Rwanda aims to become service-based hub – minister

Rwanda is aiming to become a service-based hub and gateway to the East African region and the African continent as part of government efforts to diversify the economy and create more jobs, Minister of Trade and Industry Jean Chrysostome Ngabitsinze said Monday.

Speaking in a virtual event for the launch of Trade in Services for Development, a joint publication by the World Trade Organization and the World Bank, the minister said Rwanda has identified services trade as a key policy measure to achieve sustained economic growth and development.

He said that Rwanda’s service sector has been growing at an impressive average of 10.9 percent from 2013 to 2022.

“In 2022, service sector accounted for 46 percent of economic activity, illustrating the potential of services to diversify economies to better withstand global shocks,” Ngabitsinze said. “Over the course of the past two decades, Rwanda has put in place significant public and private investments in infrastructure and service delivery across all services sectors, and across all services modes.”

The joint report said that services such as tourism and telecommunications generate more than two-thirds of global gross domestic product but barriers for services trade are higher than for goods. Enditem