CAPE TOWN: Rwandan exporters are eyeing stronger trade ties with other African economies as the country wishes to increase exports to bridge trade deficit. They were speaking to reporters on Monday on the sidelines of the Made-in-Rwanda trade exhibition aimed at encouraging domestic production and consumption. The event that runs from December 14 to 20 in Rwandan Capital Kigali has attracted more than 350 exhibitors from sectors including ICT, manufacturing, services, agro-processing, textiles, and finance, to showcase domestically made products.
“Presently we are exporting to several countries in Africa, but our wish is to expand to rest of the countries on the continent which would increase the presence of our products in international markets,” said Pierre Munyura Kamere, president of Coffee Exporters and Processors Association of Rwanda (CEPAR). He noted that Rwanda’s Private Sector Federation has supported exporters through conducting Rwanda products trade fairs in Congo-Brazzaville and Democratic Republic of Congo, but exporters want to penetrate deeper into other African countries to seek markets for local products.
Jean Malic Kalima, an exporter of minerals, said that they want to increase the export competitiveness of the Rwanda minerals across Africa which is a highway to global markets. “Our country has opened doors for us, whereby several new measures to attract foreign direct investments into Rwanda have been undertaken. This has completely opened up our markets,” he explained.
Currently, Rwanda has embarked on promoting exports and reducing import to bridge the trade deficit, which for years has been in the range of 15 percent of the total GDP. Last year Rwanda launched Export Growth Fund to encourage private sector investments in commodity exports by providing a 6.5-percent subsidy on interest rate. Rwanda’s total exports dropped in value by 2.4 percent in the first half of the 2016 to about 268.6 million U.S. dollars, from 275.1 million dollars in the same period last year, due to poor receipts recorded by the mining sector, tea and coffee, according to the country’s trade and industry ministry.
According to the Rwanda’s ministry of trade and industry, low productivity and over-dependence on imported goods are among the main factors slowing the country’s economic growth. Francois Kanimba, Rwanda’s minister of trade and industry, said that the government is focused on supporting local companies to explore potential markets in African countries and beyond to help Rwanda significantly increase exports. “Africa is growing and has become an attractive destination for business. We need to increase our local production and reduce foreign imports,” he said. Kanimba underscored that Rwanda has strengthened its international engagement strategy and recently launched a trade mission blueprint to assist businesses to increase exports and create jobs.
