(Ecofin Agency) - The Rwandan government announced an investment of $7 million to promote locally manufactured products over the period 2020-21. The spending is mentioned in the 2020-21 state budget presented to the parliament last June 23.

As part of this project, the government wants to support the local production sector and help businesses to guarantee the security standards of their products. The new budget line will enable some 20 Rwandan factories to adopt the latest generation technologies to create new products for both the local and international markets. Six exporting companies in particular will benefit from the support of the Export Growth Fund, making them more competitive on the markets.

In recent years, Rwanda has deployed several measures to strengthen its production sector with the view of becoming self-sufficient in the local market and gain more on the export market. In January this year, Sam Kamugisha, Director-General for Industry at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, said particular focus will be on six agribusiness segments over the coming years. These include sugar, vegetable oil, rice, fertilizers, corn, and aquaculture by-products.

According to authorities, the promotion of “made in Rwanda” products is expected to reduce the trade gap, which increased by 17% in 2019.

Moutiou Adjibi Nourou