RWANDA MONTHLY ECONOMIC REVIEW

UNCLAS KIGALI 000700

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR AF/C
DEPARTMENT PASS USTDA: UISZLER
DEPARTMENT PASS USTR: WJACKSON
DEPARTMENT PASS COMMERCE: RTELCHIN
DEPARTMENT PASS OPIC: BCAMERON
ADDIS FOR LISA BRODEY
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EFIN ECON PGOV EINV ENRG ETRD EPET BTIO RW
SUBJECT: RWANDA MONTHLY ECONOMIC REVIEW


DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS / ISSUES
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1. Japan promised Rwanda USD 1,509,150 to boost economic development
and poverty eradication, most specifically directed towards the
agricultural sector. The World Bank will administer both grants
from the Japanese government under its Policy and Human Resources
Development Fund (PHRD). The grants will fund feasibility studies,
detailed designs, assessments, project implementation plans,
trainings, and consultations. (Note: The PHRD Fund was established
i
n 1990 as a partnership between the Government of Japan and the
World Bank.)

2. The United States African Development Foundation (USADF) entered
into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the GOR to help
develop small and medium sized businesses in Rwanda. The GOR will
match, from its 2008 budget, the USD 2 million that the USADF has
allocated towards the grant program. While a collaborative process
between the GOR and the USADF, the program will be managed on a
day-to-day basis by the USADF.


3. The African Development Bank (AfDB) approved a grant of USD 50
million to help finance the second phase of the Rwandan Poverty
Reduction Strategy Support Program (PRSSP II). The grant is to be
used to improve public finance management by improving budget
programming and execution.


COMMERCIAL
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4. BOSF, an Australian property development company, plans to
construct a 650-unit housing estate, in Kimisange in the Kigali
district of Kicukiro, geared towards the medium to high-end. Rwanda
Housing Bank (RHB) manager, Charles Haba, reports that the
expropriation and infrastructure has already been completed.

5. The estate, registered as Victory Heights, will have a central
sewer system and water treatment plant with a provision to recycle
and obtain rainwater for household and other uses. Construction is
expected to commence by October 1 2007 and be completed by October

2009.

6. In what would become the largest Chinese investment in Rwanda,
Star Communication Network Technologies established a subsidiary
firm, Star Africa Media Company, in Rwanda. Director General of the
Rwanda Investment and Export Promotion Agency (RIEPA),Francis
Gatare explained that the company plans to build a $20 million
television station and internet provider company in Rwanda.

7. The GOR and the American-funded telecommunications company,
Terracom, finalized negotiations in the months-long dispute over
performance and payments. Terrracom agreed to sell the company to
the GOR, and the GOR plans to use the original name of the
telecommunications company, RwandaTel, as it prepares the company
for tender.

MACROECONOMIC INDICATORS
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8. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) issued its 2007 world
population report, predicting that Rwanda's population will shoot to
18.2 million people by 2050 at an average growth rate of 2.3 per
cent. The report also showed that Rwanda, with a life expectancy of
43.3 and 46.2 years for male and female respectively, is the lowest
in the EAC.

ARIETTI