Rwanda Rising - Fast Company article

Photograph by Marcus Bleasdale

From Site:

Fifteen years after the genocide, the small African country has embraced a new model of economic development. Its strategy: Build a global network of powerful friends to lure private investment -- and market the brand of Rwanda.

Read More

Urwego community banking - Rwanda

URWEGO offered its first loans in July 1997 to Rwanda's economically active poor. After 9 years of rapid growth, URWEGO has emerged as the premier Microfinance Institute (MFI). We use proven methodology in Rwanda and we serve 21,241 active clients and their families through access to credit and savings facilities as well as training. These clients compose 560 Community Banks and 54 Solidarity Groups and we operate in eleven of Rwanda's twelve former provinces. Eighty-six percent of URWEGO's clients are female. URWEGO was named "Best MFI in Rwanda" in the 2004 "Year of Microfinance" through a joint assessment by the government of Rwanda, the United Nations, and Harvard University.

Mission:

To alleviate poverty in Rwanda in the name of Jesus Christ. Loosely translated, the Kinyarwandan word "URWEGO" means ladder and the aim is to help our clients "Climbing the Ladder of Economic Empowerment."

Vision:

URWEGO strives to become a financially self-sufficient institution, with an outreach that is broad, deep and significant in impact on poor people's lives.

Where We Work:

URWEGO currently operates in all five of the new administrative regions. Expansion plans are underway to cover all the new administrative districts that are not currently covered, especially those in the western and southern region. See the chart below for our specific locations.

Rwanda opens stock exchange

Courtesy BBC

The BBC has reported that Rwanda has open up it's own stock exchange. Initially the exchange will deal with corporate and government debt, over time it expects to list shares to the world market.

This is a big development in a country where 15 years ago it was in a devastating shape. Rwanda's economy has done a 360 degree paradigm shift and has embraced investors and foreigners all over the world.

Read article here

African Kiosk - Delivery service for East Africans

The African Kiosk is a company primarily established to cater for the needs of Ugandans, Kenyans and Rwandans living in the diaspora wishing to send gifts and other deliverables to their loved ones back home.

Their objective is to provide an online store offers specially designed flowers and a variety of supplementary gifts to enable the customer communicate more effectively, affordably and above all conveniently with their loved ones.

Dubai World investing in Rwanda tourism

Dubai to invest $230 million in Rwanda tourism

State-owned enterprise Dubai World to build eight tourism facilities in Rwanda.

NAIROBI - Dubai World, a state-owned enterprise, said Thursday it will invest 230 million dollars in Rwanda's tourism sector.

Through its investment arm, Istithmar Real Estate, Dubai World will build eight tourism facilities in the tiny east African country, including luxury hotels and lodges in national parks as well as golf courses and villas.

It will put up an 60-room lodge in the Akarega National Park, east of the capital, and a five-star tented camp in the Volcanoes National Park, home to hundreds of rare mountain gorillas.

Read More Here

No more roaming fees with Safricom in Rwanda!

Safricom Kenya just announced that it will extend it's network to Rwanda. This is important because there are expensive roaming fees when you cross to another country or territory. I think in the next few years you will see reciprocal agreements between several carriers in the developing world.


From AfricaNews

The Kenyan mobile phone firm said it was still consulting with other African players in DR Congo, Mozambique and South Africa to extend the network to the Southern Africa region, but this would depend on the cost of connection.

Safaricom Chief Executive Officer Michael Joseph said the service would allow some 600,000 MTN Rwanda subscribers to use the service. The deal makes Rwanda the third East African country to join the borderless network.

Uganda and Tanzania became the first two East African states to join the one-area network, which allows the subscribers to use mobile phone re-charge vouchers from any of the networks. The service would be activated

Startup: Rwanda - Business 2.0 article

Africa has had many trouble spots, I try not to dwell about past inhumanities on the continent. Rwanda has had its share of conflicts, now the country is an investors mecca. Rwanda also boasts one of the highest levels of Wifi penetration compared to the rest of the world.

Pascal Zachary who writes for Business 2.0 has an article about how Rwanda is embracing western investors and how investors are moving there to live and do business. Please read this article, it goes to show you how a conflict ridden country has risen from obscurity to a investors dream for profits.

Startup: Rwanda