By Tony Adibe
The Rwandan High Commissioner-Designate, Christopher Bazivamo has encouraged the Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ECCIMA) and indeed, the business community in the southeast zone of Nigeria to take advantage of the abundant business opportunities in Rwanda.
Ambassador Bazivamo said that the investors in southeast needed a larger space for their business expansion. He said the ease of doing business in Rwanda is so guaranteed that the Rwandan government has a free-visa policy for all Africans travelling to Rwanda.
“This is to ensure free movement of Africans into Rwanda,” he said, adding: “Rwanda, when it comes to doing business, is ranking second or third in Africa. Rwanda is attractive to investors because of the ease of doing business.”
The Ambassador-Designate spoke during an interactive session with key officials of ECCIMA inside its chambers in Enugu, the capital of Enugu State. He said the objective of the interaction was to tell the Rwandan story to the business community in the southeast with an aim of attracting them to do business and forge a stronger partnership between Rwanda and Nigeria.
Abundant Opportunities In Rwandan Real Estate
A top member of ECCIMA and the Principal Partner of FIT Consult Group, a key facilitator of Bozivamo’s visit to Enugu, Dr. Loretta Aniagolu, while addressing the gathering, explained the possible advantages of investing in the East African country.
Dr. Aniagolu, whose firm, FIT Consult is into real estate, said that the Rwandan government had put as a target building 30,000 houses every year in Rwanda to carter for the people’s shelter.
Aniagolu said that Rwanda has a well-organized business environment and a stable currency – where an investor can project or predict the outcome of his investments.
Dr. Aniagolu said: “My experience in being invited to Rwanda and seeing what is going on is that there is a level of organization there in the real estate sector. The government has identified or put as a target that they want to build 30,000 houses every year in Rwanda, and they are actually effectively pursuing it.
“We felt that if we can do just a little bit out of the 30,000 houses; if a company does 1,000 houses a year or 500 houses a year, that’s a lot.
“And I also felt that given the fact that in the southeast zone of Nigeria, people are very adventurous, they are risk takers, they have a lot of funds to invest; rather than have them go abroad in western Europe to invest their funds, why don’t they go and take their chances in an African country or a place where the government has decided and made it a policy, where things are organized?”
Dr. Aniagolu also spoke on the process of registration of business in Rwanda, saying that it is fast and free of charge. “And if you go online, everything in Rwanda is organized. All the information an investor needs are online, and you can do your registration online, and they verify it within a day; they send you your certificate of registration online, without paying.
“Now, they have the Rwandan Development Board that store information; I mean if you have, as industrious as we have been in Nigeria, and with all the obstacles private companies face…if Nigerians have the opportunity to invest in a place disorganized, you can imagine what they will make out from the relationship they have with an organized place like Rwanda,” she said.
Measures To Emulate:
Aniagolu further said that Rwanda is a country whose ease of doing business is worthy of emulation.
“As a businessperson, you can easily project and predict your business in Rwanda. In Nigeria, you can’t predict your business. In Nigeria, there can be a change of policy and commission and it makes it really dangerous and uncomfortable for business; that you can’t really project your earnings and all that.
“I think the problem in some African countries including Nigeria is inconsistency in policies. But the challenge in Nigeria is your inability to forecast what is coming: Today the currency is N750 to $1 USD. You wake up in the morning and the exchange rate becomes N850 Naira to one US Dollar. Changes in Nigeria are unprecedented anywhere. Some places have 10%, 5% drop in currencies but in Nigeria, you have a 100%, 50%.
Changes in prices of goods and services are shocking in Nigeria, and for a businessman it makes it very difficult to operate. But in Rwanda, which is a small country, they have put in measures that make the place so well organized that you can easily forecast what your revenue can be, what the risks are . Their currency has been stable for some years and it’s easy to bring in money and easy to take it out and you check out your profit.”
Aniagolu, also spoke on the affordability of borrowing from banks in Rwanda unlike in Nigeria where the process is not so smooth. According to her, “It’s easy to borrow money from banks. You can walk into a bank and apply for money, and you will be asked to bring 30% of what you are required to borrow, and you use it to build your project.
“However, there is no bank in Nigeria where you apply for loan, and they give you 30%. These are the things people consider in choosing the small countries where they do business. It’s not about being small or big. It’s about the policies, the organization of the country; it’s about lack of corruption where everything is done in a straightforward way and you can project your cost. If you are going to do business in Rwanda, you are not thinking of inconsistency in policies or the percentage you will drop on somebody’s table. In Rwanda, what you pay is the official rate and that’s all. So, it’s easy to do business in such environment. We are therefore looking forward to doing real estate business as our take-off in Rwanda.”
Concerns Over Security Of Igbo Investment In Rwanda
However, one key ECCIMA officials, and Chief Executive Officer of Rico Group of Companies Ltd, Dr. Eric Chime expressed concerns over the safety and security of Igbo investments outside the southeast zone, even in far away East African country – Rwanda.
Dr. Chime cited examples of what the Igbo businesspeople had suffered in South Africa during the Xenophobia attacks, and the recent alleged anti-Nigerians attacks in Ghana and currently in Lagos, a situation in which their investments were not protected by the authorities, rather their property and huge assets were being wantonly and dubiously destroyed purportedly for flimsy excuses.
He claimed that the investments and progress of Igbo people outside the southeast region, often attracted envy and jealousy from outsiders, leading to attacks on Igbo investors and their investments by the so-called hosts. Dr. Chime said that the Igbo investors would need strong assurances that their investments would be secured before they can invest in Rwanda.
“We don’t want what happened to our people in South Africa, Ghana, and Lagos to repeat in Rwanda. Igbo are endangered species,” Dr. Chime said.
But Bozivamo, who is also the Ambassador-designate for Niger, Borkina Faso and Chad, while addressing the audience, reminded ECCIMA members that already the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Rwandan government used to have “a general cooperation agreement,” adding that since “our partnership has been excellent”, it has “moved from the level of the joint bilateral to permanent commission for cooperation agreement” which actually cuts across different sectors in Nigeria be it public or private institution to work together.
Bazivamo said: “They have signed this and what is remaining now is to have a kind of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the sister bodies, and sister sectors so that we can move for the implementation and different sectors in Nigeria and Rwanda are preparing for this MoU.”
Security/Safety Of Investments
Reacting to the issue of securing the Igbo investments in Rwanda, Bazivamo said his country is “a very, very safe country when it comes to investments.”
He added: “I tell you investments are secured because investment laws are clear, their procedures are clear; and these laws, you can find them on our website, and you can use them even when it comes to arbitration. There is actually this arbitration also in Kigali, but you are also free to do it whenever you feel it is right, though depending on what you agree when you are investing. For laws about investment do protect investors and also, they are clear when it comes to funds repatriation because it’s also captured in the laws, and it’s allowed. It means you can invest when you have profits…so long people in Rwanda respect the laws, otherwise you find that repatriation of funds is not an issue.”
Earlier during his visit, Bozivamo had inspected the mega HELIU Health and Tourism District and Residences, along the Enugu-Port-Harcourt Expressway. The huge estate is being handled by the FIT Consult in collaboration with the Enugu State Government.
Background Of Heliu Residences
NewsBits reports that HELIU is reported to be Nigeria’s first health tourism district, strategically located in the high-profile area of New Independence Layout, around the Amaechi Awkunanaw end of the Enugu-Port-Harcourt Express Road. HELIU Residences houses over 1,000 residences on a 1.2 million square meters plot of land.
It will accommodate a 250-bed multi-specialty hospital, 3-star hotel and apartments, concrete roads, 24-hour electricity and water supply, events exhibition centre, office park, primary school, recreation club. There are also a shopping mall, worship centre and neighbourhood centre, etc, NewsBits learnt.
Answering questions from newsmen, the diplomat spoke impressively about the rate with which work has been going on at the site, the quality of infrastructures and houses being constructed therein.
Bozivamo said: “Yes. I had the opportunity to visit the area to see constructions being put in place at the project site. And even the approach, things are being done; Chief Loretta Aniagolu is doing wonders, so to say, we wish to have the same in Kigali.”
Meanwhile, ECCIMA’s Second President, Nonye Osakwe, who presided over the interaction with the diplomat, recalled that the chamber was established since 1963 and has had a gallery of distinguished leadership over the years.
He said that ECCIMA had an opportunity to have interacted with the past Rwandan Ambassador and intended to continue with the relationship, adding: “On behalf of ECCIMA and the entire members present here, we extend an exciting hand of fellowship to you.”
Osakwe said: “I’m very happy with our sister, Chief, Dr. Loretta Aniagolu who facilitated this visit.”
