Urugoli MediaUrugoli Media1 year ago16490

Related Articles


EU, MIDDLE EAST AND ASIA TO BOOST RWANDAN COFFE TO THE GLOBAL MARKET

by Joshua Kwihangana

European Union and the European Business Chamber of Rwanda is committed to boost and promote incoming European businesses coming into Rwanda, …

Hon. Ulrik Stadtler Sandberg the private sector consultant at the European Business Chamber of Rwanda.

However,

Hon. Ulrik from the University of Copenhagen, He is committed to promote Rwandan Coffee globally and to be the first highly quality and expensive coffee in the world.

"My role is to work as a private sector consultant by helping European Businesses to establish them here in Rwanda.” He said

“Welcoming European businesses into Rwanda and help promote Rwandan businesses to the European market.” He added

European Business Chamber of Rwanda is a group of businesses, entrepreneurs and individuals working together to contribute to a flourishing business climate. They do this by supporting and encouraging both European businesses trading in Rwanda and Rwandan businesses exporting to Europe. They are doing this while Rwanda’s economy continues to grow quickly; Where European countries are increasingly focusing on trade rather than aid. By now it is a good time for EBCR to collaborate with one another to find opportunities to do business and support the growth of Rwanda.

In the interview Ulrik Stadtler Sandberg the private sector consultant at the European Business Chamber of Rwanda had with Urugoli Media said that, he needs to boost the Rwandan coffee to be the first highly quality, expensive and the best Arabica in the whole world where he is now looking for three markets Central and Northern Europe, United Arab Emirates, and China.

WHY ARE YOU IN RWANDA?

He said , he is in Rwanda because of business , what is important in that business, is that he is in Rwanda to invest in Rwandan coffee which he believe has great potential compared to other business. He added that he is in Rwanda within the possibilities of expanding Rwandan exports to the world.

He keeps on saying why he has chosen to invest in coffee that they take the market of the high density of tourists came to Rwanda as the good way to maximize this profit.

WHY DO YOU CHOOSE RWANDA?

I choose Rwanda when I was in seminar in Copenhagen, I had a chance to meet Rwandan Hon. ambassador and we had a constructive conversation where she showed me all the good aspects about Kigali, we all know Nairobi, South Africa and Johannesburg have big hub, But the way the potential, and to increase the profit in Rwanda is what I consider in Kigali. He said.

So the reason why I am in Kigali is because, I believe in Kigali and Rwanda, which means this country has great future in few years to come.

WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM URUGOLI MEDIA?

What I want from Urugoli media partnership is to be the promoters of Rwanda to find strength what Rwanda has today and work on those strengths to increase them. As the good tea exporters, coffee exporters and many things, how can you increase the things that are very good and maximize them? That what I want from networking with you. He said

WHAT YOUR MOTIVATION MESSAGE TO THE CO- FARMERS IN RWANDA

To Africans in Africa stay Africans in Africa don’t ever think you’re poor, when you exports and you do your job in a farm you actually live a very happy life. In Europe we got more money and I want to you earn more money so that you can get at least better minimum but what I think, Africa for Africa is a very happy Africa.

So please for the farmers I want them to stay in the job, I want them to have ambitions of increasing the profits. So please stay in your farms, stay Africans and stay the people you are. Because you’re as much as happy as we are (Europeans) because money cannot buy happiness. He added.

EBCR aspires to provide an easily accessible forum for networking within the business community and between businesses and Rwandan Government entities.

Even if Ulrik Stadtler Sandberg and EBCR are trying to improve the quality of coffee in Rwanda the impact of COVID-19 on Rwandan coffee sector, in the recent research conducted by International Growth Center between August and December 2020 has shown that COVID 19 has effected international trade, where they find that Rwandan coffee exports fell by 18.6% in 2019-20, which mainly affecting domestic and less experienced exporters.

Recommendations given by IGC

Continue to assist on quality upgrading initiatives in the Rwandan coffee sector. As the global coffee industry becomes increasingly consolidated, meeting the quality standards of high-value consumers will be the way that Rwandan coffee can continue to be known as a specialty coffee producer. Past programs in the Rwandan coffee sector like PEARL (2001-

2009) and SPREAD (2002-2010) were successful in building capacity at the grass root in coffee quality management.

NAEB should collaborate with RRA and MINICOM to investigate the concerns regarding the high taxes on inputs and providing additional financial instruments for the exporters, especially domestic firms. While coffee exporters complain that input taxes are high, the

Rwandan tax code provides some relief for exporters primarily through exemptions for customs and VAT deductions. However, recent IGC research has identified a number of ways these incentives may not be implemented as intended, including misclassification of tariff rates assigned to goods (Frazer, 2017), slow process in obtaining tax refunds and (MINICOM, 2017) lack of awareness of existing incentives in 2017). Collaboration with the RRA and MINICOM to address the high cost of inputs could improve productivity and competitiveness of Rwandan coffee.

Hon. Ulrik Stadtler Sandberg the private sector consultant at the European Business Chamber of Rwanda.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *