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Diaspora vow to act as Rwanda’s ambassadors
By James Karuhanga

After completing a two-week country familiarization tour, members of the Diaspora, Wednesday spelt out seven resolutions that include correcting the falsehoods that are peddled about Rwanda.

The group is in the country as part of the “come and see” programme organized by the government to facilitate members of the Rwandan Diaspora to witness firsthand the remarkable progress the country has registered and understand the vision of Rwanda.

“We have resolved to go back and mobilize Rwandans to unite and cooperate in the development of our country,” said Jean Pierre Mabenga, from Belgium.

Mabenga said the group will call upon others who haven’t been to the country to come and see for themselves, adding that the Rwandan diplomatic missions abroad should help set up outreach efforts for the Diaspora communities globally.

The group also called for the reinforcement of the Diaspora General Directorate (DGD) in the Foreign Ministry to offer better services of coordinating Rwandans overseas.

Diaspora members also attended the just concluded eighth national dialogue, the Diaspora retreat, as well as the “Bye bye Nyakatsi” Expo. They extended special gratitude to President Paul Kagame for the plans he has for the country.
During one of the sessions, an emotional Aimable Ngab’Itsinze, also from Belgium said that he was sad that he had not previously played a key role in the country’s development.

“However, we all know, as it is often said that ‘it is better late than never’ – we are now ready to work together with other Rwandans to build our country,” Ngab’Itsinze said.
“I have witnessed how good the country and the people are– it gives me a feeling of confidence and pride”.

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TIGO, MINEDUC to connect primary schools to the internet
By Saul Butera

KIGALI – A local telecom operator, Tigo Rwanda, has entered into partnership with the Ministry of Education to facilitate the rollout of internet access points in the country’s primary schools in the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project

As part of the agreement, Tigo will sponsor the infrastructural development in schools across the country that will include wiring classrooms, installation of wireless LAN with internet access points and neighbouring communities will also benefit.

“The partnership was included in the 2008 Tigo licence bidding deal to support the country’s development and OLPC was among them. We are now implementing the government’s vision of to transform the country into a knowledge-based economy by the year 2020,” said Tigo’s CEO, Marcelo Aleman.

The Ministry of Education will provide Tigo with a list of schools to be connected, according to the agreement.

“We welcome the participation of corporations in the integration of the technology in schools and this MoU will work as a link between schools and Tigo which should go stronger and more diversified,” the Coordinator of OLPC project, Nkubito Bakuramutsa said.

He added that the project has so far distributed 55,000 laptops in 108 schools, and the distribution will continue next year.

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Sharon Haba, who was the guest of honour at the signing ceremony, said that internet connection to the OLPC computers will add more value to them.

“Every primary school is supposed to have these laptops but the first supplies were made to schools that have access to the electricity grid,” she added.

OLPC programme was adopted as a key driver towards the creation of a knowledge-based economy.

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http://www.newtimes.co.rw/index.php?issue=14485&article=36885

Immigration to ease services for the Diaspora
By James Karuhanga

KIGALI – Officials at the Directorate of Immigration and Emigration, yesterday met members of the Diaspora currently in the country, and promised to help ease the delivery of consular services like acquisition of passports and visas, where possible.

In a session held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, senior staff from the Directorate took time to explain the processes, and in some particular instances, the difficulties involved in the application and provision of consular services.

Similarly, Pascal Nyamulinda, the coordinator of the National ID Project,t explained what it takes to acquire a national ID, as the officials responded to numerous questions from the Diaspora.

“Those who want passports even now can come to us, this afternoon, and submit applications. We will help you. It will take not more than three to five days since you are now here,” the Immigrations Director General, Anaclet Kalibata, said after a lady from Belgium complained that it takes 30 days for the process in their countries of residence.

Kalibata, and two senior members at his office listened as the Diaspora community raised concerns about the difficulties faced, in foreign countries, when some are wrongly suspected to have forged documents because of having mismatching information.

This problem arises from the fact that, in Rwanda today, many administrative units changed names as part of the restructuring within the local government.

Acknowledging the problem, Kalibata promised to liaise with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to streamline the issues, especially by appropriately communicating with foreign countries.

“We will explain how names of places have changed here – they (foreign countries) should surely understand that a name of a place can change. What, however, can be a problem, is when the date of birth changes,” Kalibata said.

On the other hand, Kalibata told a member the group from Zambia, where Rwanda has no High Commission, that it would be difficult, for the Directorate to have presence in every country in the world to ease services.

He advised Rwandans living abroad to always make use of chances when they are in the country to process the documents.

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Saturday, December 18, 2010
Diaspora urged to invest in Rwanda
By Stevenson Mugisha

KIGALI – The Permanent Secretary in Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Eugene Munyakayanza has called upon Rwandans in the Diaspora to invest in the country as a way of participating in the country’s economic growth.

Munyakayanza made the call, yesterday, while addressing a delegation of 35 Rwandans living in various countries in Europe, Asia and Africa.

“I encourage you to always be proud of being Rwandans and to advocate for this nation in the various countries where you live,” Munyakayanza said. “This will enable our country to develop further, both economically and socially,”.

He promised the government support and assistance and urged them to be good ambassadors of the country when abroad.

Robert Masozera, the Director General in charge of Diaspora in the ministry, told The New Times that the delegation will attend the two-day forum hosted by Imbuto Foundation.
They are also expected to attend the National Dialogue Meeting that is expected to take place next week.

He added that 100 Rwandans from 21 countries from the Diaspora will attend this year’s National Dialogue.

After visiting MINAFET, the group was taken to Inyange Industry in Masaka sector where they toured the modern beverage processing plant.

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Thursday, December 16, 2010
Investors dash for Bralirwa shares as IPO deadline closes in
By Berna Namata

Appetite for Bralirwa shares within the local potential investors has increased ahead of tomorrow’s deadline for Rwanda’s first Initial Public Offer (IPO), a mini-survey by Business Times has revealed.

Retail and institutional investors are flocking to banks and brokerage firms to acquire equity stakes in the country’s biggest brewery and soft drinks maker.

This follows the official launch of the sale of government’s 25 percent stake in the brewery on November 23 to the public.

According to Lionel Mudandi, the Operations Officer at the Centenary House based African Alliance Rwanda Ltd one of licensed stockbrokers; interest in the IPO has increased dramatically within the last week.

“We are now very busy compared to the first week because many people are showing interest as the deadline is close,” he said yesterday.

However, Mudandi observed that generally the public is comfortable working with the banks as opposed to the brokerage firms.

“People trust banks and very few are coming to us (brokerage firms) because they do not have enough knowledge about brokerage firms and their services,”
Mudandi said the brokerage firm is working with banks to send them clients when shares beginning trading on the secondary market.

He however expressed concern over the timing of the IPO, saying that being a festive season; the majority of the people are preoccupied with celebration and holiday events.

An agent at Dyer &Blair Securities Rwanda limited, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to speak for the brokerage firm also noted that the IPO has gained momentum in the last week of the offer.

“People are rushing to the banks; most people are interested in finding out the benefits of investing in Bralirwa while others have to been taken through the fundamentals including defining a share.”

Each of the 128, 570, 000 shares of the IPO offer costs Rwf136. The minimum per application form which costs Rwf13, 600 is 100 shares.

Andrew Otengo Owiny, the Executive Director of MBEA Brokerage Services, observed that a significant number of potential investors have purchased shares this week.

“The traffic (of potential investors) has been higher – we are beginning to see people actually buying shares close to Rwf10 million,” he said.

Owiny who also doubles as the lead transaction adviser of the IPO, allayed fears by stock brokers that while potential investors may work with banks now, it will be mandatory for them to work with brokerage firms once the shares begin trading.

“This is purely about lack of familiarity with brokerage services; a lot of people have bank accounts – you cannot trade in shares unless you have brokers,” he said.
Owiny said banks will have to direct clients to brokerage firms once the shares begin trading.

While the deadline for buying shares still stands, Owiny said possibilities of extending the deadline will be determined by demand.

“If everything has been bought it (deadline) won’t be extended; we do not want to discourage investors who took their time to buy shares. The extension of the deadline would be purely to allow more Rwandans to participate should we see that there is an appetite.”

According to the Prospectus announcement of the offer and risk allotment results will be made public on January 18, next year while shares will start trading on the Rwandan Over-The-Counter (OTC) bourse on January 31, 2011.

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From:
Joanna Spooner
interpreting.yh@refugeecouncil.org.uk

Message:
The Refugee Council is currently looking for Kinyarwanda, French and
Swahili interpreters in Hull and Kinyarwanda interpreters in
Sheffield.

Interpreters are recruited on a sessional basis. Registration is
subject to successful interview and language assessment and
demonstration of proof of eligibility to work in the UK. Interpreters
may be telephoned and asked to interpret over the phone or invited in
to do on-site work. On-site interpreters may be required to attend an
interpreter workshop. We cannot guarantee any work but equally you are
not obliged to take on any work.

For further information or a registration pack, please contact Joanna
Spooner on 0113 2449404 or email interpreting.yh@refugeecouncil.org.uk

Dear Investor

We are pleased to inform you that the Bralirwa IPO( Initial Public Offering) is now launched and you can apply to be a shareholder as from today 23rd November 2010.

In order to help you in your investment decision, we have summarized some relevant investor information for you. This information is based on the Brochure that has been circulated during the launch. We shall provide you a comprehensive summary once we get the prospectus which will be ready by midday today.

1. 128,570,000 shares on offer at Frw 136 per share

2. Minimum of 100 shares per application at Frw 13,600

3. Offer for sale runs from 23 November to 17 December 2010

4. Announcement of offer and allotment results 18 January 2011

An application is available at CDH. Our office will be opened from 8 am to 5 pm (Monday to Friday) and 8 am to 1 pm on Saturday. Our offices are located at Ecobank Building 5th Floor opposite CMAC offices.

Our staff will be ready to assist you in the following processes:

1. Filling original application form from us

2. Filling in Central Securities Depository (CSD) form. The CSD is a account for shares (you will require 2 passport size photo, copy with your ID / Passport)

3. For corporates, the requirements are the following: Registration Certificate, Authorised signatories for the Company, two passport size photos of signatories, Tax Identification Number

4. Making payment for the amount of shares purchased (you will be issued a receipt torn off from the bottom of page 3 of the Application Form)

5. Payment can be made by either cash or cheque.

CDH has set up a special desk to help you buy shares in Bralirwa. Our office is ready to assist and facilitate you during the whole process of acquiring the shares.

We thank you for having preferred us as your Broker and look forward to offering you high quality service.

Yours sincerely

Shehzad Noordally
General Manager
CDH Capital
0788301007/3777/0788304276/0788302555/0788304275/0788304274

Rwanda needs more investments in money transfers – Central Bank
By Berna Namata

More international companies are required to remit money to the country in order to lower the high costs currently incurred when sending money from abroad, a senior official at the Central Bank has said.

This follows a recent finding by the World Bank that the cost of sending money to Rwanda is among the highest in the region.

 “The more companies (sending money) there are in these countries (Diaspora), the cheaper it is to send money. If the companies are fewer, the higher the costs,” Ambassador Claver Gatete, the Vice Governor told Business Times in a phone interview, on Monday, commenting on the reporting findings.

According to data compiled by the World Bank, published under the ‘Remittance Prices Worldwide’ database, sending US$200 from the UK to Rwanda can entail an average transaction cost of up to $30.72.

The data covers 200 “country corridors” worldwide, from 29 remittance sending countries to 86 receiving countries.

To encourage and ease repatriation of funds, Gatete said the Central Bank is willing to license more companies involved in money transfer business if they meet Central Bank requirements.

Currently, international money transfer window is dominated by Western Union and Moneygram, though commercial banks are also increasingly introducing direct transfers.

The World Bank estimates that international remittances totaled $414 billion in 2009, of which $316 billion went to developing countries, involving some 192 million migrants or 3 percent of world population and their families.

For Rwanda, remittances have been increasing since 2005 from $42.85million to $139.89 million in 2008, accelerating further to reach $172.40 million last year, statistics from the Diaspora General Directorate under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicate.

Last year, the Rwandan Diaspora, together with the National Bank of Rwanda, finalised plans to establish an investment fund, Rwandan Diaspora Mutual Fund (RDMF), which was adopted during the 2008 Diaspora retreat.

After its establishment, the Mutual Fund will invest in treasury bonds, guaranteed by BNR, and at a later stage, the interest gained from the bonds will be invested in higher risk products such as corporate bonds and stocks.

However, it is also expected that, in the long-run, the fund will invest abroad to earn more interest which will then be repatriated back to Rwanda.

Data also shows that diaspora remittances have become a key foreign exchange earner for Africa, with about $5 billion released annually.

The World Bank estimates that, after ecovering by the end of this year, recorded remittances to developing countries will rise further in 2011 and 2012, possibly exceeding $370 billion in two years’ time.

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Rwanda Diaspora House – UK Project

By Jonathan Kalisa Kalemera, Chairman, RDH Project Taskforce

Our community has grown rapidly in number over the last few years. However, we all recognise that if we want to grow in strength then we need to do more things that develop us than we are doing at the moment. We have a lot of talented people among us who can share their talents and we can attract some more. However, we cannot do this if we have no place where we can meet regularly.
A few months ago at a community barbecue we agreed that we should work to get ourselves a place where we can meet and also carry our social, educational and economic activities. We would do this by getting contributions. Effectively everyone who contributes would be recognised by having their name written on the wall of the hall. They could also have a name of a loved one also written on the memory wall, perhaps as a memorial. As we are looking for around £500,000 we are seeking a minimum contribution of £150 per name.

This is an exciting opportunity to take a bold step which many other African Communities have already taken and we hope that you will give your support to this.
If you want to know more about our mission, vision and objectives please see below.

Mission:
To create a hub for the Rwandan Community in order to create and support a cohesive and dynamic community that is well integrated in the UK society in order to develop its members culturally, socially, educationally and economically.
Vision:
The Rwandan Community having a centre in which it can hold events, develop programmes for all ages that create a self-confident community that is connected with Rwanda and plays its full part in the greater UK community and internationally.
Objectives:
To find and acquire a property for the Rwanda community with the following characteristics:
1. Size – to accommodate 500 people with offices & convertible into room space.
2. Location – London
3. Type of tenure – At lease 10 years lease.
4. Estimated cost – Approximately £500,000.

To ensure that the centre will provide a variety of events and activities including:
1. National events
2. Training including: language training (Kinyarwanda, English), Kinyarwanda dancing.
3. Lectures and seminars (including Rwanda history and culture awareness).
4. Hire for weddings, etc.
5. Health campaigns
6. A permanent exhibition of Rwanda products for export.
7. Host welfare campaigns
8. Host fitness training e.g. yoga, martial arts, etc.
9. Information and drop-in centre.
10. Translation services.
11. As a point of reference for any research on Rwandan issues.
12. Fundraising events.
13. Fashion and other shows.

Your support of this project will be very welcome and appreciated.

Africa United – The Movie (2010) AFRICA UNITED tells the extraordinary story of three Rwandan children and their bid to achieve their ultimate dream – to take part in the opening ceremony of the 2010 Football World Cup in Johannesburg. On the way to the vital selection trial, disaster strikes when Fabrice, Dudu and Beatrice board the wrong bus and cross into the Congo. Without papers, money or a believable story, they are escort…ed to a children’s refugee camp. But with considerable ingenuity and sass (and a World Cup wall chart for a map), our pint-sized heroes escape the camp and set off in pursuit of their dream, picking up along the way a “dream team” of displaced kids, who help them negotiate a series of thrilling and hilarious adventures. During their 3000 mile journey, we encounter an Africa few people ever see; experience an epic adventure across seven countries; and feel the joy, laughter and hope that comes from making an incredible journey together. AFRICA UNITED is a dramatic, heartfelt and enchanting story set to enthral family audiences worldwide. IN CINEMAS NATIONWIDE OCTOBER 22See more
Africa United The Movie Premier
Location:40 Odeon West End, Leicester Square London WC2H 7LP
Time:Sunday, 17 October 2010 14:00