President Kagame: Transparent system of governance will attract Investment in Africa

President Paul Kagame is in Sandton, South Africa where he is attending Africa Investment Forum.

This Monday morning, Kagame joined his host President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana, Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosário of Mozambique for a panel discussion on Investing in Africa.

During a panel discussion, President Kagame noted that being accountable, building a transparent system of governance, creating rule of law, and leveling the ground for women participation are some of the things that Africa needs to do right to attract investment.

"There is nothing new that we don’t know we have to deal with. The main difference will come when in one place or another, they are actually doing what they know they ought to. It is not just knowing what you ought to do or being capable of it, it is about actually doing it," President Kagame said.

He added, "Let’s do what we know we have to do, let’s involve our women, we see many who are CEOs, there are many who are capable so we should not leave them behind. We should have an accountable transparent system of governance, create rule of law, for people to know what to expect."

President Kagame also noted that Africa's time is now to seize every opportunity and develop at a desired rate.

"I have always thought it is Africa’s time, we Africans we have let ourselves down. We are now realizing it is Africa’s time and we need to seize every opportunity to be where we should be," he said.

The head of state also spoke at length about some of the policies Rwanda has enacted to see the country get to where it is in terms of ease of doing business and being on of the fastest-growing economies in the region.

Rwanda kept its second position on the continent and ranked 38 globally in the World Bank’s annual Doing Business indices, released last October.

According to the report, the country is among a few economies in Sub-Saharan Africa that improved their business climate in the year that ended on May 1, 2019, ranking just behind Mauritius in Africa.

"We have concentrated on creating a good environment for people to do business, a predictable governance system, security, in a region of East African Community that is probably the fastest-growing region on our continent and Rwanda being part of&benefiting from that," Kagame said.

On investment opportunities in Rwanda, President Kagame said; "We have created a number of things: Agri-business hub, between 15-20,000 hectares we are trying to put under irrigation and partner with the private sector in agribusiness for exports.

He added, "Kigali Innovation City, where technology companies and higher institutions of learning come together with financial services to allow start-up companies to develop and grow, we expect private capital to come in and grow that."

Organized by the African Development Bank and its partners, the second edition of the Forum, taking place from 11 to 13 November 2019 in Johannesburg, South Africa, is aimed at raising capital, advancing projects to bankable stage and accelerating financial closure of deals.

The Africa Investment Forum partners include Africa 50, Africa Finance Corporation, Africa Export-Import Bank, Development Bank of Southern Africa, European Investment Bank, Islamic Development Bank, Trade and Development Bank.