Browsing: Rwanda

To push and advocate to circular economy uptake around the globe, the European Union (EU) launched the SWITCH to Circular Economy Value Chains project. The SWITCH to Green (S2G) project is designed to accelerate the uptake of circular practices.

SWITCH aims to improve the business environment and targets value chain actors to increase awareness as the basis to facilitate transformation.

“The overall objective is to support the circular economy transition, thereby contributing to sustainable growth, low carbon and climate resilient development, decent jobs’ creation, and safer, healthier and pollution-free environment,”

The project is designed to deliver tools and services to support the overall coherence and coordination of the EU international partnerships in the green circular economy model. The SWITCH to Green Facility experts work to provide direct support in integrating the Circular Economy across the related value chains from the producers to the final consumers.…

In October 2021 Nigeria became the first country in Africa and of among few in the world to issue a digital currency that was dubbed ‘eNaira’.

Financial experts say the digital currency issued by central banks cut transaction costs and increase financial inclusion.

Maurice Muhiza Rwamigabo, Head of Exploration & Coordinator at the Accelerator Lab (an innovation and technology lab) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Rwanda, said in an opinion article titled ‘Should Rwanda adopt a national digital currency?’ that if Rwanda wants to restructure its financial system and position itself as an important player in the future global economy, it should systematically assess and take the steps needed to develop its own Central Bank Digital CBDC. 

“A CBDC would offer Rwandans a safe, free, and easy alternative to cash. It would expand financial inclusion by enabling more of the unbanked population to participate in the formal …

The CET maximum rate was a realization by the EAC Secretariat on the proposed Common External Tariff (CET) rates of 30 per cent, 33 per cent and 35 per cent classified under the fourth (maximum) band, which include textiles, iron, steel and motor vehicles.

The East African Business Council (EABC) urges the partner states- Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and South Sudan- to adopt the maximum CET tariff trade to spur industrialization and strengthen the regional value chain.

In 2020, the total intra-EAC trade stood at 11.8 per cent, amounting to US$6.39 billion. The proposed 35 per cent tariff is set to boost the trade between EAC member states to US$6.4 billion.…

Tanzania Railway Investment

In the most recent development, an additional 282km of the railway are been constructed to connect Tanzania and Burundi giving the latter access to East Africa’s biggest and busiest port.

The construction is an extension of the already laid down Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) in Tanzania. The two governments have signed an agreement that paves way for new rail to be laid at a sum of US$900 million.

What does this extension mean for Burundi and how will it benefit Tanzania?  

Apart from the obvious economic benefits, lets first consider the small towns through which the railway snakes. From Tanzania’s little town of Uvinza in Kigoma region to the bustling capital city of Gitega in Burundi, the railway is expected to spark life, rejuvenate slowed businesses and build new people relations.

None said it better than Burundian Minister for Finance, Budget and Economic Planning Domitien Ndihokubwayo who …

• EAC Secretariat Secretary-General Peter Mathuki has hailed the governments of the Republic of Rwanda and the Republic of Uganda for their efforts ahead of the reopening of the Gatuna-Katuna border post
• He said the reopening would strengthen bilateral ties between the two EAC Partner States, which will revitalise social, economic and political relations
• Mathuki added that the border would also promote peace and security across the region

The EAC Secretariat has lauded Rwanda and Uganda for their efforts to reopen the Gatuna-Katuna border post on 31st January 2022.

In a statement seen by The Exchange Africa, EAC Secretary General Peter Mathuki hailed the move terming it as a boost to regional integration.

The move, he added, would strengthen bilateral ties between the two EAC Partner States, which will revitalise social, economic and political relations.

“Reopening this strategic trade route is in line with the EAC Common Market Protocol and will …

• Extracts from Lake Kivu are sustainable as it would take centuries to exhaust the gas already accumulated in the lake.
• Darchambeau says that an explosion of Lake Kivu would present a risk to over two million people in both Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
• The Rwandan government made a US$400 million concession agreement with Gasmeth Energy to process and compress the methane gas onshore to create compressed natural gas (CNG).

Rwanda has come up with an invention of its kind, The KivuWatt power station. The energy producer lies somewhere between a renewable and non-renewable source of energy.

For thousands of years, volcanic activity in Lake Kivu has caused a massive accumulation of carbon dioxide and methane to dissolve in the depths of the water. The Engineers of the KivuWatt company have discovered a way to generate electricity from the lake.

There are only three such lakes: Lake Kivu, …

The Maputo daily Noticias wrote after the SADC summit that a budgetary allocation of US$29.5 million has been set aside for the three-month extension, after high-level consultations and this would mean until at least mid-April.

The SAMIM extension set from mid-January.

Addressing the opening session of the summit, the current SADC Chairperson, Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera, urged regional bloc member states to stick together and ensure that SAMIM remains multidimensional and comprehensive.…

• Tanzania’s cement demand is estimated to have clocked 5.9Mt and is growing fast.
• Maweni Limestone Ltd will be China’s first African entity producing cement on the continent instead of importing.
• The newly purchased plant by Huaxin Cement has already been upgraded to a production capacity of 1.6Mt/yr.

If there is a booming industry in Tanzania, it is the cement industry – an industry that has more than doubled in production in under a decade.

As of 2011, Tanzania was producing 2.4Mt annually, a figure that has shot up to 6.5Mt as of 2020.

Compared to the previous year, the production volume of cement grew by 44.5 per cent and is associated with rising construction activity in the country.

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Another marker of how well the industry is doing is the amount of investment the sector is getting annually. Consider the most recent buyout of Maweni Limestone Ltd by China’s Huaxin …

Rwanda has gone a step further and promoted its tourism attractions on the world stage, through sports via its ‘Visit Rwanda’ tagline on England’s Premium League football clubs. 

The EAC core objectives compel the countries to bring collective efforts to promote their industry and share benefits as they come. So far, the EAC treaty (under Article 115) has shown partner states can undertake and develop collective and coordinated approach to the promotion and marketing of quality tourism into and within the community (EAC). 

Hence, the entire concept of coordinating policies in the tourism industry to establish a framework of cooperation is vital, as it will promote the equitable manner of benefit-sharing. …

On the slopes of the Usambara ranges on the Eastern region of Tanzania, lays the Usambara forests sprawled across miles and miles of undulating old fold mountains.

Under this thick canopy, walks Juma, 45 yr old farmer and his daughter Halima, 15 and in secondary school.

As they regularly do, they have in hand several tools and containers, as they approach a clearing, we find out why they are here, and what the equipment in hand is for. The distant humming alerts us to the beehives up ahead and when Juma adorns his netted face guarding mask, transforming into some kind of astro-peasant, it is clear he is a beekeeper and it is time to harvest honey.

In Tanzania beekeeping is estimated to generate about USD 1.7 million each year from sales of honey and beeswax alone. And in rural Tanzania, it employs about 2 million farmers like Juma and …