Focus Media (Kigali)
28 May 2008
editorial
President Kagame has been talking up business opportunities to be had in Rwanda during his visit to Asia where he has been for the past few days. The president, as usual, is wooing investors to come put their money in this country. To that end, he has been talking to Singaporeans, Vietnamese and Japanese political and business leaders. That is to be applauded.
President Kagame has been talking up business opportunities to be had in Rwanda during his visit to Asia where he has been for the past few days.
But the pertinent question is never far from the mind-even if businesses from those countries come and take a look at Rwanda, how many will go ahead and commit themselves to setting up shop in the country? Probably very few.
Conditions remain very challenging for anyone, foreign or local, to set up a business and see it prosper here.
For starters there are the astronomical electricity prices that make Electrogaz power among the most expensive on the continent. Hopefully a solution is around the corner with construction of methane gas power stations on the Kivu.
But in the meantime power prices still scare off potential investors, despite attempts by government to offer businesses incentives such as the elimination of tariffs on imported raw materials, or tax breaks for specified periods of time for new businesses.
Problems with power however extend well beyond its high prices. It is disturbing that businesses have to contend with vagaries such as frequent power cuts. This means costly and unexpected expenditure on equipment like generators and the fuel to power it. Not encouraging at all.
To solve this problem, it will take nothing less than a complete overhaul and revamping of Electrogaz's creaky, old distribution system.
We are talking about hundred of billions of francs here, but the government has absolutely no choice but to somehow find the money and invest it in the badly needed revamp if Rwanda is to be considered a truly serious place for business.
Another factor that discourages businesses around here is the mindsets and attitudes of public service employees.
We have said it before, and we cannot stress it hard enough how these people's way of doing things hampers economic growth. Why is it, for instance, such a difficult thing for most government institutions or agencies to settle debts owed to businesses?
Do these people know how many have lost faith in Rwanda because of their lazy and lackadaisical ways? And if so, do they care anyway?
But let's take the problem of attitudes a bit beyond those of government employees. Why, for instance, is it that for many Rwandans to return a phone call seems such a difficult thing? Or to reply to an email? Or to follow up on resolutions arrived at in meetings?
We are sure that Mr Kagame, as he woos foreigners to bring their money, knows all this. And we are aware that the issues of attitudes and mindsets and problems with settling people's debts and so on have been discussed in the highest government echelons.
But it is not enough to just discuss these things or exhort people to perform better with Imihigo. What is needed, and urgently too, is a campaign to make Rwandans change their mentalities and ways of doing things, right from cabinet ministers to the lowliest office secretary.
It is a campaign that would involve setting up classrooms and obliging people to take courses every evening after work; courses on why it truly is necessary to do things promptly and on time; courses on the importance of being polite and agreeable with everyone you deal with regardless of how disagreeable they may seem to you.
In short, we need to revolutionize our mental approach to work, if not to life! If necessary, let the government bring in outside help in the form of hundreds of expatriates to help with this.
Without a change in mindsets, we won't make much progress because any business, foreign or local, cannot operate well with a badly incompetent workforce, to point out the obvious.
The issues we raise here don't mean the administration hasn't made progress in attracting foreign investment. Renowned Kenyan hoteliers Serena for instance now have a presence in Rwanda with their acquisition in February last year of the Kigali Intercontinental (now the Kigali Serena) and the Kivu Sun (Lake Kivu Serena).
The Dubai investment vehicle, Arab World has just committed itself to investing $US 250 million in the Rwandan tourism sector and to building a new 5 star hotel, an 18 hole golf course and revamping a handful of other tourist facilities.
The Libyan investors LAP Green have bought Rwandatel for US$ 100 million and are sinking in US$ 317 million from now and over the next 15 years to revamp the carrier's dilapidated infrastructure.
All this is impressive. But the country could be doing much better, and should be doing much better.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Focus Media. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
