Rwanda Economic Update, January 2022, Edition No. 18 : Boosting Regional Integration in the Post-COVID Era
Global economic growth has picked up in 2021 and has now surpassed its pre-pandemic level. The National Bank of Rwanda (NBR) has maintained an accommodative monetary stance and other measures to support the recovery, taking advantage of low inflati...
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| Format: | Report |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Kigali
2022
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099555001312271497/P1774570ec77d60d80881e026141affd5f9 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36928 |
| Summary: | Global economic growth has picked up
in 2021 and has now surpassed its pre-pandemic level. The
National Bank of Rwanda (NBR) has maintained an
accommodative monetary stance and other measures to support
the recovery, taking advantage of low inflation. The
government’s continued fiscal expansion is also providing
support to the economy. Regional integration offers
significant benefits for Rwanda, including greater potential
for scale economies, opportunities for learning to export
and produce higher-quality goods, and cooperation to improve
trade facilitation. Regional trade will be enhanced by
boosting trade with non- East African Community (EAC)
members. The African continental free trade area (AfCFTA)
can boost growth and trade integration. The development of
Rwanda as a regional logistics hub, serving as an
intermediating node between the East and Central Africa
regions offers prospects to increase revenues and generate
efficiency gains through the concentration of logistics
services. The white paper on logistics and distribution
services strategy for Rwanda, prepared with the support of
the World Bank, laid out a two-phase strategy for the
rollout of Rwanda as regional logistic hub. This involved:
(i) improving the efficiency of Rwanda’s role as a
land-bridge for re-exports to Goma in Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC); and (ii) establishing a regional logistics hub
in Rwanda linked to a primary multi-modal hub at Kisangani
and a secondary multi-modal hub at Kindu. |
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