• Envoy visits Enugu, seeks collaboration with business community
From Magnus Eze, Enugu
Investors from the South East, Nigeria, have been invited to take advantage of the abundant business opportunities in Rwanda.
Rwandan High Commissioner-Designate, Christopher Bazivamo said that investors from the zone needed a larger space for their business expansion.
He made the call during an interactive session with key officials of Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ECCIMA) in Enugu on December 1.
His visit to the Coal City began on November 30, with inspection of the HELIU Health and Tourism District and Residences, along the Enugu-Port-Harcourt Expressway. The huge estate being handled by FIT Consult in collaboration with the Enugu State Government, is reported to be Nigeria’s first health tourism district.
Promoted by serial entrepreneur, Lorreta Aniagolu, HELIU Residences houses over 1,000 residences on a 1.2 million square meters of land and will accommodate 250-bed multi-specialty hospital, 3-star hotel and apartments as well as other facilities.
Similarly, the country’s then acting High Commissioner, Mr. Vianney Rubangumya, in June this year, visited Owerri, Imo State, in further exploration of an investor who was seeking partnership with Government of Rwanda in the provision of affordable housing.
Rubangumya had expressed hope of bilateral relations with the state through the Peer-to-Peer platforms, transparent management, e-governance and cultural exchanges.
On the investment opportunities in his country, Bazivamo said: “I had the opportunity to visit the area to see constructions being put in place at the project site. And even the approach, things are being done; Chief Loretta Aniagolu is doing wonders, so to say, we wish to have the same in Kigali.”
According to him, the ease of doing business in Rwanda is so guaranteed that the Rwandan Government has a free-visa policy for all Africans travelling to the country: “This is to ensure free movement of Africans into Rwanda. Rwanda, when it comes to doing business, is ranking second or third in Africa. Rwanda is attractive to investors because of the ease of doing business.”
However, Bozivamo, who is also the Ambassador-Designate for Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad, reminded ECCIMA members that already, the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Rwandan Government used to have “a general cooperation agreement.”
He noted that since “our partnership has been excellent,” it has “moved from the level of the joint bilateral to permanent commission for cooperation agreement,” which actually cuts across different sectors in Nigeria, be it public or private institution to work together: “They have signed this and what is remaining now is to have a kind of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the sister bodies and sister sectors so that we can move for the implementation and different sectors in Nigeria and Rwanda are preparing for this MoU.”
On the security of Igbo investments in Rwanda, the envoy said that his country is very safe when it comes to investments: “I tell you, investments are secured because investment laws are clear, their procedures are clear; and these laws, you can find them on our website and you can use them even when it comes to arbitration. There is actually this arbitration also in Kigali but you are also free to do it whenever you feel it is right, though depending on what you agree when you are investing.”
A leading member of ECCIMA and key facilitator of Bozivamo’s visit to Enugu, Aniagolu set the tone of the interaction.
She explained the possible advantages of investing in the East African country, disclosing that the Rwandan Government had put as a target, building 30,000 houses every year in Rwanda to cater for the people’s shelter.
She described Rwanda as a well-organized business environment and a stable currency – where an investor can project or predict the outcome of his investments: “My experience in being invited to Rwanda and seeing what is going on is that there is a level of organization there in the real estate sector.
“We felt that if we can do just a little bit out of the 30,000 houses; if a company does 1,000 houses a year or 500 houses a year, that’s a lot.
“And I also felt that given the fact that in the southeast zone of Nigeria, people are very adventurous, they are risk takers, they have a lot of funds to invest; rather than have them go abroad in western Europe to invest their funds, why don’t they go and take their chances in an African country or a place where the government has decided and made it a policy, where things are organized?”
Harping on the friendly Rwandan business environment, Aniagolu declared that if Nigerians had the opportunity to invest in a place disorganized, “you can imagine what they will make out from the relationship they have with an organized place like Rwanda.
“As a business person, you can easily project and predict your business in Rwanda. In Nigeria, you can’t predict your business. In Nigeria, there can be a change of policy and commission and it makes it really dangerous and uncomfortable for business; that you can’t really project your earnings and all that.”
She also said that borrowing from banks in Rwanda for business was not as rigorous as in Nigeria.
However, a prominent member of ECCIMA and CEO of Rico Group of Companies Ltd, Dr. Eric Chime expressed concerns over the safety and security of Igbo investments outside the southeast, even in far away East African country – Rwanda.
Chime cited instances of what Igbo business people had suffered in South Africa during xenophobic attacks, and the recent alleged anti-Nigerians attacks in Ghana and currently in Lagos, a situation in which their investments were not protected by the authorities, rather their property and huge assets were being wantonly and dubiously destroyed purportedly for flimsy excuses.
He claimed that the investments and progress of Igbo people outside the region, often attracted envy and jealousy from outsiders, leading to attacks on Igbo investors and their investments by the so-called hosts.
Chime stated that Igbo investors would need strong assurances that their investments would be secured before they can invest in Rwanda: “We don’t want what happened to our people in South Africa, Ghana and Lagos to repeat in Rwanda. Igbo are endangered species.”
Remarking, ECCIMA’s Second President, Nonye Osakwe, who presided over the event, said that the chamber was poised to continue with the relationship it had established with the Rwandan envoy in the past.