VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLGB #0405/01 1220609
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 020609Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY KIGALI
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 4088

UNCLAS KIGALI 000405 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/C 
DEPARTMENT PASS USTDA: NED CABOT 
DEPARTMENT PASS USTR: WJACKSON 
DEPARTMENT PASS COMMERCE: RTELCHIN 
 
INFO AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 
INFO AMEMBASSY DAR ES-SALAM 
INFO AMEMBASSY BUJUMBURA 
INFO AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 
INFO AMEMBASSY PARIS 
INFO AMEMBASSY KINSHASA 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EFIN ECON PGOV EINV ENRG ETRD EPET BTIO RW
SUBJECT: RWANDA MONTHLY ECONOMIC REVIEW 
 
Ref:     A. Kigali 340 
      ¶B. Kigali 193 
 
 
DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS / ISSUES 
 
¶1.  The High Court recently issued a temporary injunction against 
Dane Associates, dissolving the Board of Directors of Kibuye Power 
(KP1) Limited and preventing the company from being party to methane 
extraction activities at Lake Kivu.  Dane has been embroiled in a 
breach of contract dispute with the GOR on a pilot extraction 
project (reftel B).  The GOR is actively looking for other partners 
with which to exploit the methane in Lake Kivu. 
 
¶2.  Rwanda will be the first among the selected six African 
countries to expedite the New Partnership for Africa's Development 
(NEPAD) agricultural development program in the region.  The program 
aims to develop value-added industries under the Strategic Plan for 
Agricultural Transformation (PSTA) as part of the country's Economic 
Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS).  The six 
countries that were selected by the Common Market for East and 
Southern Africa (COMESA) are Rwanda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, 
Uganda, Rwanda and Zambia. 
 
¶3.  Kigali will host an East African Broadband workshop from May 8-9 
with the goal of accelerating deployment of high-speed broadband 
networks in East Africa. 
 
¶4.  Google recently agreed to provide cost-free web-based 
applications for e-mail, calendar, documents and spreadsheets, 
messaging and Web page authoring available to government ministries 
and three colleges in Rwanda (the company announced a similar 
initiative in Kenya.) Each university and ministry will get its own 
domain name, and all the applications will be available without 
advertising. This will save the Rwandans the considerable expense of 
developing their own e-mail systems, maintaining servers, training 
staff and buying PC-based software. 
 
¶5.  Delegates from 10 countries in the East Africa region gathered 
in Kigali in March to mark the first River Nile Day, with most 
discussions focussing on the need to share water resources equitably 
in order to avoid conflicts. It was organised by the Nile Basin 
Initiative, an inter-governmental body through which countries 
discuss equitable and sustainable use of the Nile's waters. Nearly 
300 million people depend on the Nile, and the number is expected to 
double by 2025. Policy makers therefore have made co-operation 
surrounding the Nile a priority as a means of reducing poverty, 
increasing trade, ensuring food security, and developing power and 
electricity infrastructure.  A treaty signed during the British 
colonial era in 1929, and amended in 1959, guaranteed that nearly 90 
per cent of the waters flow to Egypt and Sudan. Upstream countries 
were required to seek authorization from Egypt to use the Nile's 
waters.  Amendments to the 1959 agreement are under discussion. 
 
 
COMMERCIAL OPPORTUNITIES / SUCCESSES 
 
¶6. SolidWorks Corporation, a US firm, established a local subsidiary 
to provide sophisticated graphic software in a joint venture with 
the government, the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology 
(KIST) and Ecole Technique Officielle (ETO) Gitarama high school. 
The project is expected to provide the hands-on 3D CAD software 
training to teach Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) 
principles and enhance engineering enthusiasm in the country. 
¶7.  Opportunity International (OI), a U.S. faith-based non-profit 
bank, received a commercial banking license from the Rwandan Central 
Bank.  As a full-service commercial bank, OI has the authority to 
offer savings, lending, and insurance products.  To facilitate its 
entry into Rwanda, OI acquired one of the largest microfinance 
institutions in the country, URWEGO, which was sponsored by World 
Relief. 
¶8.  Rwanda has been seeking business with Kenya in a bid to open up 
opportunities for citizens of both countries. A delegation of 42 
high profile government officials from Rwanda were in the country 
last week to launch the Kenya - Rwanda Business Association.  Mr. 
George Kanyonga, Rwandan ambassador to Kenya reported that the 
formation of Kenya Rwanda Business Association is one way of making 
East Africa become a common labor market.  He said Rwanda is already 
reviewing its immigration policy to have visas for Kenyans issued 
free of charge.  The association will be spending money on 
feasibility studies to enable the building of a data bank that will 
benefit all its members. 
¶9.  The GOR Privatization Secretariat has completed the 
pre-qualification of potential strategic airline partners for the 
privatization of Rwandair Express, selecting Meridiana s.p.a (Italy) 
and Brussels Airlines (Belgium). 
 
¶10.  A Kigali Amusement Park (KAP) project is underway with a 
projected value of USD 25million after completion, making it 
supposedly the biggest amusement park in east and central Africa. 
It is being developed by two leading Rwandan businessmen, Eugene 
Nyagahene and Thaddew Musoni.  Forever Design based in China 
provided the master plan for KAP. Another Chinese firm, SBL company 
will manufacture and install the play rides. 
¶11. The GOR, through the Rwanda Investment and Export Promotion 
Agency (RIEPA), will host the fourth annual Investment Conference 
from May 28-30. 
 
 
LOAN LOOKOUT 
 
¶12.  The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) signed a 
loan agreement for USD 10 million with the Rwandan Ministry of 
Finance.  This is the sixth KAFAED loan to Rwanda.  The loan will 
support social and economic development in the southern and western 
regions of the country. 
 
¶13. The European Investment Bank has made available USD 13million to 
finance Rwanda's small and medium enterprise (SME) sector.  The loan 
will be channeled through the Rwanda Development Bank (BRD) and 
Rwanda Commercial Bank (BCR).  This is the first operation of the 
EIB under the Cotonou Agreement facility. BRD signed its first 
operation with the Bank in 1983.  This partnership is one of a 
number of strategic relationships that BCR has planned with the 
purpose of supporting SME growth and development SME growth and 
development oriented projects. 
 
MACROECONOMIC INDICATORS 
¶14.  Exports from Rwanda to China increased more than 89 percent 
between 2005 and 2006 to just over USD 20 million with exports for 
December 2006 alone totalling about USD 1.6 million dollars. 
According to statistics from the Chinese General Administration of 
Customs, Rwanda earned USD 21,888,000 for the period 
January-December 2006 representing a percentage increase of 89.8 
percent of revenue in the same period of 2005. During the same 
period, Rwanda imported USD 12,406,000 from China, showing a 3.3 
percentage increase from 2005. 
15  Rwanda and Burundi will be formally be incorporated into the 
East African Securities Exchanges Association (EASEA), but initially 
as observers only, since they do not yet have stockmarkets.  This 
will provide access to more capital, thereby attracting portfolio 
investors.  Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania have been working toward 
establishing a joint stock exchange market, the East African Stock 
Exchange (EASE), and the admission of Rwanda and Burundi will be a 
major boost.  When the EASE becomes operational, Rwandan and 
Burundian companies operating in the two countries will be able to 
list on it. 
16 As described in reftel A, the IMF completed its second review of 
Poverty Reduction Growth Facility program, reporting little change 
from previous reviews and remaining cautiously positive about 
Rwanda's future. 
 
ARIETTI