RDB (Rwanda Development Board) has released its 2017 Annual Report. The report highlights that last year Rwanda recorded positive growth in investments registered in the country, export values and volumes as well as tourism earnings.

Among the key 2017 highlights are the following:

• Rwanda registered investment commitments worth $USD 1.67 billion. This is an increase of $USD 515 million when compared to the investments registered by RDB in 2016.
• 38,261 jobs are expected to be created from the investments registered by RDB in infrastructure, services, manufacturing, tourism, construction and real estate, agriculture, ICT and mining sectors in 2017.
• In 2017 overall exports grew by 36% compared to 2016. In 2017 Rwanda registered revenues worth $1.94 compared to $1.43bn in 2016 from exports (excluding informal exports) with merchandise exports driving growth.
• Revenues from tourism amounted to $438 million in 2017, constituting almost 50% of all service exports. 94,000 tourists visited Rwanda’s national parks generating $18.7 million.
• Rwanda was ranked 2^nd in Africa and 41^st in the world in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business index.

In their forward, the Chairman of the Board of Governor, RDB, Itzhak Fisher, and the Chief Executive Officer, RDB, Clare Akamanzi noted that;

“To deliver prosperity for all Rwandans and become an upper middle-income country by 2035, the private sector will be of paramount importance. Only a vibrant private sector will be able to sustainably create jobs and exports leading Rwanda’s transformation into a knowledge-based economy.

To deliver on its mandate, RDB has embarked on a journey to become a much more effective and customer oriented institution. Our new strategy, approved by the board in October 2017, focuses on three areas accelerating targeted export-oriented investment, fostering an attractive business environment and building an effective institution.

Overall, 2017 has been an exciting year for RDB. We have laid the foundation for meaningful change in how we operate, what we focus on and how we will serve Rwanda in the years to come”.

To read the entire 2017 Annual Report, please refer to the below link:

https://rdb.rw/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/RDB-Annual-Report-2017-Final.pdf