Government contracting and purchasing is a significant factor in the Rwandan economy as it addresses infrastructure deficits that include energy, transportation, communications, health, and education. Government spending accounted for 17 percent of Rwanda’s economic activity in 2022 according to National Institute of Statistics for Rwanda (NISR).
The Rwanda Public Procurement Authority (RPPA) serves as the government’s procurement agency mandated to ensure transparency in government tenders. On occasion, government entities may bypass the RPPA and issue tenders directly. Oversight of government finances is carried out by the Auditor General’s Office, which was established in 1999 to carry out continuous government audits. Annual audits are available online. For more information, visit RPPA’s website. Government entities keep annual procurement plans and bidding information on their respective websites.
Rwanda is not a party or an observer to the WTO Multilateral Agreement on Government Procurement or a party to a free trade agreement with the United States that contains commitments on government procurement. The United States and Rwanda do have a bilateral investment treaty. Many governments finance public works projects through borrowing from multilateral development banks. Please refer to the Project Financing Section in the Trade and Project Financing chapter for more information.
U.S. companies bidding on foreign government tenders may also qualify for U.S. government advocacy. Within the U.S. Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration, the Advocacy Center coordinates U.S. government interagency advocacy efforts on behalf of U.S. exporters in competition with foreign firms in foreign government projects or procurement opportunities. The Advocacy Center works closely with our network of the U.S. Commercial Service worldwide and inter-agency partners to ensure that exporters of U.S. products and services have the best possible chance of winning government contracts. Advocacy assistance can take many forms but often involves the U.S. Embassy or other U.S. government agency officials expressing support for the U.S. exporters directly to the foreign government.
Project Financing
Most major public infrastructure projects are financed by concessional loans and grants from traditional lenders such as the World Bank and the African Development Bank. The Chinese and Indian Export–Import banks have financed projects in the past. Other bilateral lenders to Rwanda for infrastructure projects include Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), EXIM India, EXIM Korea, Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED), JICA, and most recently, the French Development Agency (AFD). Rwanda has also benefited from European Union infrastructure funding from time to time. Local private projects are financed by local commercial banks and the Rwanda Development Bank.
Multilateral Development Banks and Financing Government Sales
The U.S. Commercial Service maintains Commercial Liaison Offices in each of the main multilateral development banks, including the World Bank and African Development Bank. These institutions lend billions of dollars in developing countries on projects aimed at accelerating economic growth and social development by reducing poverty and inequality, improving health and education, and advancing infrastructure development. The Commercial Liaison Offices help American businesses learn how to get involved in bank-funded projects and advocate on behalf of American bidders.
For more information on financing, please find more resources at:
· Commercial Liaison Office to the African Development Bank
· Commercial Liaison Office to the World Bank
· African Development Bank Group
· Export-Import Bank of the United States
· U.S Development Finance Corporation
· U.S. Trade and Development Agency
· SBA’s Office of International Trade
· U.S. Agency for International Development
· Export-Import Bank of the United States
· USDA Commodity Credit Corporation
· Development Bank of Rwanda (BRD)
· Manufacture and Build to Recover Program
The government (through RDB) continues to attract domiciliation of alternative funding organizations. In March 2023, the AfCFTA Secretariat and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) signed a host country agreement with the government of Rwanda for the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund to be hosted in Kigali. In November 2020, the government signed an MOU with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to host the permanent headquarters of Afrexim Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA) in Kigali. According to RDB, FEDA will operate as an equity investment fund that provides seed capital to companies in Africa, emphasizing projects that promote intra-African trade, trade-related infrastructure, and value-added exports. According to RDB, the fund will have an initial commitment of $350 million from Afreximbank and is expected to grow to over $1 billion in the future. In October 2020 the government signed a Host Country Agreement with Allan & Gill Gray Philanthropy (AGGP) for Rwanda to host AGGP’S hub in the East Africa region.
Resource: A list of licensed Banks in Rwanda.