KIGALI CONFERENCE ON ‘DOING BUSINESS IN AFRICA’ OPENS
The World Bank and Regional Centre for Excellence supported second ‘Doing Business in Africa’ Conference has yesterday opened in Rwanda’s capital city of Kigali with over 100 participants from across the continent, development partners, multilateral organisations and even the business community from overseas. The World Bank country director emphasised that the decision to hold the second such conference in Rwanda was to showcase the country’s achievements in terms of a new legal and regulatory regime and who making it easy for the private sector doing business contributes greatly to the economic advance of a nation. The formation of the Rwanda Development board as a multidisciplinary governmental body aimed to support all sections of the economy in a transparent and non-discriminatory fashion too was cited as one of the cornerstones of Rwanda rising from the ashes of the 1994 genocide, like the proverbial Phoenix.
Tourism in particular, together with a conservation philosophy second to none, has driven growth in Rwanda in recent years and the success of this sector is now being copied to agriculture, the ITC sector and other future looking industries.
Participants who came to Rwanda for the first time reportedly expressed their positive image of the city, from their arrival at the Kanombe International Airport to their hotels and beyond, confirming that Rwanda’s deliberate investment in conference facilities, tapping into the MICE travel segment, is already bearing ample fruits and returns.
