In 2010 Tullow bought Heritage’s half share in two oil fields in Uganda’s Lake Albert basin for $1.35 billion in cash, which led to the Ugandan revenue authority to impose a $400 million capital gains tax bill.
Uganda: Tullow Oil awarded $313m against Heritage in Ugandan tax dispute
In 2010 Tullow bought Heritage’s half share in two oil fields in Uganda’s Lake Albert basin for $1.35 billion in cash, which led to the Ugandan revenue authority to impose a $400 million capital gains tax bill.
Uganda Starts Online Register for Start-Ups
The e-registry portal (www.businesslicences.org) will be hosted and operated by Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) with support from the World Bank Group.
This new service, which was launched last week, will reduce bureaucratic procedures allowing for a one-stop shop for business registration and licensing.
Uganda: Government Eases Business Licence Procedures
The creation of the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) - an e-registry portal - will allow potential businesses to get information on licences when starting a business. It comes with adequate information about licensing requirements, costs, application forms and the contact details for all relevant regulatory agencies. The launch of the portal is one of the most critical strategies by government to ease the setup of businesses, and attract more tax revenue, especially after donors withdrew a substantial amount of aid.
Tanzania: TRA Closes Fish Factory
TRA's Official, Mr Toans Silvanus told East African Business Week in Musoma last week that the factory failed to pay the one year debt.
'The factory has been constantly reminded to pay income, letters have been written to them without fruition," Silvanus said.
Tanzania: Geita Gold Mine Keen On Expanding Business
They company envisages expanding exploration activities. Geita Gold Mine will embark on an eight-year exploration programme that will see the mine continue employing locals and foreigners, for a much longer period due to extension of the mine's lifespan.
"Besides exploration activities the money will also be invested in purchases of heavy duty trucks which are essential in ferrying the ore from the open pit floor to the surface for further processing," said Mr Tenga Tenga, Communications Manager, AngloGold Ashanti Limited.
Tanzania: President of Tanzania visits Sunderland to announce SAFC deal
The club is lending its expertise to the East African nation, with the creation of a football academy programme which will nurture the sporting talent of the country’s youth.
President of the United Republic of Tanzania, His Excellency Dk Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, met will SAFC chairman Ellis Short and club chief executive Margaret Byrne for a tour of the Stadium of Light and Academy of Light yesterday.
Rwanda: Songa Designs International in Solana Beach provides unique business opportunity for artisans
Through the founding of Solana Beach–based Songa Designs International, Sarah Sternberg, with her business partner and head designer Ellie Kates, has provided a unique business opportunity for talented artisans in East Africa’s once war-torn Rwanda.
It is an endeavor that evolved from Sternberg’s volunteer work, building wells and providing safe water education to communities there five years ago. It has since developed into an international for-profit business that significantly helps reduce poverty through job creation, while supporting Rwandan women to become independent artisans within a global trade market.
Rwanda: Central Bank to Reward Top Business Reporters
Emmanuel Mugisha, the Media High Council executive secretary, said the awards are aimed at empowering professional journalism and encouraging specialised reporting.
"The BNR: Economy Reporters Excellence Award will be offered to individual journalists and media outlets to recognise their performance in informing and educating their readership about economic issues," Mugisha said in a statement. The best reporter will win Rwf2m and a trophy, while the first runner-up will walk away with Rwf1m and the winning media house will get a trophy, it added.
Rwanda signs 4G internet deal with South Korea firm
Rwanda, a landlocked central African state and one of Africa's fastest growing economies,, has laid more than 3,000km of fibre-optic cable since 2009 in a bid to develop a service based economy and become a regional leader in information communication technology (ICT). Critics, however, say almost no large investor has come on board yet.
Rwanda's economy expanded by 9.4 per cent in the 2011/2012 fiscal year but only around 8.3 per cent of the population have internet access at the moment, according to Rwandan officials.
Rwanda said KT Corp will inject around $140 million into a joint venture company, which will be responsible for rolling out a fast 4G LTE broadband network to 95 per cent of Rwandans. Debt and vendor financing will also be needed.
"This agreement with KT marks a major milestone in Rwanda's drive to become a modern, knowledge-based economy - and by expanding our information infrastructure, we will create jobs, support social progress and propel economic growth," Jean Philbert Nsengimana, Rwanda's Minister of Youth and ICT, said in a statement.
Rwanda said the government's equity investment in the joint venture, which has a 25-year term, would consist of using its national fibre optic cable, spectrum and wholesale-only operator license.
Kigali also invited other mobile network operators to invest in the project and provide retail access to 4G LTE wireless broadband services to some 12 million Rwandans.
http://www.businessdailyafrica.com
Rwanda: Smart Rwanda to Boost ICT for Development
The event is part of a co-creation exercise involving global experts and Rwandans running on social media and aimed at identifying possible "Smart" solutions (meaning innovative, information-driven, ICT-enabled). It is a high-level meeting which is designed to help stakeholders develop a shared vision for Smart Rwanda.
SMART Rwanda will be a citizen-centric and business-friendly, accessible and sustainable information and service delivery ecosystem, realized through public and private investment, to transform the economy and enhance the well-being of individuals and the community.
Kenya: India becomes Kenya's largest Asian trading partner
India exported to Kenya goods worth $240 million, way ahead of Asia's biggest economy China, which exported goods valued at $148 million.The figure represents a growth of around 30 percent when compared to 2011.
The figures, according to Kenya's National Economic Survey 2013, represented 18 percent of Kenya's imports in 2012, asserting India's growing influence in the east African region.
Kenya: Audit Telkom Kenya assets to stop taxpayers’ losses
The French company’s shareholding in Telkom Kenya is set to rise permanently to 70 per cent, if the government does not cut a Sh2.4 billion cheque to help the firm offset commercial bank and shareholder loans in its books.
From a 49 per cent stake six years ago when the French firm acquired a majority stake in Telkom Kenya, the State’s ownership has been diluted by successive shareholder cash calls that have come as a result of the entity’s loss-making business.
Kenya: Economic growth prospects hang on exports, says World Bank
Exporting more would help the country to effectively deal with the fiscal and monetary challenges it has faced in the past 10 years as it reduces the current reliance on domestic consumption as a major driver of growth, the economists said even as they forecast a 5.7 per cent growth this year.
“For Kenya to grow beyond five per cent, it needs to enhance the contribution of exports as an engine of growth which is now dominated by consumption. Today, net exports are a drag on growth, having reduced overall growth by 4.1 per cent in 2012 — and as reflected in a large and widening current account deficit,” the bank said in its eighth edition of the Kenya economic update report.
The bank estimates that if Kenya was to balance its external position (that is, matching imports with exports while maintaining current levels of consumption and investments) its overall growth would stand at eight per cent — only two percentage points shy of the 10 per cent target.
Speaking four days after Treasury secretary Henry Rotich presented his Budget to Parliament, the World Bank economists said Kenya needs a heavy dose of structural and tax reforms to unleash the potential that is required for accelerated growth.
“The economy needs structural reforms to improve the business environment and for more Foreign Direct Investment flow to Kenya,” said John Randa, the bank’s country economist for Kenya, and one of the lead authors of the economic outlook report.
“Such reforms will include tax and expenditure measures that will increase savings and investment to expand manufacturing exports, taking advantage of Kenya’s low labour costs and its coastal location.”
The statement was partly seen as signalling the World Bank’s backing for the proposed and controversial VAT reforms that many have opposed citing their possible impact on the cost of living for poor households.
A robust exports sector is also seen critical to helping Kenya deal with its most pressing socio-economic challenge — unemployment — and restoring macro-economic stability through a reduction in exchange rate volatility.
The World Bank economists also placed reducing inequality at the centre of Kenya’s progression to a middle-income country status saying an increase in targeted cash transfers and other public funds to poor households would increase the speed of poverty reduction and speed up growth.
The bank estimates that the rate of poverty dropped from 47 per cent in 2005 to about 38 per cent currently. That estimate is hinged on the assumption that economic growth improved but the country’s high level of inequality stayed the same since the last household survey was done in 2005.
The World Bank said the speed of poverty reduction could improve from the one percentage point per year to two percentage points with the roll-out of policies that reduce inequality as has happened in Uganda and Rwanda. Cutting poverty levels at the rate of two percentage points per year would enable Kenya to reduce the number of poor people to almost zero by 2030, the report says.
“Indeed, Kenya can only eliminate extreme poverty by 2030, the World Bank’s global poverty target, if it reduces poverty by two percentage points each year. Such a high rate of poverty reduction is only possible if growth is accompanied by a reduction in inequality,” said the report which was released in Nairobi Monday.
For Kenya, the urgency in reducing the inequality gap lies in recent findings showing that a child is 30 per cent more likely to survive to age five in Rwanda, Ghana and Nepal than in Kenya — which has higher per capita income but poor distribution of the same among citizens.
If there is no change in inequality, economic growth will only yield a one-percentage point reduction in poverty annually as has happened in the past 20 years, the World Bank said.
“Though poverty has come down to 38 per cent, we need to tackle inequality. If you reduce inequality, then we will bring down poverty much faster,” said World Bank’s Kenya country director Diarietou Gaye.
Ms Gaye said accelerated economic growth was critical to poverty reduction that must be monitored through regular household surveys.
Such economic growth, she said, would call for reforms in the business climate to increase investment and create more jobs.
The report said public spending should work to remove the role that geography, gender, ethnicity and wealth play in influencing access to key services, “so that everyone is in a good position to seize the opportunities being generated in a growing economy.”
Economic secretary Geoffrey Mwau said the government was in the process of expanding the cash transfer process and public resources for the social sector, including education and health.
girungu@ke.nationmedia.com
Kenya: Rlg makes giant entry in the country
The company is hoping to enter Tanzania and Ugandan markets using its Nairobi base under an aggressive plan intended to capture the entire continent within the next five years.
Already, a number of telecom firms and distributors have expressed desire of working with Rlg, a company perceived by many Kenyans as a true pan-African brand.
Kenya: Fuel costs may soar on refinery spat
Ten fuel-marketing companies have refused to adhere to a rule that they purchase 40% of their fuel needs from the 50-year-old refinery, the Oil Industry Supply Co-ordination Committee said in a letter sent to Kenya Petroleum Refineries Limited (KPRL).
The April 19 letter from the committee, which represents companies including KenolKobil, Total Kenya and Nairobi-based Vivo Energy, the three biggest fuel suppliers by market share, was forwarded to Bloomberg by two of its members.
From July 1, "fuel supply into Kenya is at risk and perhaps supply costs will spike due to an increase in demurrage costs as all players import their product needs", MD Polycarp Igathe said in an interview. Offloading at the port in Mombasa might be delayed as multiple companies imported instead of only KPRL.
Kenyan fuel retailers want KPRL to stop importing crude and selling them the refined output because equipment at the facility, in desperate need of an upgrade. Inefficiencies at the refinery mean it costs petroleum companies 10 shillings (R1.15 ) per litre more than importing it themselves, according to the committee.
"If you don’t pick from KPRL, you make more profit than the competitor because KPRL supply is expensive," Mr Igathe said. "It is unfair for KPRL-compliant oil marketers to make losses for obeying the law."
Vivo Kenya is a licensee of The Hague-based Royal Dutch Shell, according to its website.
Last month, Kenya’s energy ministry threatened to close the refinery unless it detailed a plan to finance an upgrade. Workers at the plant held a strike last week over concerns that they may lose their jobs.
Losses at the facility, which is managed by Essar Energy of India in a joint venture with the government, have cost the state 13.1-billion shillings over the past 28 months, according to the energy ministry.
"In response to that letter, the oil-marketing companies, the Ministry of Energy and KPRL have agreed that the companies continue uplifting whatever stock we have bought up to June," MD Brij Mohan Bansal said by phone. After the stock of crude oil purchased by the refinery is finished "the government has to think of what will be done".
The refinery has a processing capacity of about 80,000 barrels per day, according to data.
KPRL said in April it was considering raising $1bn of debt and equity for a planned upgrade of the facility. Renovations at the refinery would increase processing capacity to 4-million metric tonnes by 2019 from 1.6-million tonnes now and improve efficiency. The upgrade has been delayed by at least three years. In April 2011, the government said it expected work would be completed by 2015-16.
Under the merchant model, the refinery began sourcing and processing its own fuel and selling it to oil marketers. Previously, under the toll system, it refined products bought from the fuel distributors and sold it back to them for a fee. Imports of refined petroleum rose to 2.8-million metric tonnes last year compared with 2.24-million tonnes in 2011 as imports of crude dropped while the refinery was being converted to a merchant facility, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics’ survey for this year.
The Energy Regulatory Commission reviews retail prices every month and set pump prices for petrol at 108.18 shillings per litre on Friday. In his budget presentation last Thursday, cabinet secretary for the national treasury Henry Rotich said funds had been set aside to develop the new port of Lamu under the Lamu Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport Corridor.
Priority will also be given to the three-year development of a two-track standard gauge railway line from the port city of Mombasa to lakeside city of Kisumu, a distance of 860km.
Mr Rotich said the new railway line would improve turn-round time for cargo transport and significantly reduce the cost of freight from Mombasa to Kisumu, by as much as 79% for the cost of transporting a 40-foot container. Roads development will take the bulk of the development budget, sharing nearly equal amounts for investments in renewable electricity generation projects as Kenya seeks to diversity from the mainly hydro-generation sources.
"This is intended to facilitate the private sector to create jobs consistent with the commitment of the new administration to improve the business environment," Mr Rotich said. Part of the money will also be used for construction of the first three berths and associated infrastructure of the Lamu Corridor.
Bloomberg
Kenya: Developers’ finalists in refugee software App.
The two winning projects will now be presented at Kakuma Refugee Camp on June 20 (Thursday) as part of the World Refugee Day celebrations.
Hackathon is an event where approximately 30 developers, programmers and designers join forces to solve a problem.
The two winning projects – one by ‘Team DKK’ (which enables volunteers to collect data offline and synchronizes it with an online server when connection is available) and the other, developed by ‘Team ACID’, an online web registration system called “Ref Unite Plus” that has finer details that makes it easier to locate a refugee.
At the two-day event, dedicated developers had a weekend to solve the challenge – how to connect refugee families separated by war, conflict and disaster – while the projects were judged by a special Ericsson and Refugees United panel.
“Family members lose track of each other mainly during war or famine and we must continue to invent technical solutions to put them back in touch,” Margaret Kositany, Director of Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility at Ericsson Kenya office said.
Partnering since 2010, Ericsson and Refugees United seek to help separated families reconnect via mobile technology.
Ericsson supports a mobile and web platform that empowers refugees to take the search for long lost family members into their own hands.
“With more than 43 million forcibly displaced people of the world, there is an urgent need to reconnect families to their missing loved ones. Everyone has the right to know where their family is,” Richard Ngamita, Data Analyst Manager of Refugees United stated.
The Nairobi Hackathon was the last in a series of three hacks taking place in Cairo, Silicon Valley and Nairobi.
Refugees United and Ericsson will announce the three global winners via Google Hangout on World Refugee Day which is celebrated on June 20, a day dedicated to raising awareness of the situation of refugees.
The three winners from Cairo, Nairobi and Silicon Valley will be invited to test their prototypes in a refugee camp in late 2013.Over sixty developers signed up for the Hack for Good event in Kenya.
by JOSEPH MURAYA
Kenya: Telkom inks tower management deal with Eaton
The 15-year tower management and leasing deal is focused on both the maintenance of existing sites by Eaton Towers and the building of new sites.
This will help reduce operating costs and capital expenditure, while improving network coverage and quality, as well as reducing Orange’s overall carbon footprint.
Telkom Kenya Chief Executive Officer Mickael Ghossein says that the partnership will place them in a strong position to expand its network and develop innovative new services, in particular in rural areas.
Telkom Kenya will retain ownership of its existing portfolio of over 1,000 towers while Eaton Towers will invest in passive infrastructure upgrades and build new towers to provide Telkom Kenya with improved coverage and network quality.
In parallel, the partnership will create a solid platform that will allow Telkom Kenya to focus on developing value-added services such as innovative data offers as well as an enhanced customer care experience.
“We are confident that our agreement with Eaton Towers is a step in the right direction,” said Mickael Ghossein, Chief Executive Officer of Telkom Kenya.
Ghessein said that the partnership will place Telkom in a strong position to expand its network and develop innovative new services, in particular in rural areas, helping them achieve their ambition to provide the Kenyan population with excellent nation-wide coverage and relevant offers.
“Through this partnership, we will be able to reduce our operational costs and, at the same time, minimize the environmental impact of our network by reducing the use of diesel fuel,” he said.
Alan Harper, Chief Executive of Eaton Towers, said that they are delighted to be working in partnership with Telkom Kenya as the first infrastructure tower company to operate in Kenya.
“Eaton Towers’ expertise in tower management and its commitment to top-quality service will allow Telkom Kenya to expand and improve its network while optimizing costs,” Harper said.
The agreement represents an important step forward in Orange’s efforts to improve efficiency and control operating costs across its footprint in Africa.
by KENNEDY KANGETHE
Kenya: Philips to install solar light centres in the country
These are areas of approximately 1000 square metres or the size of a small football pitch and are lit using a new generation of energy efficient solar powered LED lighting.
Making the announcement Philips East Africa Director Roeloi Assies said that the concept of the Community Light Centres is to create areas of light for rural communities which live without electricity, thus effectively creating numerous opportunities for social, sporting and economic activities in the evening.
Burundi: Market Opportunities for US Firms
Written by: US Commercial Services
After more than a decade of civil war, Burundi is liberalizing trade policies intended to encourage economic reconstruction and development. The Investment Code enacted in September 2008 encourages foreign direct investment and provides tax deferrals for new investors. Tax and customs reforms were completed in July 2009 to enable Burundi to comply with the EAC’s customs union; this included the introduction of an EAC-compatible value-added tax and harmonized customs procedures. Please see Chapter Five for full details. International financial institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the African Development Bank are funding infrastructure projects designed to increase Burundi’s capacity to transport goods internally and to neighboring countries, as well as to supply more electricity and water to consumers. In 2010, the government created the Investment Promotion Authority to facilitate investment and aid investors in meeting the regulatory and legal requirements for operating in Burundi. In 2012, Burundi continued to institute economic reform and encourage foreign investment in the areas of registering a business, construction permits, registering property, and trading across borders. With the new reforms, it now takes less than one day to establish an enterprise and creation fees have been also reduced. The country improved its rank in the World Bank’s 2013 “Doing Business” report by ten positions coming in at 159 out of 185 countries.
Good prospects for investment are:
- Agribusiness and Food Processing – The World Bank is assisting with the privatization of the coffee sector, Burundi’s largest export earner. In 2008, Burundi began direct sales to foreign coffee buyers on a limited scale, and Burundian coffee
- has been consistently praised in specialty coffee markets for its excellent quality. Several washing stations won the Presidential award at the 2012 Cup of Excellence recognizing their coffee as world class. Thirteen coffee washing stations were acquired by a Swiss company in late 2009, but the privatization of more coffee washing stations was suspended in anticipation of the summer 2010 elections. In November 2011, the government announced an international tender to privatize the remaining coffee washing stations as well as two dry mills. Other potential growth opportunities exist in the local production of fruit juices, canned foods and dairy products. USAID is funding a number of projects to develop agribusinesses (e.g., dairies) that could take advantage of these opportunities in the future. In addition, USAID and the Netherlands launched a “business incubator” in 2010 designed to stimulate the local private sector. While these activities are still in the early stages, they may result in potential investment platforms in the long-term.
- Telecommunications and Information Technologies -The state-owned telecommunication company ONATEL’s assets are being evaluated for potential privatization. Several new private service providers have recently entered the market. Please see “Telecommunications” in Chapter Four for a full discussion of this topic. Internet services are increasingly in demand for both business and personal use, and the number of cybercafés in the capital is growing. A fiber optic backbone linking Burundi to Tanzania and Rwanda is scheduled to be completed in 2013 potentially bringing new business opportunities in the information technology sector.
- Energy – Burundi’s dependence on an outmoded, unreliable system of hydroelectric production and distribution is a major impediment to economic development. In 2008, Burundi signed an agreement with the World Bank for a five-year, $50 million project to expand electrical capacity through the rehabilitation of existing hydropower and the construction of a new hydroelectric dam. Additionally, in 2012 the European Union signed an agreement with the EAC to construct a interconnector between Rwanda and Burundi to link the two power grids and help facilitate distribution within the region. The project will take approximately three years to complete. Three hydroelectric projects with a total capacity of about 80 MW are still at the feasibility study stage and they are projected to be operational in 2017-2018 assuming necessary funds are available.
- Mining – A comprehensive survey of Burundi’s mineral resources conducted in the 1980s confirmed the existence of large nickel deposits near the country’s northern border with Tanzania. Although large, commercial-scale mining has not yet begun, a number of foreign investors are interested in working in this region. (Note: Most mining concessions are currently in the hands of Canadian, Burundian and South African firms.)
- Although there is a long list of different public enterprises set to be privatized, two companies are most likely to be privatized during the year 2013. One is Air Burundi, the national carrier, where the government intends to sell 70 to 90% of the total shares. The second is Sosumo, a sugar company owned 99% by the government and where it intends to sell 25 to 30% of its shares. Discussions to determine the terms of sale of government shares in the two companies are well advanced.
Excerpt from Doing Business in Burundi: 2013 Country Commercial Guide for U.S. Companies
Related Posts:
Burundi Beckons Investors
"There are 10 reasons why Burundi is ready for investors, that include sound foreign direct investment attraction measures, clean eligibility criteria to investment, investors protection and untold tourism attractions," Jean Bosco Barege, the Burundi Ambassador to Uganda said last week.
He said several reforms have been carried out aimed attracting foreign direct investment to the country. He was speaking during an investment conference organised by the Bujumbura government and the Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UNCCI) held at Serena Hotel in Kampala.
He said Burundi has 10 million consumers and is a member of the bigger East African Community which has a population of 133 million.
Dr. Adolphe Birehanisenge, of the Burundi Investment Promotion Authority said "Burundi is a country full of reconstruction where priority investment opportunities exist in infrastructure, energy, mining, food processing, manufacturing, health, real estates development, education, water treatment," he said.
"Other reforms include registering you business in one day at a cost of $30, exemption of duty on imports of capital goods and raw materials, value added tax on import depreciable goods and raw materials for projects worth $385,000 or more and a tax credit equivalent to 37% of the actual investment made," he said.
He said foreign investors have free choice to repatriate benefits after tax while expropriation is legally prohibited.
"Our future plans include establishment of special economic zones, implement online business registration before the end of this year," he said.
Others are improving on the World Bank indicators on doing business including resolving insolvency, getting financial credit, trading across borders, paying taxes and getting electricity.
He said the government is ready to sign memoranda of understanding with investors to develop tourist sites that include among others Nyanza Lake and the Kirundo Golf and Country Resort.
"The memoranda will include developing and finalizing plans to construct a lodge and equipping all facilities," he said.
Uganda trade minister, Amelia Kyambadde said Burundi has recovered from civil wars.
"Burundi and Uganda are members of the EAC and COMESA, the growth of Burundi therefore contributes to the growth of partner states," she said.
She said Burundi, like Uganda, is focused on infrastructure development, energy, ICT, high quality and standards.
"Therefore policies that create a conducive environment are important, including the elimination of non tariff barriers, promotion of entrepreneurship and revitalization of cooperatives," she said.
The volume of trade between the two countries has grown from $82 million in 2009 to $92 million in 2012 while exports from Burundi have grown from $800,000 in 2008 to $2.8 million in 2012.
UNCCI president Olive Kigongo said that EAC partner states governments should improve the infrastructure that would in turn reduce the costs of doing business in the region.
BY DAVID MUWANGA
Burundi to Cut Food Shortages
Burundi is to transform the current subsistence agriculture into market agriculture, generating jobs and incomes. The programme's launch on May 31st, 2013 of was meant to accelerate the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). According to the Second Vice-President of the Republic, this project which is jointly funded by the European Union, UNICEF, WFP and Burundi Government is in perfect harmony with the strategic directions of the Government for the agricultural sector.
PROPA-O targets strengthening the availability and quality of food products by supporting agricultural production, improving access to food by facilitating market access and development of certain agricultural sectors and improving the nutritional situation of population in seven provinces.
So afr, of Burundi namely Bubanza, Cibitoke, Bujumbura, Bururi, Makamba, Ruyigi and Rutana were selected as pilot provinces because of their higher level of vulnerability to food insecurity.
BY CLAUDINE ININAHAZWE
Burundi Top Target for Expanding Rwandan Companies
He felt it was simply a time-wasting exercise with no immediate benefit to his business. He reluctantly received them and answered their questions, most of them sounded "useless at the time," just out of courtesy.
Bolton Rwanda emerged among the top 100 out of the more than 200 companies surveyed. Last week, about nine months after the survey, Raghu returned to tell a different story--the story of enormous benefits his company has gained since becoming a member of the Top 100 Club.
He equates the recognition bestowed upon his company to an ISO certification--an international mark of quality issued to outstanding brands.
Raghu says the recognition had helped the company strengthen its brand and win trust from clients, most of them government institutions. He encouraged others to participate.
"We shall definitely participate again in this year's survey, and I encourage other to participate," he said during the launch of this year's survey in Kigali last week.
Mr Raghu is certainly right in his opinion because of the quite rigorous assessment procedure participating companies go through. The process looks at key indicators of growing a business such as profitability, corporate governance and business performance in general.
There are many more benefits for those companies that join the Top 100 Club. They include networking among club members during which they engage and discuss issues that affect medium sized companies. They also have opportunities to meet with successful managers of big companies from whom they can get insights into how to grow their businesses.
Perhaps the most exciting of all is interaction with experts at KPMG from whom they can learn more about business and get training on topics such as tax planning, cash management, marketing, strategic planning, raising capital, leveraging technology and human resources management.
A project of an international professional business services and audit firm KPMG, the annual survey aims at showcasing and recognizing excellence in business in areas such as revenue growth, returns to shareholders and expansion strategies.
Participating companies must have been in operation for at least three years and have audited accounts, must not be listed on the stock exchange and should have a turnover of Frw 50 million to Frw 6 billion. Financial institutions like banks, SACCOs and insurance companies are excluded from the survey.
Most businesses in Rwanda are in this category of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) often described as the "engine" that powers the economy because of their contribution to the country's tax revenue and employment.
This year's survey targets about 400 companies--double the number of last year's participants. The Permanent Secretary ministry of trade and commerce, Emmanuel Hategeka, launched the survey in Kigali on May 22.
The survey is sponsored by the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Nation Media Group. Several institutions such including banks and the Rwanda Social Security Board have joined hands to sponsor this year's survey.
"By giving recognition to companies, we are investing in the multinationals of tomorrow and meeting one of the national goals of Rwanda which is to move from poverty eradication to wealth creation," KPMG said in a statement.
Hategeka encouraged participating companies in this category to work hard towards graduating to the club of larger corporations with a view of expanding outside Rwanda.
"We have witnessed an influx of companies, I now want o see the reverse--that is you [Rwandan companies] going out," Hategeka said.
Findings of last year's survey show that a sizeable number of the companies surveyed planned to expand to neighboring countries with 69% of them mentioning Burundi as their top investment destination.
About 48% are eying Uganda while in third place is Kenya with 41%. Only 31% of the companies preferred Tanzania, the regions second largest economy after Kenya.
Construction, agriculture, Food, hotel and hospitality industry, services industry, manufacturing, transport and tourism are the areas most companies see as having big potential for expansion both domestically and regionally.
In Rwanda, the construction industry has been the fastest growing sector of the economy in last couple of years, accounting for 23.6 % of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2011 and 15.2% last year.
Last year, about 200 companies participated in the first ever such survey in the country from which the top 100 were selected. This year's top 100 will be crowned during a gala on November 1.
According to the survey, high interest rates now averaging 20-24% are a major obstacle to growth of businesses. The companies also want flexibility in loan repayment because sometimes customers delay paying and cause temporary cash flow problems.
BY EDWARD OJULU
Burundi Gets U.S.$2 Million
This is within the framework of a German financial cooperation with Regie de Production et de Distribution d'eau et d'electrcite (REGIDESO), Burundi's water and electricity production and distribution agency.
The financing agreement was signed last week between the Burundian Minister of Finance and Economic Development Planning, Tabu Abdallah Manirakiza and KFW.
Manirakiza said the money will be used to finance the training of REGIDESO personnel in the urban centres of Bubanza Cankuzo, Gitega, Ruyigi and Rumonge. He said the objective of this program is to set up a three-year framework for maintenance, service and the sustainable and self-management of water infrastructure of these centres.
It aims to improve the staff's skills of these centers in the technical, commercial and financial areas. He added that the program is complementary to the investments funded by the KFW in these urban centers in the Program of Water and Sanitation Sector 'PROSECEAU' Phase III. These investments include the construction of water and sanitation infrastructure for the provision of drinking water standpipes and to improved sanitary facilities both public and private.
In 2005, Burundi and Germany agreed to make 'water and sanitation' sector the priority area of German development.
BY RENOVAT NIMBONA
Burundi Mobilizes £25.7 Million for Food Security
The objective of the Government of Burundi is to transform the current subsistence agriculture into market agriculture, generating jobs and incomes. It is in this perspective that Burundi has adopted the National Agricultural Investment Plan (PNIA) 2012-2017, which sets the strategic priorities to be followed so that the agriculture in Burundi could fully play the role it is assigned to namely to feed the population and to grow the economy.
The official launch of the project to accelerate the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 1c, PROPA-O was held on May 31st, 2013, and was presided over by Gervais Rufyikiri, Second Vice-President of the Republic of Burundi.
It is part of the objective of modernizing the agricultural sector. The Objective of the Millennium Development Goals, 1c aimed at reducing, between the years 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger.
According to the Second Vice-President of the Republic, this project which is jointly funded by the European Union, UNICEF, WFP and the government of Burundi is in perfect harmony with the strategic directions of the Government for the agricultural sector.
The PROPA-O is a project which targets as main objectives of strengthening the availability and quality of food products by supporting agricultural production, improving access to food by facilitating market access and development of certain agricultural sectors and improving the nutritional situation of population in seven provinces of Burundi namely Bubanza, Cibitoke, Bujumbura, Bururi, Makamba, Ruyigi and Rutana. The latter were selected as pilot provinces because of their higher level of vulnerability of malnutrition and food insecurity.
BY D.C. ININAHAZWE
Burundi Pushes More Business Reforms
Burundi was ranked 7th in 2012 and 5th in 2013:
According to the authors, Burundi was among the world's most active economies in implementing regulatory reforms in 2011/12.
During presentation of the report last week, Dr Ir Gervais Rufyikiri, the Burundi Second Vice-President and Chairman of the Decision-making Committee for Doing Business, said Burundi is determined to improve. However, he asked the World Bank and IFC, as well as other potential partners to continue providing technical and financial support for maintaining the pace of reforms.
Since 2011,the government has given priority to improving the business environment. In terms of world rankings, since the beginning of reforms, Burundi has advanced 21 places and is currently ranked 159th out of 185 economies evaluated by the survey.
Between June 2012 and May 2013, more than 1625 national and foreign companies have started business in the country. Key reforms implemented in 2012-2013 cover nine indicators, namely business start ups, obtaining building permits, protecting investors, registering property, paying taxes, electricity connections, trade across borders, resolving insolvency and access to credit.
Burundi's success has been in reducing time and costs for investors.
One of the most important reforms recently implemented is opening a one-stop shop to cater for investors inquiries and related needs. However in one day, and at a cost of only 42,500 BIF (around $266), you can formalise your business.
The next step is the computerization of that one-stop shop. Three other one-stop shops, namely property transfer, granting building permits and electricity connections are being set up.
BY CLAUDINE SIMBARUHIJE
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