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Rwandan president tips investors on local market satisfaction

Xinhua, February 8, 2017 Adjust font size:

Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Tuesday called on local and foreign investors to focus more on satisfying local market.

The president was speaking during his visit to Kigali Special Economic Zone (KSEZ) in Nyandungu, Kigali, where he toured several manufacturing companies dealing in essential products the country has been importing at huge costs.

Kagame told local manufacturers to first think about local market before focusing on the region while consumers back home are "starving."

"We have to ensure that the investments made here benefit the investors, but most importantly it must benefit Rwandans. It is not acceptable that we import low quality goods when we have the ability to produce high quality products in Rwanda," he said.

Rwanda currently has a significant trade deficit, which for years has been around 15 percent of the total GDP.

To address the deficit due to large importation of foreign products, Rwanda has intensified drive to boost domestic production and local consumption.

The campaign dubbed "Made in Rwanda Products" seeks to discourage the use of imported goods that are or can be produced locally by making the goods produced in the country reliable, durable and affordable.

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

According to the "Formal External Trade" report for December last year by National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR), Rwanda's imports in the third quarter stood at 439.39 million dollars compared to 481.15 million dollars in the same period of 2015.

Rwanda's local companies will continue to explore potential markets in Africa and beyond to help Rwanda significantly increase exports, according to the Rwandan government.

Trade experts say Rwanda should adjust policies to encourage SMEs in the country so as to avoid importation of certain foreign products that can be produced locally. Enditem