Government assures traders over economic zone

Part of the first phase of the special economic zone. (file photo)

The Ministry of Trade and Indus­try has assured investors with businesses that slated to relocate from the Gikondo Industrial Park in Kicukiro to the Kigali Special Econom­ic Zone (KSEZ) in Nyandungu, Gasabo that the zone would be ready by the end of this month.
This follows recent remarks by mem­bers of the chamber of industries at the Private Sector Federation (PSF) who expressed worries about electricity at the economic zone, saying that this is relocation is a major stumbling block for them.
Contrary to earlier reports that the first phase of the project was 100 per­cent complete, some infrastructure, in­cluding the electrical connection, are not yet in place.
Initially, businesses and factories were scheduled to relocate to the spe­cial economic zone by May of this year, but this deadline was extended to Au­gust. Still, today, none of the 14 facto­ries have yet relocated. Industrialists say the situation has created uncertain­ty among sector players and is hurting their business.
One of the industrialists, who pre­ferred not to be named, said: “Telling us that we would relocate early this year to the Special Economic Zone made us stop investing in the busi­nesses at Gikondo Industrial Park, but we are uncertain when the Special Eco­nomic Zone will be ready up to now, and this is affecting our businesses and plans if not addressed as soon as pos­sible.”
The director general in charge of in­dustry and SMEs department at Mini­com, Alex Ruzibukira, said that in re­gards to power, the government will set up two sub-stations to supply elec­tricity to the zone before industries re­locate.
He said that a high percentage of the work at the economic zone is ready, but they need to first address the issue of power supply. However, he is still op­timistic everything will be ready by the end of this month.
“Once power is installed at the zone, all businesses will be given six months to relocate and after this, we shall be looking at the second phase of reloca­tion exercise, where all warehouses and garages will have shifted to the special economic zone by the end of 2015,” Ruzibukira said.
During the first phase, 14 manufac­turing plants are expected to relocate, whereas the second phase will see warehouse and garage operators move to the zone.
According to Ruruzibuka, it is ex­pected that the relocation exercise will be completed by end 2016.So far, the completed part of the Special Econom­ic Zone, which covers 98 hectares, has attracted commitments from 54 com­panies.
The KSEZ is developed through a partnership between Rwanda Devel­opment Bank, Rwanda Social Security Board, insurance firm Sonarwa, Prime Holdings, Magerwa and Bond Trading.