The head of Rwanda Stock Exchange (RSE), Celestin Rwabukumba, has urged the Diaspora community to save and invest at the stock market.
Speaking at the recent Diaspora Homecoming Day forum in Kigali, Rwabukumba said that investment is all about saving, citing that RSE has various services such as raising capital for businesses.
“We need entrepreneurs and investors in our country. We want to get a long-term funding for investment and working together as Rwandans, we can invest more than foreigners; so be part of the development,” Rwabukumba advised.
The Rwandan Diaspora associations have more than 37,000 members worldwide. They visited the RSE and RDB from where they were tipped about the conducive investment climate and the expanded Rwanda has in the East African Community (EAC) and COMESA.
The president of Rwanda Diaspora Global Network (RDGN), Alice K Cyusa, affirmed that they will open investment accounts so that they can participate in national economic agendas.
“We are Rwanda’s bridge to the outside world; we want to invest in our country and attract other investors. If we are to have a better country, we need to come back and build it and make it a better Rwanda that we desire,” Cyusa noted.
The Diaspora is also targeting to invest in other sectors like transport, construction, hotels and restaurants among others. They have so far been involved in some activities such as the One Dollar Campaign which led to the construction of a hostel for orphans of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis. The four storey complex in Kinyinya cost Rwf 1.7 billion and hosts 192 orphans, including 96 boys who did not have a home.
The president of RDGN also told The Rwanda Focus that they also intend to participate in Girinka program and raise money to pay the community-based health insurance (Mutuelle de Santé) for Rwandans who cannot afford it.
According to statistics from the ministry of finance and economic planning, more than 183614 cows have been distributed since 2006. This has led to the reduction of malnutrition due to increased milk supply, and the provision of manure and among other benefits.
For Mutuelle de Santé, more than 90% covered since 2007.
Figures from the central bank indicate that remittances from Diaspora reached $174 million in 2014, second only to tourism as a source of revenue, more than minerals, coffee and tea.
