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Rwanda expects business deals as Ghana investors to pay visit

Xinhua, January 13, 2017 Adjust font size:

Rwanda is set to host a group of investors from Ghana who will be in the small central African country to explore investment opportunities in several sectors of the economy.

Karim Tushabe, a legal consultant and head of Doing Business at the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) told reporters on Friday that the delegation will be interested in learning about untapped business opportunities in the country.

"Rwanda welcomes investments both foreign and local. As a fast growing economy and with the number of incentives that our country offers to any investors, the Ghanaian delegation will find plenty of opportunities to explore," he added.

According to RDB, the Ghana business team is expected in Rwanda from 24th to 28th.

The team is scheduled to meet with Rwanda Development Board officials for a briefing on business opportunities in the country and Rwanda Revenue Authority on effective tax collection.

The Ghanaian investors are more interested in construction. They will visit the Kigali Construction One Stop Center to learn about construction, according to trip organizers.

The investors from Ghana will also visit to the Kigali Special Economic Zone (KSEZ), Rwanda Natural Resources Authority (RNRA) as well as Rwanda's Commercial High Court.

The country has already developed KSEZ located in Gasabo District, within the country's capital, which targets to be a hub of private sector investment.

Rwanda has embarked on developing Special Economic Zones across the country that are designed to address domestic private sector constraints such as availability of industrial and commercial land, availability and the cost of energy, limited transport linkages, and market access among others.

Special economic zones are well equipped with tarmac roads, water and electricity rollout in all designated plots and a waste water treatment plant.

The country has put in place a good business environment that is corruption free and reducing the hours of registering a business from 24 hours to 6 hours hence attracting both local and foreign investors.

Rwanda also opened strategic business offices in different countries like Turkey, Canada, the UK, the United States, South Africa, Singapore and China, with the aim of promoting investments in those countries.

According to the 2016 Ernst & Young (EY) Africa Attractiveness Index, Rwanda is one of the 10 most attractive nations in Africa for investors.

The country was ranked ninth and the second most preferred investment destination in East Africa after Kenya, which came fourth on the continental ranking and first in the region.

In 2015, Rwanda revised the investment code that, among others, saw investors enjoy preferential corporate income tax of 15 percent, for sectors such as energy, transport, financial services and affordable housing and logistics project.

The code also allows up to seven-year tax holidays to projects investing more than 50 million U.S dollars in energy, manufacturing, tourism, ICT or health sectors.

Available statistics indicate that in 2014, Rwanda registered investments worth 549 million U.S. dollars, out of which 213 million U.S. dollars was Foreign Direct Investments, while 159 million U.S. dollars through joint ventures with local investors. Endit