As a general rule, you can expect officials in Rwandan institutions to be quite approachable.
There is a culture of transparency and you can usually find employees’ contact details and even pictures on most government websites.
However, be advised that many government agents have never seen how a modern-day business is run and
so things that might seem obvious may not always be clear to everybody.
Already before the pandemic, the Rwandan Government had made a major push towards digitalisation and many institutions
now feature digital portals allowing many procedures to be started and even completed fully online.
(Some of these systems are still new so hick-ups are still possible.)
The RDB is the primary reason why Rwanda has ranked 2nd in Africa for ease of doing business.The RDB is the primary touch-point for all businesses and investors coming to Rwanda and can offer a “soft-landing” for foreign investors and entrepreneurs.
Our members report them as quite helpful and overall responsive.
The RDB after-care service can also be very useful for any help required after business registration. According to RDB similar services are provided to small and large businesses alike.
You should go to RDB for things like Business Registration, IP & Trademark registrations, Investment certificates, and anything relating to investing in Rwanda)
The RRA is the Authority in charge of taxation, including penalties in cases of late payments.
Most EBCR Members have reported that communication with the RRA can be troublesome due to lengthy waiting times and occasionally inadequate knowledge from members of staff. In such situations contacting the RDB to seek help can be useful.
Similarly, EBCR can offer support in raising concerns or even connecting companies with connections within RRA.
Normally there is always one RRA staff in the RDB building offering information services.
You should go to RRA for anything relating to taxes including Paying taxes, VAT, Corporate Income Tax, Withholding tax, Capital Gains Tax, Employee contributions etc.
The DGIE is the institution responsible for immigration
Our members’ experiences with the DGIE while applying for visas and work permits have been generally quite smooth.
Most of the visa & work permit application processes are done online through the Irembo portal through you might be required to go to the DGIE office to present your passport.
The RSB can provide you with a mostly optional quality certification (S-Mark) for some products or processes which however is highly
recommended, particularly if you are looking to export Rwanda Standards Bureau (RSB)
Falling under the Ministry of Environment REMA ensures the protection of the environment and sustainable management of natural resources.
If you want to visit environmental policies you can find them on the REMA website (see under LAWS & REGULATIONS)
The RSB can provide you with a mostly optional quality certification (S-Mark) for some products or processes which however is highly
recommended, particularly if you are looking to export Rwanda Standards Bureau (RSB)
European Business Chamber of Rwanda (EBCR)
The largest active network of European Businesses in Rwanda. EBCR offers insights, networking, and advocacy services for its members.
Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI)
GGGI has partnered with the government of Rwanda (GoR) to ensure that sustainability and green growth are core principles in Rwanda’s future growth and development. […] supporting green project development implementation and increasing green investment flows;
Andela
Help organisation grow their engineering teams by sourcing global talent.
WeCode
WeCode is a high-class software development and coding training for working-age Rwandan women initiated by the German Government. WeCode is implemented with technical assistance from GIZ Rwanda in close collaboration with local training providers and in partnership with Rwandan
institutions like MINECOFIN, the Ministry of ICT, Innovation and the ICT Chamber.
GIZ works in three priority areas on behalf of the German Government:
Economic development and employment
Governance and democracy
Digitalisation
TRAIDE
The Netherlands Embassy has set a clear target to transform the bilateral relationship moving from aid to trade. Examples of TRAIDE activities are the writing of business opportunity reports to fill information gaps, the arrangement of business-to-business facilitation to establish mutually beneficial
links and the organization of trade missions for selected sectors to attract and inform new investors.
Association for Electric Mobility and Development in Africa (AEMDA)
The Association for Electric Mobility and Development in Africa (AEMDA) is an organization that seeks to create and sustain an ecosystem for the rapid transition to a low-carbon transport sector in East Africa powered by electric vehicles.
Rwanda Finance – Kigali International Financial Centre (KIFC)
Rwanda Finance Limited (RFL) is a company promoting and developing Rwanda as a leading financial destination for international investment and cross-border transactions in Africa.Rwanda Finance Limited works with key stakeholders to develop and promote Kigali International Financial Centre
through investment promotion, policy advocacy and sector upskilling. It also works to establish the regulatory framework for Kigali International Financial Centre to become a leading international financial centre.
Global Distributors Collective (GDC)
The Global Distributors Collective (GDC) is a collective of last-mile distributors around the world. We are dedicated to supporting and representing last-mile distribution companies to help them reach unserved customers with life-changing products, and to
developing the last mile distribution sector as a whole.
European Embassies in Kigali
Private Sector Federation
The Private Sector Federation – Rwanda (PSF) is a professional organization, dedicated to promoting and representing the interests of the Rwandan business community. It is an umbrella organization that groups 10 professional chambers. It was established in December 1999,
replacing the former Rwanda Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Public Accountant of Rwanda (ICPAR)
We regulate the accountancy profession; We preserve the integrity of the accounting profession; We promote the competence and the capacities of our members. We deliver accounting qualifications, programs and examinations. We promote compliance with professional standards
How has it been dealing with the Rwanda Revenue Authority?
#institutions
Dealing with Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) can be quite troublesome. The reason is that the vast majority of people there don’t
necessarily understand how businesses work.
For instance, when I sold the shares back to the founders, the founders did not initially believe me that CGT needed to be paid by the company. So, we went to the RRA to sort the matter.
There, we found the Commissioner-General (who’s the second level of management).
During our meeting, the founders started saying that they wanted to buy back the shares using company money! Of course, we told them that was not possible, as this was not their money, it was the company’s money.
Yet, when asking the Commissioner-General, he said he agreed with them, and didn’t see the difference…
The people at Rwanda Finance and the RDB’s investment after-care service are more reliable and have proven to be very
useful when dealing with these kinds of matters. I’ve used them once on an immigration issue and that went very smoothly.
Is it easy to get legal documents recognised in Rwanda?
#institutions
In the UK it’s easy to get a document accepted as legal. Sometimes you’ve just got to sign the back of your passport picture and things like that. But it’s generally easy.
In Rwanda, the starting assumption is that you’re faking a document. So, to get a legal document recognised by a government or other institution, you very often have to get it notarized.
This has caused us numerous problems because in the UK there are notaries, but they are very few and extremely expensive. In Rwanda, if you go to get something notarized it costs less than a dollar.
In the UK it is over £ 150 per page!
Plus, Rwandan authorities won’t always accept the way a document has been certified by a foreign authority. So, when trying to register a new shareholder in a Rwandan business it’s
possible that your documents would get rejected.
This has happened to us when trying to register a new shareholder in the past. In order to do this, we had to prove who East Africa Investments Ltd was through our company certificate.
But we just don’t do those in the UK anymore, because everything is now digitised. So I applied to HM Companies House for a company certificate’s “original print-out“ which cost about £ 200.
This document showed our registration certificate and articles of association and was stamped on the rear of each page saying: ‘this is an authentic original document’.
But then when we uploaded that to the RDB system here, they told us that: “A notarised document can’t be stamped on the rear of the page”…
I ended up having to email the Registrar General for the whole country, saying: ‘this is an original document, can you please ask your colleagues from the RDB to accept this as a valid document?”.
He did it, and after that, our documents were accepted.
I believe the American embassy in Rwanda has a service that allows the certification of American documents, which makes their lives easier. But as far as I know, European embassies do not. At least not the UK embassy.
[…]
Is it easy to access the right people in these institutions?
#institutions
The great thing about Rwanda is that, as a general rule, higher managers in the institutions are a lot more accessible compared to the UK.
You can even see it when visiting the websites of the various government agencies. There you’ll almost always be able to find the names, contact details, and even pictures of the relevant people from each department.
There’s a real culture of transparency like that.
The advantage of being an EBCR member is that you can first come to discuss your problems with members of the EBCR community to get advice on what to do, rather than going straight to those people in
the government agencies and “overusing” them.
As a general rule it’s a lot more effective if EBCR, who already know the right people to talk to, simply reach out to them on your behalf.
We initially wanted to set up a subsidiary company in Rwanda, but we had some Covid-related delays on our side in the UK in terms of getting the documentation.
So I worked closely with the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and the Registrar General of the Notary public and they advised on what documents we could use and
how to overcome the Covid problems in the UK to get the documents signed by all the relevant parties. They were really helpful.
[…]
#institutions
Another crucial point in choosing Rwanda was its ease of doing business. Rwanda is famously a great market for proof of concept and prototyping. Companies like Zipline or
Ampersand are a great demonstration of Rwanda’s enabling environment.
For us, this has been proved out in retrospect too.
I honestly can’t think of another country where 7 months in we’d have a company, we’d have bank accounts, I’d be working here with a decent visa, we’d have 5 employees, we’d have leased trucks, and we’d be
running around making money and paying taxes. Where else can you do this in 7 months? Rwanda’s enabling institutions are really what allow this.
#institutions
In terms of the service they offer, the RDB is far better than other countries’ equivalent services that I know.
[…]
#institutions
The RDB Manufacturing team has reached out a couple of times as well, saying to be ‘aware of “X”‘, or ‘this is coming up. The Director of Transport at RURA (the utilities regulatory authority), has been helpful, particularly
for things like the regulatory sandbox that OX will use to run the pilot.
As a general rule, you can find a lot of the laws online. The New Times and various publications also often publicise them.
Our accountants have also flagged up a couple of things along the way.
Which are the particular regulations around food processing/production/distribution in Rwanda?
#institutions
Rwanda is known to be quite strict about food regulations – which is good. They are also very good at showing up; they visit us to check regularly.
I just try to at least get my proof that I’ve been trying to change things if they don’t reply that’s not my problem. That’s why I always keep the proof that we’ve sent a letter.
But we have not yet received a fine.
If I really think it’s urgent, I go via the Rwanda Development Board (RDB). I have my own account managers there. Two people that I can go to whenever I have issues.
They also sometimes call me to ask me how I’m doing and if I need some help..
The RDB is very helpful, but just cos I go through them, that doesn’t mean that I always solve the problem. They sometimes also get lost in the RRA system and can’t get through to them.
Are the RDB account managers accessible to any entrepreneur?
I think that’s once you reach a certain size of business. And when you also need to have an investment certificate.
