Business

President Paul Kagame opening the Africa CEO Forum 2019 at the Radisson Blu Hotel & Kigali Convention Centre. President Paul Kagame has upped the pressure on Uganda telling African CEOs that Uganda was the sole party to blame for the current standoff between the two sides. “Politics is what is…

ICT and Innovation Minister Ingabire Paula speaking on a panel at the ‘FinTech Fridays’ March 22 at Marriott Hotel in Kigali, Rwanda Government and the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) have maintained deliberate silence on whether to ban or leave cryptocurrencies for reasons beyond their control, a public forum heard…

IMF mission leader Laure Redifer meets Finance Minister Dr Ndagijimana Uzziel and Central Bank Governor John Rwangombwa previously in Kigali The International Monetary Fund said Friday that economic growth will jump from 7.8 percent, to 8 percent this year – and probably beyond, as Rwanda’s development blueprint begins to have…

Prof Sir David King speaking today A former UK chief scientific advisor has strongly defended a Rwanda government plan to set up a nuclear energy program that will include a nuclear power plant. Prof Sir David King, who has been a member of Rwanda’s Presidential Advisory Council (PAC) for several…

Despite existence of various tech banking services, Rwandans still see it convenient to face the person behind the Teller counter Less than 35 percent Rwandans have confidence that using smart products and services is a convenient way to transact their activities, says a study by a local consumer rights campaign…

Mac Holtzman delivered the cheque to Viateur Uwambajimana of Ubumwe Community Center (Photo by Kigali Today) Ava Holtzman, the 10yr old daughter of Mac Holtzman has offered a cheque of $60,000 (Rwf54m) to Ubumwe Community Center – a support center for orphans and children living with disability. Mac Holtzman is…

Finance and Economic Planning Minister Dr Uzziel Ndagijimana, speaking at a previous event There is cautious optimism in Rwanda as result of new data showing that even if relations with Burundi are at lowest point they have ever been, Burundians are still consuming a considerable amount of goods from their…

There are more than 8,000 cooperatives across Rwanda like this coffee team. Despite the good intention of the cooperative movement, they have become ‘eating’ grounds for leaders instead of all the members A cooperative in Musanze district, Northern Province, will not be paying Rwf 60msupposed tax arrears it had been…

MTN Team was on site in Nyamabuye village, Nyamabuye cell, Kagogo sector in Burera District MTN Rwanda says it has agreed a settlement with a community in northern Rwanda which accuses the South African telecoms giant of taking their land and not compensating them for more than 11 years. The…

The South Africans have missed several deadlines. Today, CIMERWA can only produce 400,000tonnes, far below the local demand. Rwanda relies heavily on imports. Rwandan cement firm CIMERWA owned by South Africa’s largest cement producer Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC Ltd) was Saturday reminded it could be closed if it did not…

RwandAir is keeping the Nairobi route open even as uncertainty grips JKIA RwandAir’s evening flight to Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) will go on as planned, the carrier announced, despite a major disruption caused by a workers’ strike. It had re-routed the morning flight via Nairobi to Entebbe –…

Some travellers have been stranded for hours. There are chaotic scenes at Kenya’s main Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) as a major workers’ strike unfolds in which staff want senior executives removed. Hundreds of travelers are stranded and Kenya Airways (KQ) has cancelled all its flights. Kenyan Transport Cabinet Secretary…

Surfing on your phone is cheaper in Rwanda compared to many other countries Rwandans are paying some of the cheapest rates for mobile data than anywhere else, according industry study ranking of 230 countries.  Rwanda emerged 5th where 1GB of mobile data costs an average of $0.56 (Rwf500). In Africa,…

A young woman displays her health insurance card at an RPF party campaign rally during the 2018 parliamentary polls (Photo by Kigali Today) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says in a new study on Rwanda’s heavily subsidized health insurance scheme that even the little paid by the poor has a…

There is a fleet of such Volkswagen Teramont SUVs for you to enjoy Germany carmaker Volkswagen this Friday unveils car ride hailing service, Move Ride, that allows users in the city of Kigali to request a taxi using a smartphone App. Through its local subsidiary, Volkswagen Mobility Solutions Rwanda, the…

Inside this ‘Pharmecie Conseil’, like thousands across Rwanda, there are thousands of medicines which the authorities want to keep track A government deadline to have all medicines in the country registered before July 2019 has been dismissed as unrealistic and will cause shortages of essential medicines. The Ministry of Health,…

Ms Chantal Kagame, MTN Rwanda Chief Business and Corporate affairs Officer, looks on as Mr Richard Rutayisire, the Senior Legal and regulatory Officer, speaks in the committee South African telecom giant MTN Rwanda has been given until Friday next week to report back to Parliament with an agreed settlement to…

Ntirenganya Jean d’amour farms 10 hectares in Burera district. But the crop dotting his land is not maize or any edible plants. The locals call the strange crop “Ibishyimbo bya Mucuna” in the Kinyarwanda language by locals – or “Mucuna beans”. It is a kind of animal fodder – an…

From drought-stricken eastern Rwanda, to highly acidic soils in the south and the heavily cold north, potatoes will no longer be a specialty of one region. Local scientists have developed five new varieties of potatoes that have been tested in all regions and found to grow there. The team, working…

The confusion over who instructed banks to profile their clients by collecting personal information has finally been cleared, by the National Banks of Rwanda (BNR), whose senior officials had initially denied any involvement. The Central bank Governor John Rwangombwa said Thursday that he had sanctioned the exercise due to security…

A parliamentary committee is handling a case from northern Rwanda in which telecom giant MTN Rwanda is accused of conniving with local officials to undervalue and thereby grab land from helpless local villagers. The lawmakers, in a session Tuesday morning, were visibly angry and unwilling to listen to explanations of…

The Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB) paid out more money than had been planned – a development the body suspects could be a result of a deliberate scheme by criminal network to steal taxpayer savings. Figures released show that the Board had planned to spend Rwf 95billion for the whole…

The financial sector in Rwanda is about to experience an unprecedented wave of structural changes following Friday’s development of the country’s largest bank cutting down its lending rate. Banque Populaire du Rwanda Plc (BPR) announced a reduction of its base lending rate from the current rate of 16.5% annually to…

Prospective clients entering any branch of Kenyan Equity Bank are being handed two pages of paper titled ‘Customer Updating Information Form’ which they have to fill up. The existing clients are also being sent SMS to show up to provide more details about themselves. Some clients have received phone calls…

Parliament on Friday last week approved proposals by Finance and economic planning minister Dr. Uzziel Ndagijimana to increase spending on the 2019 budget. Dr Ndagijimana proposed a rise from Rwf 2.45 trillion approved by parliament in June 2018 to Rwf 2,59 trillion – adding Rwf 141.6 billion to the country’s…

On February 11, the University of Rwanda (UR) announced that within 5 years, it will have covered the large debt it has that is more that 30 percent of its 2019 budget – after the Auditor General raised concerns over the hole in the institution’s finances. In 2013 government merged…

A timber cooperative in Musanze district has received tax invoice from the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) asking for Rwf60m tax arrears. The problem however, is there is no record in the books of the cooperative of a business they conducted transactions worth this amount of tax. The troubles of this…

Banks have cut back on the stringent conditions they had been imposing on Rwandans seeking loans, the National Bank of Rwanda announced Thursday, following its Monetary Policy Committee meeting. In 2017, at least 31 percent of loan seekers were rejected, but the rate dropped to 21.9% last year 2018. “Authorized…

Tap&Go, a cashless payment solution for public transport in Kigali is no longer a family affair following a government directive limiting the number of people that can use the same bus card in a single payment. Effective January 2019, if you have the Tap&Go card, it is not possible to…