Zim pushes to penetrate Rwandan markets

Takudzwa Chihambakwe

Following the Rwanda – Zimbabwe trade and investment conference held in March, ZimTrade, the national trade development and promotional organisation, is now conducting a market survey in Kigali to identify products and services with potential in the East-African country.

The ongoing market survey will identify sector specific opportunities; compliance needs as well as routes to market that will help Zimbabwean companies land in Rwanda with ease.

The survey will focus on processed foods, pharmaceuticals, clothing, construction, horticulture, leather and leather products, agriculture inputs and implements, and services sectors.

“What is most important as companies grow beyond Zimbabwean borders is that they have access to reliable information, which will make it easy to create new markets for Zimbabwean products,” said ZimTrade Chief Executive Officer, Allan Majuru.

“These activities and market choices are driven by the National Export Strategy launched by President Mnangagwa in 2019, whose target is to grow Zimbabwean exports to US$7 billion by 2023 and US$14 billion in 2030,” he added.

Increasing trade with Rwanda will avail access to markets in the East African Community and in turn increase Zimbabwe’s exports to the region with a combined GDP of more than US$177 billion.

Further to this, Rwanda has experienced high economic growth over the years and is fast becoming a strong economy in Africa, with an average of seven percent year-on-year real GDP growth since 2010.

Despite having a strong policy framework, Rwanda’s industrial sector is still small, presenting opportunities for Zimbabwean businesses in Rwanda in areas such as agriculture, health, education, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, ICT, packaging, clothing and textile, construction, engineering and tourism.