The Central Bank has maintained the key repo rate at 5.5 per cent to encourage the banking sector to continue financing the economy.
The key repo rate is rate at which the central bank lends to commercial banks.
The decision to maintain the rate was announced by Governor John Rwangombwa of the National Bank of Rwanda, following yesterday’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting.
The rate was revised to 5.5 per cent, from 6.0 per cent, in December last year, in a move to encourage local financial institutions to reduce the rates at which they lend to public.
Lowering the rate creates a scenario whereby banks make more returns by investung with the private sector as opposed to when they invest with the central bank.
Among the reasons that led the central bank to maintain the rate include the performance of the external sector in the first two months of the year with exports value growing by 31 per cent and imports rising by about 13.2 per cent, Rwangombwa said.
The growth in imports is likely to see an increase in import duty after months of stagnation.
Rwangombwa explained that imports rise is driven by consumer and intermediate goods.
The committee also noted that inflationary pressures remained low, at 1.3 per cent in January and 0.7 per cent in February this year compared to about 8.1 per cent in February last year.
The move to revise the repo rate in December last year seems to have had a positive impact, with credit to the private sector increasing by 9.3 per cent in February.
Rwanda’s financial sector is expected to see increased lending to the private sector with the Central Bank estimating a 13 per cent growth (in credit to the private sector) in 2018.
In 2017, local banks issued loans valued at Rwf1,579 billion, up from Rwf1,403 billion in 2016.
Economic recovery and increased activity is expected to drive increased lending in 2018.
At least 14 out of the 17 local banks say they expect improved lending in 2018.
African broadcasters’ initiative to promote culture, music
A new initiative by African Union of Broadcasting (AUB), which was launched yesterday, is expected to promote music and culture across the continent
A new initiative by African Union of Broadcasting (AUB), which was launched yesterday, is expected to promote music and culture across the continent.
It was launched during the first day of the 11th General Assembly of the union in Kigali.
Dubbed ‘Rise and Shine Africa’, the union’s flagship project is aimed to advance the continent’s current agenda to promote locally produced content, and it is expected that this will help change the wrong narrative about Africa.
While officially launching the initiative, Jean-Luc Gnakouri of Ivorian National Radio & TV (RTI), highlighted that the pan-African programme would also contribute to strengthen exchanges among African countries.
“The aim of this important initiative is to promote music and culture on the continent, but we want to ultimately reinforce the entertainment mission of broadcasters, encourage exchanges and cooperation between the AUB Member Organisations, and enhance the reputation and the visibility of the union,” he said.
According to the official, Rise and Shine Africa will be a musical event which will be hosted in Ivory Coast. To this effect, the signal of the event will be made available to all member organisations via satellite for live or delayed broadcast.
The programme will be in form of a competition in which public broadcasters from different countries in Africa will select representatives after which they will travel to Ivory Coast to compete. The whole programme will take up to four months.
“We chose music because we believe it is a universal language that every African can easily understand. It is also something that has the power to truly portray what Africa is about,” Gnakouri noted.
The jury that will choose the top competitors will be made up of renowned artistes and personalities in the music industry representing the five geographical and linguistic zones of the continent. They include Alpha Blonde, Fally Ipupa, Sarkodie, Lokua Kanza, and Yemi Alade.
African radio and television broadcasters, throughout the deliberations which started on Monday, said it was time Africa tells its own story.
Gnakouri said the initiative was fitting into the commitment that the broadcasters had given themselves to up their game in realising the urgency of telling the continent’s story.
But to realise this, participants from 46 African countries were pushing for rapid transition from analog to digital broadcasting that most believe could give African broadcasting a competitive edge.
AUB’s director-general, Grégoire Ndjaka, said that the transition to digital broadcasting would address culture and content concerns, allowing the broadcasting of more channels and opening for more options of content production.
“It [the transition] would accelerate the supply of African content and consequently ease the cost of production. But, more importantly, we would easily promote African values and identity,” he noted.
Rise and Shine Africa is just one of the several ambitious projects that the union is planning to pursue. It was disclosed that ‘AUB Bouquet’ would soon be set up. It will be a satellite bouquet that will enable African Diaspora households to be equipped with a satellite dish to easily access African TV programmes.
At the meeting which ends this Friday, participants also emphasised that Africa ought to change its economic plot when it comes to the increasingly changing broadcasting business.
“While we continuously speak about [radio and television] programmes, our competitors are speaking about products. While we speak about viewers, they speak about markets. This is also the economic thinking that we must have in the broadcasting sector,” said Kwame Akuffo Anoff-Ntow, the president of AUB.
Members also suggested setting up a pan-African media outlet, an idea that gained momentum after President Paul Kagame, the current chair of the African Union, agreed to support it.
Analysts say that among the sectors expected to absorb the most loans are infrastructure and energy, given their high funding needs and scheduled projects