rainforest was the only sound.

    We picked up our excellent guide, Kambogo, and bumped along in a four-wheel-drive for an hour.

    Dawn revealed pools of cloud in the valleys below, which the rising sun turned from white to gold in moments. We set off following a signpost marked Rukizi Trail. Kambogo led at a cracking pace. “The trackers radioed to say the chimps may move soon !” he said.

    We forked onto a smaller trail. The slope became much steeper and the rainforest mulch under my boots more slippery.

    We burst onto a wider trail to meet up with our trackers. They guided us at a gentler pace to a clearing that dropped away, offering views of enormous fig trees.

    It took a while to see them but we eventually saw a family of chimps, swinging high in the trees, cramming their mouths with figs. As with the gorillas, our watching time was limited to an hour – but we were unable to get anywhere near as close this time.

    Nyungwe isn’t just for hardcore trekkers, though you do need to be pretty fit. There are guided walking trails, waterfalls, remarkable bird life and monkeys. The latest attraction is a 65-metre aerial walkway offering immense rainforest views. But just as we arrived it began to rain. “We can’t do the walkway if it’s raining. It’s a safety precaution,” Kambogo said. Secretly, I was relieved. I get vertigo. That drop was already making my head spin.

    As we walked back, the rain became heavier. The final stretch of path revealed a huge gap in the canopy. I stepped into the gap and looked out at precipitous hills unrolling towards Lake Kivu on the horizon. Cooling rain ran down my face. Suddenly, a brief halo of sunlight lit the rainforest, with its centuries-old trees.

    Amid all the excitement of progress, I thought, Rwanda’s bright future is inextricably linked to the wonders of its primaeval past.

    This article was first published by Sydney Morning Herald

  • Belgian funded projects spur rural development

    Belgium Development Cooperation (BTC) funded programs in agriculture, health and energy, have yielded varying success especially in the rural areas. 

    The president of the board of directors, Belgian federal public service, foreign affairs, external trade and development cooperation, Dirk Achten led a delegation to visit cassava farmers benefiting from the program in Bugesera district and later toured the  Nyamata hospital, where BTC supports a mental illness unit.

    Farmers who concluded training on better farming of cassava plant are expected to serve as facilitators by training their colleagues. Presently, a total of 2,000 farmers are undergoing training.

    So far, 563 facilitators and 24,429 village-based farmers countrywide have benefited through the farmer field school (FFS) approach. This participatory methodology built on learning by doing has helped farmers to learn better ways of preparing fields, selecting appropriate seeds, crop rotation and controlling of pests through minimal use of pesticides.

    The three year project was funded by BTC to the tune of Frw 2 billion. In that short period, farmers have seen an improvement in yields. Similarly, another four year project that covers priority crops such as Irish potatoes, maize, banana, cassava, tomatoes, and passion fruits amongst others is underway.

    Epimaque Mbonimpa, a cassava facilitator in Gatsibo district said the traditional cassava plant was preferable to the contemporary one.

    “The modern plant has more disadvantages ; it’s more prone to diseases, it also consumes a lot of pesticides and it’s not conducive in various types of soil, yet the local one can germinate almost in all parts of the country, “he remarked.

    Another farmer was also quick to point out that consumers consider the modern cassava flour tasteless and stickier compared to the local one.

    he added that thought the foreign cassava breed has a bigger yield the difference was not remarkable.

    Trained farmers further disclosed that the modern cassava is also prone to pests yet the local one can withstand the majority of pests. The advantages of the local cassava plant is that farmers use locally made pesticides which are more affordable. “They are made from pepper and garlic and soap, it is used to eradicate fleas that spread the mosaic disease that affects the leaves of a cassava plant,” the facilitator further added, “Another trick to reduce the risks of pests infection is boiling the seeds for ten minutes before planting. ”

    The delegation later visited ADEPER Nyamata hospital where it supports the mental health department. The assistance is in line with the national program for mental health aimed at mainstreaming mental health services in decentralized health services. So far six mental health units have been set up and are fully functional in district hospitals. Other achievements include training three specialised psychiatrists this is also in line with support training of 127 medical general practitioners and 74 nurses in district hospitals, 328 nurses of health centers and 2571 community health workers.

    According to Lilian Mulisa, the head of psychiatric department at the hospital, most cases are related to trauma, depression and epilepsy.

    “We attend to approximate 161 patients in a month. Those who haven’t improved are sent to Ndera mental hospital,” she remarked. 

  • EAC budget estimated at US$109M

    The chairman of the council of ministers of the East African Community, Hafsa Mosi, has said the bloc proposes to spend $109.68 million from July compared to $77.66 million that was allocated for the current expenditure window.

    During the presentation of the budget estimates last week in Arusha, Tanzania, she said the implementation of the Common Market and laying the foundation for the next Financial Year would be a momentous one as the Community enters a higher phase in its integration process in view of the launch of the Common Market and the energised process toward the establishment of the East African Monetary Union. 

    According to estimates, development expenditure would take up 67 per cent of the total budget for next year.

    Some $42 million would finance sustainable use of environment and natural resources, tourism and wildlife conservation while $10.27 million would be used to implement the common market protocol that was signed by the EAC heads of state in 2009 to boosting commerce.

    Promotion of regional trade and infrastructure is planned to take up $12.5 million.

    “While tremendous achievements have been made, we also recognise that there will be challenges in the period ahead to which we must apply ourselves in taking the regional integration forward,” Ms Mosi said.

    She added : “The stage is therefore set for the full operations of a vibrant single market and investment area in East Africa.” Members of the EAC plan to jointly manage and share revenue from their tourism facilities as part of efforts to boost earnings from the key sector. Officials said EAC would also step up focus on the smooth implementation of the common market to allow the free movement of goods, services, people and capital within the bloc. This would make region easier to market to foreign investors.

    The realisation of this dream has, however, run into hitches amid mistrust by some partner states that fear their economies would be compromised by dominant partners under such an arrangement.

    “Our pressing call is to consolidate the gains of the customs union and maximise its benefits. During the year, we intensified efforts to address the problem of non-tariff barriers,” Ms Mosi said.

    The EAC will also be looking to improve its road and energy infrastructure in 2011/12 fiscal year amid projections of higher inflows of investment. Foreign direct investment in the five-nation trade bloc rose to $1.72 billion in 2009 from $910 million in 2005.

    She said the presentation of the Budget comes at a time when the East African Community is making very good progress and holding great promise for the period ahead. “While tremendous achievements have been made, we also recognize that there will be challenges in the period ahead to which we must apply ourselves in taking the regional integration forward. The stage is therefore set for the full operations of a vibrant single market and investment area in East Africa. 

  • Gov’t to boost oil reserves capacity to shield consumers

    When local fuel
    pump prices went up by 4.4 percent in April, the second price increase in less
    than two months, there was course for alarm. Prices went up from Rwf 1,015 to
    Rwf1,060. The Ministry of Trade and Industry attributed the continued hike to
    the constant increase in international oil prices over the last two months.

    In a move seen to screen Rwandans from external shocks arising from the volatile fuel
    market,
    Rwanda plans to boost its
    oil reserves by constructing an additional 40 million litre storage capacity in
    a move to cushion.

    The
    government has contracted Falcon Oil Limited is to construct the reserves.

    The
    facility is expected to increase the country’s storage capacity to 60 million
    up from the current 20 million litres.

    According
    to Emmanuel Hategeka , the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Trade and Industry
    the government is considering both short and long term measures to reduce fuel
    price shocks.

    Mr Hategeka
    said though mitigation measures have been made possible through streamlining
    taxation and logistical issues, the country need to increase storage capacity
    for petroleum.

    “It is like
    hedging such that when fuel prices are up, Rwanda is not heavily affected. We
    still have limitations in storage capacity …the way out of this is investing in
    fuel storage,” he said.

    With the
    increased storage capacity, the private sector will be encouraged to consider
    bulk purchase schemes, Mr Hategeka said.

    Oil
    companies are required to keep 10,000 cubic metres of operational stock to
    ensure that there is sufficient petroleum supply. Rwanda imports approximately
    17 million litres of oil monthly, both for domestic and industrial consumption.

    The main
    supply route runs from the Mombasa refinery to Nairobi by a 485 kilometre
    pipeline and on to Kigali via Uganda by trucks along a 1,250 km road route.

  • New Nyarugenge HQs to cost Rwf 1 B as local council gives way for Kigali Marriott Hotel

    Nyarugenge District headquarters to construct new offices valued at Rwf 1 billion. The district vice Mayor in charge of finance and economic development Felicien Kagisha has said. The move follows the acquisition of the land currently adjacent to the former Jali grounds by the owners of the upcoming luxurious Marriott Hotel.

     “The funds to construct new premises were included in the next financial budget – 2011/2012,” Kagisha said.

    Kagisha, however, said that the district is yet to acquire land to build the offices.

    “It is a process, first to acquire land and design the block and even money to do all these. We are waiting for the developers to pay us…but we hope they will pay us before the end of the year,” said Kagisha.

    According to the vice mayor, the owners of the hotel shall pay a total of Rwf 1.2 billion for the plot of land which shall be used for the extension of the hotel alongside a parking lot. Also to be relocated are the current offices of Rwanda Television to give way for the hotel’s expansion.

     “We will relocate after they (hotel proprietors) pay us…and that is when we will rent (the premises) where will be operating from as we await the completion of the new offices,” Kagisha explained.

    Recently, a Marriott delegation was in Kigali, where they inspected the progress of the ongoing construction, Mr. Billy Cheung, who led the delegation, spoke to the media last week and announced that the critical room shortage in Kigali’s capital would be bridged when the 254 room and suite Marriot Kigali opens its doors next year. The hotel is expected to be opened in Q3 or Q4 of 2012, depending of progress of work and in particular the interior finish which will create the hallmarks of a Marriot Hotel like seen elsewhere in the world. Mr. Cheung also mentioned that this is the first of such projects by Marriot in sub Saharan Africa and will probably be a yardstick for further expansion and investments in Africa as a whole.

    While in Kigali the group met with relevant government officials and sections of the business community to discuss the progress of the project, issues of sourcing materials and their importation to Rwanda but also future cooperation and to establish early ties with key stakeholders in the Rwandan economy.

  • Gatsinzi in Zimbabwe to convince refugees to return home

    The government has dispatched a high-powered delegation to Zimbabwe to try and convince its nationals staying in the country as refugees to return home.

    Minister of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs Marcel Gatsinzi and his delegation are expected to meet the Rwandan refugees and convince them that there was peace back home.

    According to Zimbabwean newspaper Newsday, there are about 750 Rwandans staying in Zimbabwe as refugees.

    Zimbabwean Public Service and Social Welfare Minister Paurina Mpariwa, said she was hopeful the Rwandan delegation will convince the refugees that their country was now peaceful.

    “He (Gatsinzi) is around, we have about 700 Rwandans. I hope they will be able to convince them that it is peaceful back home,” Mpariwa said. 

    “We believe as a government that there is peace in Rwanda. We believe that at their meeting, they will be convinced that they should go home.”

    An adviser at Gatsinzi’s ministry in Rwanda, Jean Damascene Kayitana, said the majority of Rwandan refugees in Zimbabwe were unaware of the cessation clause, saying the aim of the minister’s visit was to sensitise the refugees about the issue.

    The clause, under the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) stipulates that no Rwandan living abroad will qualify for refugee status after December 31 2011.

    Last year, the Zimbabwe government promised to repatriate all Rwandan nationals by December 2011 after the UNHCR declared Rwanda safe for refugees to return but the refugees resisted the move.

  • Fina Bank urges traders to access loans

    The business community in Rubavu and Rutsiro districts have been urged to acquire loans to expand their businesses.

    The call from FINA Bank, Rwanda’s leading SME bank comes amid government’s initiatives to strengthen the private sector especially the small scale and medium enterprises.

     Jean Philippe Manzi Gakuba, Fina bank’s Rubavu Branch Manager, said that the business community in the two districts should to take advantage of the available liquidity in the bank to access credit for their businesses.

    The bank made the call, yesterday, in Rubavu District during a one day seminar to avail their new plans and consult with clients in regard to its products.

    “We assure them (business people) of enough liquidity in the bank which they should take advantage”, he said, adding that many people were adamant to access credit from the banks after the global financial crisis.

    With the current rise in inflation and increase in commodity prices, the bank is optimistic that its current 17.5 percent interest would remain unaltered to help businesses access loans easily.

    The manager who was speaking during a one-week seminar, urged people with businesses to come up with business plans and forward them to the bank which would help to collect where necessary and acquire loans.

    “This year we are targeting to give out Rwf2 billion in loans to small and medium enterprises,” he said. He added that in the first half of last year, no loans were given out while only a few were lent in the second half.

  • Kobayaga lawyers to conclude testimonies this week

    Testimony in the federal trial of Lazare Kobagaya, 84, accused of participating in the 1994 Rwandan genocide is expected to conclude during next week with defence lawyers resuming their efforts to convince jurors about the innocence of the accused. 

    According to news agencies , defense attorneys will put on the stand their last witnesses in the case of Kobagaya, who faces the loss of his citizenship and deportation if convicted. He is charged with unlawfully obtaining U.S. citizenship in 2006 and with fraud and misuse of an alien registration card in a case prosecutors have said is the first in the nation requiring proof of genocide.

    U.S. District Judge Monti Belot has told jurors that they will not get their jury instructions or hear closing arguments until after the Memorial Day holiday. That would make May 31 the earliest day that the jury could possibly get the case and begin deliberations.

    Jurors must decide if Kobagaya lied to U.S. immigration officials. The government alleges he purposefully concealed that he was actually living in Rwanda during the genocide by misrepresenting on an immigration form that he was in Burundi at the time. He is also alleged to have lied when he told authorities he had not engaged in genocide or committed any crimes for which he was not convicted.

    More than 500,000 people were killed in Rwanda during 100 days of violence that began in April 1994. Most of the dead were ethnic Tutsi, while most of the killings were carried out by ethnic Hutu militias, before a Tutsi-led rebel movement took power.

    The prosecution brought Rwandan witnesses to this country in an effort to prove that Kobagaya, a Hutu born in Burundi, ordered other Hutus in Birambo, the village where he lived at the time, to burn down the houses of their Tutsi neighbors. He is accused of stabbing a Hutu man who refused to join in the killings, forcing him to later kill another man for fear of his own life. Kobagaya is also accused of helping lead an attack up Mount Nyakizu where hundreds of fleeing Tutsis who had been massacred.

    Defense attorneys brought their own Rwandan witnesses to testify otherwise.

    Kobagaya’s son, Jean Claude Kandagaye, took the stand first for the defense to recount for jurors their family’s life as Burundian refugees in Rwanda and his father’s efforts years later to learn English so he could become a U.S. citizen.

    The defense used Kandagaye — who filled out an immigration form for his father — to show jurors that the elderly Kobagaya did not understand English well and depended on others to translate documents and help him fill out immigration paperwork. Several people testified prisoners were pressured to confess and accuse others in order to be released from prison.

    Among them was Jean de Dieu Maniraho, who told jurors that Kobagaya’s name was on a list of people whom Rwandan prosecutors and a Tutsi survivors’ organization wanted prisoners to accuse others as a condition of their release.

    Maniraho testified the inclusion of Kobagaya’s name on the list caused “a lot of trouble” at the prison in 2005, triggering fights and arguments that divided prisoners from Nyakizu Commune into two groups. Some inmates didn’t want to accuse “the old man” of something he didn’t do. Others argued they had to do what the Rwandan government and a survivors’ group wanted.

    Also taking the stand this past week for the defense was Francois Patrick Tuyisabe, who at the time of the genocide was an 18-year-old student home on vacation. He testified that Hutu children and elderly people were excluded from joining the attacks on Mount Nyakizu because of fears they would be killed in a fight. He told jurors that he saw Kobagaya at his home in Birambo during the attacks at Mount Nyakizu.