rwanda national export strategy - minicom

RWANDA NATIONAL EXPORT STRATEGY
Issue #5 Non-tariff barriers to trade can be further reduced. The 2010 Study of NTBs along the
Northern and Central Corridors found that the extensive length of time it takes for containers arriving in
Mombasa and Dar–Es–Salaam to reach Kigali (and vice versa) results from poor road infrastructure,
combined with weigh bridges and police roadblocks along the route, as well as lengthy bureaucratic
procedures for customs, health and standards clearance within Rwanda. The newly developed electronic
customs forms at border points will help mitigate this issue, but more must and will be done.
Issue #6 Cross-border trade and re-exports can be further facilitated. Cross-border trade (both formal
and informal) and re-exports contribute a significant proportion of overall trade. Export revenue from
other sources including non-traditional sectors totalled $116 million in 2010, of which 40 percent was
comprised of re-exported goods. A recent study conducted by MINICOM , RRA and NISR into informal
cross border trade estimated that total informal exports and imports were RWF 27.7 billion and RWF 12.4
billion (approximately US$47M and US$21M) respectively for 2009/10. Informal exports were 26
percent of formal exports with bordering countries, and roughly two-thirds of this trade was with DR
Congo. GoR will seek to conduct further analysis of these important contributors to regional trade and
provide policy recommendations as well as facilitating the distribution of Rwandan products to
neighbouring countries.
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