More than 100 investors from the United Kingdom are expected to gather in Kigali at the end of January for the first-ever UK-Rwanda Business Forum.
This business forum is planned to be held in the Kigali Convention Center from 29th-31st January 2024. It will bring together business and industrial investors from both countries and government officials.
His Excellency Omar Daair, the British High Commissioner to Rwanda, speaking to the New Times, said that the fact that the UK has not colonized Rwanda has become an obstacle that has hindered business development compared to other British colonies. It is now the right time for the two countries to start doing business with each other due to the businesses that have already emerged with UK investments.
High Commissioner Omar Daair stated that the measures Rwanda has put in place to facilitate business operations give confidence to new investors.
“The Rwanda Development Board has made it easier for companies that want to invest here by helping them get started quickly. You can obtain a business license in just one or two days,” High Commissioner Omar Daair said.
This Business Forum will bring together more than 900 people who are expected to discuss topics including the Green Economy, Critical Minerals, Agriculture and Horticulture, Infrastructure, Manufacturing, and Finance with professional services.
Rwanda also stated that it will benefit from the export of agricultural products to the UK, as well as the improvement of financial services and environmental protection technology as part of its partnership goals for the continent.
Rwanda and the United Kingdom share cooperation in politics, security, environmental protection technology, and business. Statistics indicate that trade between the UK and Rwanda has more than doubled, from $25 million in 2017 to $51 million in 2022.
Last year alone, total trade in goods and services between the UK and Rwanda was approximately $44 million in the four quarters ending in June 2023, representing an increase of 9.4 percent.