HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF VOTED LAWS IN DOING BUSINESS IN RWANDA CONFERENCE ON THE IMPACT OF LAW REFORMS IN DOING BUSINESS IN RWANDA Venue: Parliament Building Date: 21st – 22nd November 2013 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF VOTED LAWS IN DOING BUSINESS IN RWANDA Presented by Hon.RUGEMA Michel

CONTENT Introduction Rwanda before laws reform Laws reform in Rwanda Impact of laws in doing business Way forward Conclusion

INTRODUCTION Through its indicators, Doing Business measures and trucks changes in the economies that have no regulations in the area being measured or do not apply their regulations, penalizing them for lacking appropriate regulations. The economies ranking highest on the ease of doing business therefore are those whose governments have managed to create a regular system with strong institutions and low transactions costs.

INTRODUCTION (Con’t.) World Bank indicators on "Doing Business“: Starting a business; Registering a property; Dealing with licenses; Getting a credit; Protecting investors; Paying taxes.

INTRODUCTION (Con’t.) “…..We aim, through this Vision, to transform our country into a middle - income nation in which Rwandans are healthier, educated and generally more prosperous. The Rwanda we seek is one that is united and competitive both regionally and globally.” (Vision 2020, Foreword message from HE Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda).

INTRODUCTION (Con’t.) The 2003 Constitution sets up a range of institutions in order to promote economic growth, social welfare and good governance; Rwanda has made tremendous progress in various sectors, and a significant change of the legal framework; In just six years, the country has moved from 150th position to 32nd on the Index as of June 2013; Numerous laws have been enacted with an aim of facilitating doing business in Rwanda.

Rwanda before business laws reform Before laws reform, Rwanda was at 139th Place in 155 countries (2006) according to a report of World Bank Doing business indicators; In EAC, Rwanda was at the 3rd Place within the five EAC member countries; To start a business, it t00k 43 days, cost 534$US and it took 9 procedures;

Laws reform in Rwanda. Since 2000, Rwanda developed a strong institutional pipeline for designing and implementing business regulation reforms; Since 2004, Rwanda has substantially improved access to credit, streamlined procedures for starting a business, reduced the time to register a property, simplified cross- border trade and made courts more accessible for resolving commercial disputes; The business reforms are part of the government’s extensive efforts to promote Rwanda as an attractive business and investment destination, in order to drive the growth of the private sector and generate wealth;

Laws reform in Rwanda (Con’t.) The Parliament has played a key role in promoting a good business environment by voting and enacting related laws. Especially, for the period from 2009-2011; The Parliament passed business laws which match with the global best practices; Examples of some reformed laws: Law N° 07/2009 of 27/04/2009 relating to companies There is no requirement of minimum capital to start with and there is no mandatory requirement to register your company while in Kigali; You can register online wherever you are; The requirement to have Articles of Association is no longer there; A company of one person is accepted;

Laws reform in Rwanda (Con’t.) Law N°13/2009 of 27/05/2009 regulating labor in Rwanda ( All sectors) A balanced employee/employer relationship is created; In response to the Private Sector’s concern, a 3-month maternity leave was reduced to one month and half; An employee can enter into more than one employment contract; 3. Law N° 10/2009 of 14/05/2009 on mortgages ( Finance) Any owner of an immovable property has the right to mortgage all or part of his property to secure an existing or a future debt; A mortgage is considered to be valid when recorded in the mortgage register in the office of the Registrar General; The Registrar General of companies’ activities is also the Registrar General of mortgages; 4. Law N° 11/2009 of 14/05/2009 on security interests in movable property (Finance) This Law governs security interests in Movable Property.

Laws reform in Rwanda(Con’t.) 5. Law Nº12/2009 of 26/05/2009 relating to commercial recovery and settling of issues arising from insolvency (concern all companies) This Law governs all commercial recovery proceedings and the settling of issues arising from insolvency whether related to a trader or a company. 6. Law N°16/2010 of 07/05/2010 governing credit information system in Rwanda (Finance) All banks and micro finance companies are subscribed with the credit reference bureau; Other subscribers include utility providers and we look forward to having others like supermarkets. 7. Law N°40/2011 of 20/09/2011 regulating collective investment scheme in Rwanda ( Finance)

Laws reform in Rwanda (Con’t.) Title of Approved and Published Laws. 5. Other doing business related Laws and their purposes Title of Approved and Published Laws. Law n°2 of 11/03/96 on Privatization and Public Investment ( Finance); Law no 05/2008 of 14/02/2008 on arbitration and conciliation in commercial matters; Law No. 8/99 of 18/6/1999 Relating to Regulations Governing Banks and Other Financial Institutions ( Finance) Law No. 09/2006 of 02/03/2006 Modifying and Complementing Law N° 18/2004 of 20/06/2004 Relating to the Civil, Commercial, Labour and Administrative Procedures ; Investment Code (All companies );

Laws reform in Rwanda (Con’t.) Organic law No 43/2013 of 16/06/2013 governing Land in Rwanda; Law N° 21/2006 of 28/04/2006 Establishing the Customs System ( All companies); Law no 40/2008 of 26/08/2008 establishing the organization of Micro finance activities ( Finance);

Laws reform in Rwanda (Con’t.) Law no 32/2009 of 18/11/2009 governing negotiable instruments; Law N°15/2010 of 07/05/2010 creating and organizing condominiums and setting up procedures for their registration; Law Nº 18/2010 of 12/05/2010 relating to electronic messages, electronic signatures and electronic transactions.

Laws reform in Rwanda (Con’t.) Law no 31/2009 of 26/10/2009 on the protection of Intellectual Property ( Manufacturing and ICT); Law N°01/2011 of 10/02/2011 regulating capital market in Rwanda ( Finance); Law N°05/2011 of 21/03/2011 regulating special economic zones in Rwanda (All companies);

Laws reform in Rwanda (Cont.) Laws establishing key institutions for business promotion The Parliament passed the Law establishing the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) with a mission of fast tracking economic development in Rwanda by enabling private sector growth; Law no 11/2011 of 18/05/2011 establishing the capital Market Authority (CMA) and determining its mission, powers, organization and functioning; Law n°51/2010 of 10/01/2010 establishing the Kigali International Arbitration Centre and determining its organisation, functioning and competence; Organic Law no 59/2009 of 16/12/2007 establishing the Commercial Courts and determining their Organization, functioning and Jurisdiction;

Role of law Reforms in Doing Business The reform of business law has significantly contributed to the ease of doing business; Rwanda has become the # 2 global reformer over a period of 5 years from 2006-2011, after Georgia; Rwanda has become the 3rd easiest place to do business in Africa (1st is Mauritius which ranks 23rd globally, and 2nd is South Africa which ranks 35th globally); Rwanda has improved in the following areas of Doing Business: Starting a business: Rwanda is the 8th easiest in the world from 9th last year. This was eased by shortening required procedures and introducing free online registration; Getting a credit: Rwanda ranks 8th in the world (from 32nd last year) after putting in place a fully functional private credit reference bureau; Paying taxes: Rwanda moved from 43rd last year to 19th easiest place to pay taxes in the world; Enforcing contracts: Rwanda is the 39th easiest in the world; this 39th position remains unchanged from last year;

Impact of laws in doing business (Con’t.) Legal reform has eased doing business in various sectors while giving the private sector confidence to go about their business backed by law; The mortgage law amendment has fast tracked to encourage banks to restart lending; It takes about three months for a commercial dispute to be heard and disposed of, making Rwanda’s one of the top 50 fastest commercial judicial systems in the world; Some of the business laws have promoted investment in innovation and new areas of business opportunity e.g. electronic transactions etc.

Way Forward Reform is a process and not a one-off approach. We need to ensure that the business laws voted are sustained, forward looking and respond to the needs of the population; It is important to sensitize the business community to fully understand these business laws and use them accordingly; Some reforms require regional efforts like in trading across borders. There is therefore a need for a coordinated regional approach in implementing some of these reforms by implementing uniform laws.

Conclusion If we want investments to grow our economy, there is a need to make our environment conducive and attractive to both national and foreign investors; If we want respectability and recognition as a business location, there is a strong need to improve efficiencies and responsiveness of our Country’s systems; If we want our exports to grow, we must promote investments in our productive capacity and positioning our products in international markets.

Thank you for your kind attention!!!