London 20 May 2010. BBC World News' latest edition of the monthly business programme, Africa Business Report, gives viewers a special focus on resilient Rwanda, to find out what the economy is now really like.



This episode is presented by the BBC's Komla Dumor and investigates everything from how the country can become an investment destination despite past troubles, to the young entrepreneur with a secret about the market. There will also be special features from Zambia and Nairobi.

The episode will air on 22 and 23 May*

Features from the May episode include:

Open for business?
Rwanda has been judged by the World Bank to be one of the top places in Africa in which to do business. But is that the experience on the ground? We get the verdict of one young entrepreneur - who's spotted a unique gap in the market. Egon Cosssou reports.

Show me the money
Can Rwanda reallly shake off its troubled recent past to become a major destination for foreign investment? Komla Dumor talks to the recently appointed COO of the main investment body chief, Clare Akamanzi - and finds out from a Middle East investor why he's pumping money into the country.

Red hot property
Kenya's property prices are soaring sky high. Boom or bubble? We'll find out from Kevin Mwachiro in Nairobi.

Farming matters
Zambia is ploughing lots of cash into beefing up its agricultural sector. Will these efforts bear fruit? Kennedy Gondwe reports.

Ends/

RWANDA SEEKS FOOD SECURITY

By Egon Cossou
Editor, Africa Business Report, BBC World, Kigali


Masaka Farms in the Rwandan capital Kigali is something of a rarity.

On the edge of the six-acre farm there is a dairy plant that receives the supply of milk from its herd.

Masaka Farms is one of the few companies making dairy products. The business is in its infancy and the brain child of budding entrepreneur Serge Ndekwe.Mr Ndekwe spotted a gap in the market - and it seems to be paying off.

As the country's economy takes off, so too does demand for yoghurt, cheese - in fact all kinds of dairy produce.

So after 18 months of operation, the company has just started making a profit.

Loan guarantee scheme

Rwanda prides itself on its business friendly climate.

You can set up a company in one day - at least in terms of paperwork. But for many budding entrepreneurs, access to capital can still be a problem.

Banks require a guarantee before they grant loans, Mr Ndekwe points out, and many people starting out are unable to provide one.

So Mr Ndekwe would like the government to think about starting a loan guarantee scheme for new businesses.

Tough repayments

But even if a startup is lucky enough to get a loan - repayment terms can be strict. Mr Ndekwe borrowed $100,000 to start Maska Farms.

Serge points out that banks require a guarantee before they grant loans - and that many people starting out can't provide one. So he wants the government to think about starting a loan guarantee scheme for new businesses.

But even if a startup is lucky enough to get a loan - repayment terms can be strict. Serge borrowed $100,000 to start Masaka Farms.

"I have had to pay it back in three years," he says.

"When you start a business like this and pay it back in three years it's hard. But we don't have too much choice. We are lucky to have the loan."

Information society

The government says its constantly looking at ways of improving things for people such as Mr Ndekwe.

Improving access to capital is a particular priority, but its also busy trying to boost the free flow of information.

It is doing that by putting special emphasis on making new technology available to ordinary people.

This could benefit local entrepreneurs too.

Many businesses here are based on farming and they are thirsty for up-to-date agricultural prices, but getting hold of them can be a problem because of poor communications infrastructure.

Transparent market

In Musaka market, one of the biggest in Rwanda, an electronic pricing system has changed the way traders operate.

The hot, bustling market, which is about an hour's drive outside the capital, attracts traders from all over the country who come here to sell agricultural produce.

Some of them are using the e-Soko scheme - whereby traders use their mobile phones to access a computer server giving live updates on agricultiural prices anywhere in the country.

"I'm now better able to anticipate the profits I'm going to make," says local trader Donata Mukampazimpaka.

"I know the best places to get goods at the cheapest price - and I come here and sell at a bigger margin".

International ambitions

It may work for Ms Mukampazimpaka, but take-up has been low.

Despite this, the government is planning to expand the scheme

"The next phase is to move across borders using the internet," says Arthur Byabagambi from e-Rwanda, the body behind the project.

"Farmers are going to be able to get in touch with foreign traders using telecentres," he says.

"They'll be able to post what they're selling and foreign buyers can come here and purchase what's being sold in our local markets.

National impact

Back in Kigali, dairy producer Serge is making plans for the future.

He intends to open an organic restaurant on his farm.

But as he continues try to press ahead with his ambitions for his company, it is clear the fate of his business and thousands of others like it will shape the fate of this nation's economy.

PRESS RELEASE / FREEDOM OF INFORMATION, RIGHT TO KNOW

On this day May 3, 2010, the Rwandan media fraternity marked the “World Press Freedom Day” .

The event, organized by the Catholic Institute of Kabgayi in conjunction with the Ministry of information, Media High Council, Maison de la Presse, Rwanda Editor’s Forum and the Rwanda Association of Journalists, took place at the Catholic Institute of Kabgayi.

Discussions were held under the universal theme: “Freedom of information: The right to know”, where several speakers made presentations on various challenges facing the development of media in Rwanda.

Participants expressed their appreciation on the progress the country had registered in the promotion and safeguarding of media freedom, illustrated by several policies and laws enacted to this effect.

The media fraternity recognized the fact that despite there being a conducive environment to strengthen media freedom, few practitioners fully took advantage of the status quo. They acknowledged the existence of shortcomings in the profession and called for more efforts in building the capacity of journalists

Among the current weaknesses cited were:


• Weak media houses that lack business orientation, especially in the print media
• Self-censorship as a result of limited confidence and competence
• Abuse of press freedom in disregard to existing regulations
• Lack of diversity in content
• Concentration of coverage in urban areas while sidelining the rural community


They welcomed the progress of the draft law on Access to information that will soon be tabled in Parliament. Not only will the law facilitate access to public information in a transparent and timely manner, it will also lead to public officials being more accountable.

Whereas members of the media in Rwanda recognise the role of international media watchdogs, strongly disagree with the recent report by Reporters Without Borders which maliciously and erroneously maligned Rwanda and its media freedom record.

The media fraternity would like to recall that the organization has made it a habit of treating Rwanda as a media punching bag for ulterior motives.

Therefore, members of the media would like to bring to the attention of RSF, that labelling President Paul Kagame as a “predator of the Press, has diabolic connotations, disregarding the fact no journalist has ever been mistreated or killed in their line of duties ever since he came to office unlike in other countries we know.

Reporters Without Borders should endeavour to set the record straight by basing its reports on reliable and scientific evidence, and members of the Rwandan media are ready and willing to participate.

Rwanda’s reforms boost progress on school enrolment

7 May 2010, Kigali, Rwanda — When the Rwandan Government drafted the first status report on the Millennium Development Goals in 2003, the main focus was economic stabilisation. Poverty and maternal mortality targets were completely off track.

Seven years later, it has recorded impressive results in the 2010 national MDG report, especially with women’s empowerment and universal primary education well on the way of meeting the targets.


Primary school enrolment in Rwanda has grown at an average annual rate of six per cent since 2000 and is currently at 92 per cent (photo by UNDP Rwanda).
“The government implemented courageous reforms to increase enrolment in primary schools”, said Christian Shingiro of UNDP in Kigali.

The education reform abolished school fees in 2003. In 2005, the government in Kigali began transferring resources directly to schools in different districts on the basis of number of students. Rwanda’s high level of parental participation in Parent-Teacher Associations enabled households to have a voice in how school capitation grants (a form of conditional cash transfer) were utilised. Classroom construction was scaled up, and double-shift classes were mandated in order to ease overcrowding.

This helped primary school enrolment to grow at an average annual rate of six per cent since 2000. National statistics show that the rate is currently at 92 per cent, with higher enrolment rates for girls (they also perform better than boys). The expansion has resulted in greater access to primary education for the poor.

For Rwanda, a landlocked country of few natural resources and a rapidly growing population — and perpetually vulnerable to external shocks — the strides towards the Millennium Development Goals have been a matter of national commitment. Coming out of the conflicts of the 1990s that dramatically reversed the country’s development indicators, the Rwandan Government, armed with a fierce sense of urgency and ownership, was more than willing to meet the challenges.

UNDP has supported this effort at different levels. It has provided technical and financial assistance to draft MDG reports as well as national poverty reduction strategies, which put forward school reforms. Both sets of reports constitute the central part of the government’s long-term and more ambitious “Vision 2020”, which goes beyond the 2015 MDG deadline.

UNDP has also helped to tailor the MDGs to the local context and track progress. It has given policy advice and brought together donors, civil society and the private sector to work towards a common objective. In fact, the national poverty reduction strategies are results of an inclusive and participatory effort by all development partners in the country.

Shingiro believes the most important aspect of UNDP’s support is neutrality. With no political agenda of its own, UNDP has been a trusted partner to the Rwandan Government since the early 1970s to give support when and where it is needed.

“There are many agencies that can give much more financial assistance than UNDP ever could”, he said, “but how many of them could put forward MDG-friendly policy advice and help build capacity like UNDP can”?

As for the expansion of access to primary education, schools are now trying to absorb the “access shock” and increase the quality of education through improvements to textbooks and teacher training. Last year, the government introduced a mandatory nine-year cycle of basic education to counter dropout rates that remain problematic.

The long-term challenge for Rwanda, development experts agree, is financing. As one of the pilot countries of the Gleaneagles Scenario Initiative, in which most African states showed they were capable of absorbing scaled-up resources for MDG-consistent programmes, Rwanda has come to rely on aid as a major source of finance.

To wean from that dependence, Shingiro said, especially in the current global recession that has brought a sharp decline in export demands, tourism and overseas remittance, would once again require “going all the way”.

FROM UNDP

Myths on Rwandan Media

A free press and the free flow of information are essential to Rwanda's vision of a country of empowered citizens, in a dynamic knowledge economy.

In Rwanda we are fortunate to have a vibrant radio industry; 19 radio stations in a country of ten million, mostly privately owned. But making one's way in print journalism is tough in a country where radio is king and where there has been little culture of reading. Low levels of readership means low advertising revenues, which means high cover prices which, it turn, results in low levels of readership -- a self perpetuating cycle. The journalists who act as publisher, editor and reporter for their papers face a daily struggle to get their paper on the street.

As our country develops and becomes more educated and prosperous some of these dedicated journalists will find things getting easier. Until then, the government is supporting media development by providing training through the Great Lakes Media Centre, where working journalists with little or no formal training have the opportunity to acquire knowledge and skills relevant to their careers.

Certainly, part of the reason for the lack of training, professionalism and low level of ethics in the media is the fact that attention to this sector was not a priority immediately following the genocide. I mention all this because according to some observers, the main challenge journalists' face in Rwanda is not economic, and cultural but political. Time and time again we are told that in Rwanda there is no media freedom, no space for comment, no room for criticism.

It is incredible how far from reality this is. Whether in the electronic or printed media, Rwandans have at their disposal every day a wide range of news and opinions, from pro-government voices to persistently hostile and sometimes abusive views. A cursory glance through the pages of Rwandan newspapers will show how loud the independent press screams out criticism -- a snapshot of the current situation in Rwanda's media can be found on the government website. In the last few weeks the press has accused the government of creating insecurity for political reasons, harassing the opposition, corruption, nepotism, of manipulating the justice system, employing criminals etc.

It is not comfortable for me to repeat these unfair criticisms -- it is the exact opposite of my job as government spokesperson -- but I do because it is there in black and white for people to see that journalists have freedom to criticize. Political opponents of the current administration inside and outside Rwanda air their voices many times a day on radios that broadcast in almost every village in Kinyarwanda, the language understood by even the most modest citizens.

My government is working relentlessly to expand access for Rwandans to broadband internet, including in rural areas. This will permit them to download faster those reports denouncing their restrained access to information. In Kigali's bookstores, citizens and visitors will find any book on Rwanda they want in English, French or Kinyarwanda, even those written by authors who claim that their voices cannot be heard inside the country. New releases, including those bitterly opposing the government, are often first popularized in the country before they become internationally known.

Some professional critics refuse to understand that Rwanda has moved on. They ignore or try to conceal the robustness of debate in the media in Kinyarwanda. They also ignore the fact that occasionally journalists commit crimes as private individuals, crimes unconnected to their work, for which they are held to account by the legal process, just as any citizen would.

It is important to note that despite our tragic past and even with the laws prohibiting hate media that fueled the destruction of the country (laws, by the way, like those adopted in other countries, following similar periods of violence, that today are widely seen as strongly democratic), for more than three years my government has not leveled any action against individual journalists or media house for an opinion. When a journalist writes that a section of the population should go back to 'where they come from before they disappear' like one did in February 2007, echoing almost word for word the hate media that fueled the genocide, we make no apologies for acting. Debate and dissent is essential to Rwanda's future. Irresponsible journalism must remain a part of our past.

On the ground, the situation and the performance of media in Rwanda is steadily improving but this trend needs to and should be accelerated through further improvement in professional standards, removal of barriers to investment, and strengthening of the capacity and confidence of our journalists. At the same time, it is essential that people understand that our critics make accusations in a vacuum, with little regard for the role of media in historical atrocities. As media in Rwanda evolves, we are working diligently to ensure freedom of expression and speech with the highest standards of journalistic ethics is part of our country's bright future.

Louise Mushikiwabo is the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Government Spokesperson.

BY THE HUFFINGTON POST

C'est cet après-midi que Samy Naceri devait passer devant le tribunal correctionnel de Paris, à la XVIe chambre.

Or, son procès a été repoussé au 8 novembre prochain à la demande de l'avocat de l'acteur, Me Jean-Yves Liénard. Motif : le héros du film Taxi aurait été hospitalisé d'urgence dans la nuit de samedi à dimanche pour des raisons pour le moment inconnues des médias.

Pour rappel : l'acteur est soupçonné d'agression à l'arme blanche sur un homme, qui avait voulu défendre son ex compagne dans un café du VIIIe arrondissement de Paris. Les faits remontent au début du mois de janvier 2009.

Lake Tanganyika