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  • Two Britons to cycle to Rwanda to raise funds

    Two Briton’s Pete White, 31, and Pete Goodwin, 28, will travel approximately 6,000 miles and through 12 countries in just 70 days by bike from the United Kingdom to Rwanda to raise thousands of pounds in sponsorship to make a difference to youngsters in the country.

     The two will start the ‘Cycle to Rwanda’ trek in May 2012 from West Suffolk Athletics Arena, Bury St Edmunds Leisure Centre, Suffolk, and ending in Kigali.

     The Arena has been chosen to host the Rwandan Olympic and Paralympic teams Pre-Games Training Camp as they prepare for London 2012.

    The two aim to arrive in Kigali, Rwanda, in time to accompany the Rwandan Olympic team on their journey to Bury St Edmunds.

     The Cycle to Rwanda challenge is part of the ‘Sport For Rwanda’ fundraising appeal which aims to raise £80,000 by 2012 to provide 140 schools in the country sports equipment and training materials to introduce sport to the Rwandan educational curriculum, through charity Rwandan Aid. ‘Sport For Rwanda’ was set up by the St Edmundsbury Olympic Steering Group as part of its Go Rwanda project to build a lasting legacy with Rwanda. Godwin and White are both working with the registered UK-based charity group Rwanda Aid on this project as well as sports for Rwanda and other organisations.

    The trek will take them from Bury St Edmunds to Harwich where they will cross by boat to the Hook of Holland. From there they will cycle the 700 miles through France to Marseille, taking a total of six days. They will travel from Marseille by ferry to Tunisia’s ferry port and then cycle 1,750 miles in 18 days through Tunisia and Libya to Cairo in Egypt. From Cairo they will journey 1895 miles in 18 days across Egypt and Sudan to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. The final leg of their journey will take 16 days and 1,605 miles from Ethiopia through Kenya and Uganda to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.

    White was quoted as saying that he wants to cycle to Rwanda for various reasons such as broadening his horizons of the African continent and experience its beauty first hand but most important is that he wants to make a difference.

     Pete Godwin said he was doing this “because I have always grown up with easy access to sports equipment professional training whereas many of the young people of Rwanda don’t have that luxury in the world of sport. ” He added that he wants to try to create real life actions that symbolise the true meaning of “Everyone’s Games. ”

     

  • We need innovative citizens- Kagame tells varsity students

    President Paul Kagame has said that low financial capacity should not retard innovative ideas among students, adding that the problem is lack of proper entrepreneurial and developmental skills that matches with the modern society.

    The Head of State made the comments yesterday while addressing over 12,000 students and staff of the National University of Rwanda (NUR) at the university stadium in Huye District, Southern Province.

    Shortly before addressing the NUR community, President Kagame, officially opened a state-of-the-art ICT laboratory at the University constructed with the support of the Republic of Korea.

    Addressing the students, President Kagame said that he was pleased to discuss the role of higher education and its importance to the nation, particularly the contribution of the university community in the transformation of the Rwandan society. He further asked students to work hard since nothing is easy in life.

    “Nothing can easily come without working and sweating for it,” he challenged NUR students and staff.

    Kagame called upon the students to be innovative and self reliant and capitalise on the newly established ICT laboratory to achieve new and constructive ideas that would help the nation attain sustainable development.

    He urged the students to be job creators as the youth of 21st century observing that they should not rely only on their lecturers’ notes ; but should instead engage deeper into research.

    The President assured them that the government was behind them adding that it would work closely with the university to meet various challenges. The president said the government considers education as one of the main pillars of development and will continue to invest heavily in the sector.

    The Rector of NUR, Prof Silas Lwakabamba, said that the newly inaugurated ICT school would be important in offering ICT courses, adding that it represents a large and Important new resource for staff and students at NUR.

    He noted that the structure has 11 laboratories with 400 computers and is the best of its kind in Africa. The facility was equipped at a cost of US$4.7m with the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) donating US$4m.

    Prof. Lwakabamba commended the Korean government for the continued support, and added that more projects were yet to come, to expand the University infrastructure much needed.

    Prior to his speech, the Head of State had listened to the University’s Guild President Hildebrande Niyomungeri read out the challenges the students at the national university face.

    Niyomungeri thanked the president for the visit and further commended the head of state for boosting the bursary for Students Financing Agency of Rwanda (SFAR) sponsored students by 70 percent.

  • UNICEF welcomes Rwanda’s campaign to eliminate HIV transmission from mother to child

    UNICEF
    has welcomed the announcement of a national campaign to eliminate the vertical
    transmission of HIV from mother to child in Rwanda and confirmed its commitment
    to support the government in ensuring that all women in need will be reached
    with a new, more efficacious HIV regimen by 2015.


    The campaign was launched on Thursday last week by Rwanda’s First Lady, Mrs.
    Jeannette Kagame, in the presence of the Minister of Health and other
    government officials, UNICEF’s Regional Director for Eastern and South Africa,
    Elhadj As Sy, representatives of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS
    Relief (PEPFAR) and other bilateral partners as well as the President of the
    Elizabeth Glazer Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

    UNICEF
    is co-championing the call for the elimination of mother-to-child transmission
    of HIV by 2015. UNICEF Regional Director As Sy said he was confident that
    Rwanda can meet its goal of reducing the transmission rate among children born
    to women living with HIV to less than 2 per cent. “In order to achieve this
    goal, we have to make sure that all pregnant women with HIV can participate in
    prevention programmes, including adolescent girls and those living in remote
    areas. UNICEF stands ready to support the government in identifying the gaps in
    access and in removing bottlenecks that prevent women from making use of the
    existing life-saving services.” 

    As
    part of the elimination campaign, Rwanda plans to ensure that all HIV positive
    women receive the most efficacious ARV regimens through expanded coverage of
    quality services. Furthermore, the government wants to make sure that pregnant
    women access health services earlier, that HIV incidence among women of
    reproductive age is reduced, that comprehensive knowledge on HIV prevention is
    increased and that all women have access to family planning. Rwanda has a birth
    rate of 2.8 per cent with a fertility rate of 5.3 per cent. It is also
    Africa’s most densely populated country.

    The
    campaign will strengthen the links between MCH and HIV programmes and further
    enhance the already high involvement of male partners in prevention and testing
    programmes. 

    Although
    Rwanda has one of the lowest HIV prevalence rates amongst pregnant women in
    Eastern and Southern Africa – currently standing at a national average of 4.3
    per cent – rates in the capital Kigali are much higher (between 16 and 34
    per cent).

    More
    than 20,000 children below the age of 15 live with HIV in Rwanda. Over 90 per
    cent have been infected through vertical transmission. HIV positive women
    can transmit HIV to their children during pregnancy, delivery or breastfeeding.
    Without intervention, the risk of transmission is more than 30 per cent.

    The
    Government of Rwanda, through the support of international partners, including
    UNICEF, has been able to significantly increase the provision of PMTCT
    services. 

  • RwandAir adds Libreville to its growing network

    RwandAir the national carrier of Rwanda today launched flights from Kigali to Libreville the capital city of the West Central African republic of Gabon. The three weekly flights have been designed to operate a triangular schedule between Kigali, Libreville and Brazzaville with full right to ferry passengers between Libreville and Brazzaville.

    Making this announcement at a colourful ceremony hosted by the Gabon Ministry of Transport in Libreville , RwandAir CEO John Mirenge affirmed the airlines’ commitment to linking Central and West African cities with East Africa. “Earlier this year we launched flights to Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo, but that was not the end of it, we were just finalizing arrangements for Libreville which we are now proud to launch,” said Mr Mirenge. He further added that the memorandum of understanding for bilateral air services agreement signed between the representatives of governments of Rwanda and Gabon will allow the carriers of both countries fifth freedom rights. Kigali – Libreville flights will operate three times a week on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

    Libreville, located on the west coast of Africa along the banks of Komo River and overlooking the Atlantic Ocean becomes the fourth port city for RwandAir after Mombasa, Dar es Salaam and Dubai. The Brazzaville route was launched March this year and is expected to get a major boost from the planned triangular operation.

    RwandAir makes Libreville its second new destination this year with another  domestic destination, Gisenyi, set to launch May 31, 2011.

    The airline will later this year take delivery of two Boeing 737- 800 from Boeing Commercial Airplanes. These aircraft become the first on the continent to be fitted with the Boeing “Sky Interior”.

  • Nexus signs MOU for flight operations centre in Rwanda

    Middle East-based flight operations group Nexus is moving into Africa with plans to establish a flight operations center (FOC) in Kigali. Nexus has just signed a memorandum of understanding for the project with the Rwanda Development Board.

    “We are very excited about the new Nexus Africa, since it is the first step in our global expansion and we believe Rwanda to be the perfect place for our inaugural Africa base,” said Nexus chairman, Mohammed Al-Zeer. “Our ultimate aim is to be globally recognized as the leading African provider of flight operations services, employing the best, serving the elite, and being respected by industry leaders. This is just the first step.”

    The facility will be built in partnership with the government of Rwanda, which has been working through its Civil Aviation Authority to make the country a regional hub for air transport. The FOC will offer the same level of service Nexus currently offers at its centers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and Manama, Bahrain, catering to both local and international customers.

    “We are delighted to welcome Nexus into our country as their services will provide links for travelers all over the world, not just to Rwanda but to the whole of Africa,” said John Gara, CEO of the Rwanda Development Board. “This move is aligned with our vision as well as our initiatives to promote tourism and trade and to also improve aviation safety and security within the entire region.”

    Rwanda made headlines in the last decades due to its civil war, which officially ended in 2003. With its current stable political climate and central location, it is an ideal site for the FOC, according to Nexus. A date for commencing construction has not been set.

  • Kobagaya: Defence calls son as 1st witness

    The son of
    a man accused of lying to immigration officials about his participation in the
    1994 Rwandan genocide took the stand Monday to testify about their life as
    Burundian refugees in Rwanda and his father’s efforts years later to become a
    U.S. citizen.

    That testimony came as the defence team for Lazare Kobagaya began
    laying out its case. The 84-year-old Topeka, Kansas, man is charged with
    unlawfully obtaining U.S. citizenship in 2006 and with fraud and misuse of an
    alien registration card. The indictment also seeks to revoke his citizenship.

    Prosecutors have said the case is the first in the U.S. requiring
    proof of genocide. An estimated 500,000 to 800,000 people, mostly ethnic
    Tutsis, were killed by Hutu militias in Rwanda between April and July 1994.

    Jean Claude Kandagaye testified that his father is a Hutu and his
    mother is a Tutsi. Kandagaye told jurors that while he was growing up in
    Rwanda, his family was discriminated against because they were Burundian
    refugees. As refugees, they could not join political parties, attend public
    secondary schools or get some jobs and social services.

    Kandagaye told jurors that as a refugee his father was not a
    leader in the Rwandan village of Birambo where they lived — a key point as the
    defence team tries to counter the government’s allegations that Kobagaya was an
    influential community leader who led others during the genocide.

    Kandagaye, who filled out an immigration form in 2005 for his
    father, is considered a key witness as the defence tries 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.

    Earlier Monday, prosecutors rested their case after putting on the
    stand the immigration official who interviewed Kobagaya during his citizenship
    application in April 2006.

    Adjudication officer Jeryl Bean testified that Kobagaya responded
    “no” when asked whether he had ever persecuted anyone or ever
    committed any crimes for which he was not convicted. Kobagaya also denied ever
    giving false information to immigration officials or lying to them to gain
    entry into the United States, she testified.

    Prosecutors used Bean to attack Kobagaya’s claim that he did not
    purposefully misrepresent to immigration officials that he was not living in
    Rwanda during the 1994 genocide because he was unfamiliar with the English
    language and may have misunderstood that question on the immigration forms.

    The defence has argued that it was one of his sons, Kandagaye, who
    actually filled out the paperwork because Kobagaya did not speak English at the
    time.

    However, Bean told jurors that Kobagaya spoke English and that no
    interpreter or family member was present during the 2006 interview for his
    citizenship.

  • BNR targets inflation at below 7.5%, Governor Says

    The National Bank of Rwanda will aim to keep inflation below 7.5 percent this year, lower than a previous estimate of 8 percent, newly appointed Governor Claver Gatete said.

    The inflation rate climbed to 5 percent in April from 4.1 percent a month earlier as food and fuel prices increased. Last month, former Governor Francois Kanimba said inflation may reach 8 percent this year. Gatete, who was appointed as Kanimba’s replacement on May 6, said the official estimate is that inflation will reach 7.5 percent by the end of the year.

    “We don’t want it to go that far,” he said in an interview after his swearing-in ceremony on May 13 in Kigali, the capital. “We are fighting inflation.”

    The National Bank of Rwanda kept its key lending rate unchanged at 6 percent last month, after three reductions in the past year, to help boost lending and support the economy’s expansion. Rwanda’s Finance Ministry has forecast economic growth in the coffee-growing country will slow to 7 percent this year from 7.5 percent in 2010 as poor rains curb agricultural production.

    The central bank hasn’t decided whether it will raise interest rates to curb inflation, Gatete said.

    Rwanda’s national budget will increase to 1.12 trillion Rwandan francs ($1.85 billion) in the 2011-12 fiscal year, from 984 billion francs a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Finance. The increase has been accounted for in the central bank’s inflation projection, Gatete said. Inflation advance last month largely because of higher food and fuel costs, he said.

    While food prices are still rising, the rate of increase has slowed, he said. In April, food prices climbed 6 percent, after jumping 8 percent in the previous month. Higher fuel prices are mainly due to political instability in the Middle East and are beyond the bank’s control, he said. Gasoline prices in Rwanda increased 14 percent between January and April, according to industry regulators.

    “We can only control the effects,” Gatete said.

    Gatete, a former ambassador to the U.K. and previously a deputy governor at the central bank, replaced Kanimba after his predecessor was named as the new minister of trade.

    Gatete said he plans to focus on modernizing communication systems, training staff and improving research capabilities at the bank during his tenure as governor.

  • Actis Weighs Sale of BCR

    Actis LLP, a London-based private- equity firm investing in Africa, Asia and Latin America, may sell its Rwandan bank to Kenyan lenders.

    Banque Commerciale du Rwanda, based in Kigali, the capital, is “a natural acquisition for one of the bigger East African banks wanting to expand their footprint,” Peter Schmid, Actis’s head of Africa, said in a May 12 interview at the firm’s London office. “That’s a probable exit scenario. ”

    Actis, which has $4.6 billion under management, bought an 80 percent stake of BCR in 2004 in a deal valuing the company at $6 million. The Rwandan government kept the rest of the previously state-owned bank. Kenyan lenders including Equity Bank Ltd. (EQBNK) and Kenya Commercial Bank Ltd. (KNCB) are expanding across East Africa, opening branches in Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and southern Sudan, as the region’s economies grow.

    The Rwandan investment was Actis’s first in the country. Gross domestic product has expanded an average 7.5 percent annually from 2004 and 2009, according to the World Bank. About 30 percent of Actis’s capital is invested in Africa, Schmid said.

    The Rwandan Stock Exchange “is a bit small for now” to list for an investment exit, Schmid said.

    Rwanda held its first initial public offering in November when the state sold 25 percent of Brassieries et Lemonaderies du Rwanda SA, a unit of Heineken NV (HEIA), the world’s third-biggest brewer. The stock is the only company listed on the Rwandan Stock Exchange, which started trading on Jan. 31. Kenya Commercial Bank and Nairobi-based Nation Media Group Ltd., East Africa’s biggest media company, are listed on an over-the- counter exchange.

    BRC increased profit almost four-fold in the nine months through September on reduced costs and higher revenue, Managing Director Sanjeev Anand said in December. Net income climbed to 1.7 billion Rwandan francs ($2.8 million) from 433 million francs a year earlier as sales rose 12 percent to 8.5 billion francs, he said. The bank expects full-year net income of 2.2 billion francs, Anand said.

    In 2004, Actis was spun out of CDC Group Plc, a U.K. government-owned investor in developing markets that was originally started 60 years ago as the Colonial Development Corp., to raise money from government, insurers and pension funds to invest in African and Asian companies.

  • HUAWEI to launch smartphones in Rwandan market

    Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei through its local subsidiary is soon to launch android powered smartphones in the Rwandan market through telco operators MTN Rwanda and TIGO.

    The smartphones to be powered by the popular android operating system offer a full range of remarkable features and applications. According to the Chief Operating Officer of Huawei Rwanda Adriaane Heine, the model expected to retail via the TIGO and MTN Rwanda operators is HUAWEI U8150 IDEOS.

    “Huawei will be dealing with provision and marketing of these products and ultimately, the operators will be selling to the markets,” says Heine,.

    Hein reveals that the Huawei smartphones have been well received in many countries across the world, a factor attributed to “the phones’ new, simple and incredible technology coupled with numerous amazing features.”

     “The handsets received a good response particularly in countries like Kenya where about 100,000 units were sold in the first few months. Since its release in January until February (2011), they (Huawei Smartphones) had already taken 45.4 percent of the market share surpassing that of even other more popular established brands such as Nokia with a market share of 33.3 percent,” Heine says.

    He says that the phones fitted with a range of powerful features from hardware to software.

    “The powerful android operating system will provide the user with categorised applications they can use, which are directly accessible from the android market feature on the phone,” he observes.

    During an exclusive interview with IGIHE.com, Heine demonstrated the brilliant applicability of the phone by opening Google Maps, an application that allows a user to trace topographic directions at their disposal via satellite communication.

    The phone’s uniqueness goes beyond the software and integrated hardware, It offers elements such as a capacitative touchscreen , powerful 3G connectivity and other powerful features such as a router.

    HUAWEI is a global telecommunication company specialising in the supply of a diverse range of telecommunication equipment. With its strong and broad network of around 110,000 employees worldwide, it has partnered with more than 470 operators in more than 130 countries. The company has been operating in Rwanda since 2005 and helped local telecommuinications firms like MTN to build the network infrastructure.

  • Indian firm to invest US$1b in Rwandan Gold, Diamonds

    Rajesh Exports Ltd., India’s largest jewelry maker and exporter, said it may invest as much as $1 billion in Rwanda over the next five years developing the country’s gold industry and building a diamond-trading business.

    The company, based in Bangalore, India, is in talks with Rwanda’s government about proposals that include establishing a gold refinery within six months, Ravi Chandra, the company’s chief executive officer for mining, said in an interview in Kigali.

    Most of the gold mined in Africa is currently exported to South Africa or Europe for processing, Chandra said. Rajesh Exports is seeking to make Rwanda a continental hub for gold processing over the next three to five years.

    “Our aim is to try to bring the gold from most of Africa to Rwanda,” Chandra said.

     Rajesh has begun exploring a 2,000 square-kilometre gold concession in Rwanda that it wants to increase to 15,000 square kilometres, Chandra said. Eventually the company plans to export products including jewelry and coins. It also intends to set up a diamond business that may involve importing and exporting the gems as well as cutting and polishing, he said, without providing further details.

    Talks between the company and the Rwandan government are “still very exploratory” and may take six months to complete, Clare Akamanzi, chief operating officer of the Rwanda Development Board, said in an interview. The projects envisaged by the company may cost $500 million to $1 billion, she said.

    Rajesh Exports is also working with the Rwandan government to establish a legal way to import gold from neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo. In March, Rwanda banned the purchase of so-called conflict minerals including gold, tungsten, coltan and tin from Congo after the U.S. passed a law aimed at halting the trade.

    The Dodd-Frank law will require American companies to report any purchases of gold, tin, tungsten and tantalum that might have come from conflict zones in Congo, according to a draft of the regulations on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s website. Fighting has raged in eastern Congo for more than 15 years and armed groups often support themselves by taxing or trading in minerals.

    “We are hopeful to find a legal solution,” Chandra said.