VZCZCXYZ0011
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLGB #0700 2151038
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 031038Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY KIGALI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4479
INFO RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 0928
RUEHDR/AMEMBASSY DAR ES SALAAM 0915
RUEHJB/AMEMBASSY BUJUMBURA 0109
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 1656
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0289
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA 0251
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 0126

UNCLAS KIGALI 000700 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/C 
DEPARTMENT PASS USTDA: UISZLER 
DEPARTMENT PASS USTR: WJACKSON 
DEPARTMENT PASS COMMERCE: RTELCHIN 
DEPARTMENT PASS OPIC: BCAMERON 
ADDIS FOR LISA BRODEY 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EFIN ECON PGOV EINV ENRG ETRD EPET BTIO RW
SUBJECT: RWANDA MONTHLY ECONOMIC REVIEW 
 
 
DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS / ISSUES 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
¶1. Japan promised Rwanda USD 1,509,150 to boost economic development 
and poverty eradication, most specifically directed towards the 
agricultural sector.  The World Bank will administer both grants 
from the Japanese government under its Policy and Human Resources 
Development Fund (PHRD).  The grants will fund feasibility studies, 
detailed designs, assessments, project implementation plans, 
trainings, and consultations. (Note: The PHRD Fund was established 
i 
n 1990 as a partnership between the Government of Japan and the 
World Bank.) 
¶2. The United States African Development Foundation (USADF) entered 
into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the GOR to help 
develop small and medium sized businesses in Rwanda.  The GOR will 
match, from its 2008 budget, the USD 2 million that the USADF has 
allocated towards the grant program.  While a collaborative process 
between the GOR and the USADF, the program will be managed on a 
day-to-day basis by the USADF. 
 
¶3. The African Development Bank (AfDB) approved a grant of USD 50 
million to help finance the second phase of the Rwandan Poverty 
Reduction Strategy Support Program (PRSSP II).  The grant is to be 
used to improve public finance management by improving budget 
programming and execution. 
 
 
COMMERCIAL 
-------------------- 
¶4.  BOSF, an Australian property development company, plans to 
construct a 650-unit housing estate, in Kimisange in the Kigali 
district of Kicukiro, geared towards the medium to high-end.  Rwanda 
Housing Bank (RHB) manager, Charles Haba, reports that the 
expropriation and infrastructure has already been completed. 
¶5. The estate, registered as Victory Heights, will have a central 
sewer system and water treatment plant with a provision to recycle 
and obtain rainwater for household and other uses.  Construction is 
expected to commence by October 1 2007 and be completed by October 
¶2009. 
¶6.  In what would become the largest Chinese investment in Rwanda, 
Star Communication Network Technologies established a subsidiary 
firm, Star Africa Media Company, in Rwanda.  Director General of the 
Rwanda Investment and Export Promotion Agency (RIEPA), Francis 
Gatare explained that the company plans to build a $20 million 
television station and internet provider company in Rwanda. 
¶7. The GOR and the American-funded telecommunications company, 
Terracom, finalized negotiations in the months-long dispute over 
performance and payments.  Terrracom agreed to sell the company to 
the GOR, and the GOR plans to use the original name of the 
telecommunications company, RwandaTel, as it prepares the company 
for tender. 
 
MACROECONOMIC INDICATORS 
--------------------------------------------- 
¶8.  The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) issued its 2007 world 
population report, predicting that Rwanda's population will shoot to 
18.2 million people by 2050 at an average growth rate of 2.3 per 
cent.  The report also showed that Rwanda, with a life expectancy of 
43.3 and 46.2 years for male and female respectively, is the lowest 
in the EAC. 
 
ARIETTI