Rwanda has positioned itself into a regional investment hub, and a launch pad to the entire continent with competitive opportunities, Rwanda’s Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates told a business gathering on Tuesday, January 24, 2023.
“Rwanda is stable, safe, well-governed, least corrupt, and clean,” Amb. Emmanuel Hategeka said.
He said that Rwanda is open to all nationalities with visa on arrival. Rwanda ranks 2nd in Africa for Ease of Doing Business according to the World Bank. The processes are digitalized and simple making it possible to register a business in 6 hours only.
Hategeka noted that there are numerous fiscal incentives including a 7-year Corporate income tax holiday for investors investing more than US$50M in the country, among many more. “We are committed to foreign ownership with no restrictions on shareholding in any business set up.”
The Ambassador made the remarks while addressing the Kreston Middle East and Africa Conference 2023 that aims at promoting cross-regional business partnerships between Africa and the Middle East.
Additionally, Hategeka said that the Kigali International Financial Center ranks 5th on the continent. Businesses from the Middle East are invited to establish their holding companies, private equity funds and service companies like Kreston Menon in Kigali and enjoy competitive incentives.
Rwanda’s market potential is not only its 13 million people but the 300 million citizens of the East African Community and the entire African continent through the AfCFTA.
“I hope that opportunities like this conference can support in mobilizing more trade and investment partners from the Middle East to Africa and vice-versa. I wish to thank Kreston Menon and especially Mr. Sudhir Kumar for hosting this conference.”
“This is the smart thing to do fully backed by historical and economic ties but also ripe opportunities,” he said, adding that, “Africa is regarded as a source of raw materials and the developed countries as transformation centers.”
“How do we get investors from the Middle East to invest money in value addition, generate more jobs, reduce brain drain and upgrade the welfare of millions of lives in Africa?”
