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Doing business

By Tom Jackson
Johannesburg, 28 Jan 2016

The government has also been implementing more general reforms when it comes to improving the business environment and reducing the cost of doing business. Companies launching operations in the country will find it far easier than in many other African nations. This year's World Bank Doing Business report ranked Rwanda 46th out of 189 countries, below only Mauritius and South Africa in Africa.

Ranked 112th for ease of starting a business, with eight procedures taking 6.5 days, Rwanda is working on making this process easier. "The government of Rwanda has been making concerted efforts to improve the efficiency of business registration as part of broader business regulation reforms aimed at securing private sector investment," says Hagen.

Companies are advised to retain a Rwandan attorney when conducting business in Rwanda, particularly around employment laws, but entrepreneurs that have launched businesses in the country say it's a remarkably easy process, even easier than the World Bank report suggests.

Barrett Nash, co-founder of motorbike taxi-hailing app SafeMotos, says one of the key reasons he launched his company in Rwanda was the 'exceptional ease of doing business'. Nash was able to obtain an entrepreneur visa, while online company registration is now possible.

"SafeMotos was able to set up and get to work in a timeframe that shames most European countries, let alone Rwanda's African peers," he said.

R.J. Musah, CEO of Nigerian jobs marketplace Asuqu, which has launched operations in Rwanda, agrees with Nash.

"Launching a business in Rwanda is one of the most interesting things to have happened to me in years. Everything seems to work: the registration is automated, you don't pay a cent and it only takes three business days or less for your certificate to be out," he says.

Musah's only qualification is the need to have the right document to start a business, but for these details, the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and the Private Sector Federation (PSF) provide guidance to potential investors on processes, with the RDB in particular offering a range of services to potential investors.

In other areas, Rwanda scores relatively highly in the World Bank report. Rwanda stands at 62 in the ranking of 189 economies on the ease of getting electricity, which requires four procedures and takes 34 days. It is 15th for registering property, which has three procedures, and fourth on ease of obtaining credit.

Moreover, doing business in the region has become easier after the Northern Corridor member countries - Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda and South Sudan - adopted the 'One-Network-Area', which scrapped roaming charges for individuals moving around the region and cut the cost of calls by 60 percent.

In terms of internet affordability, the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) says Rwanda has the most affordable internet in Africa, and scores the country highly for factors such as broadband structures, competition, spectrum allocation and infrastructure sharing models.

This article was first published in Brainstorm magazine. Click here to read the complete article at the Brainstorm website.

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