Publication: Fostering Rwanda Competitiveness and Resilience in the Post-COVID-19 Era
Date
2022-10
ISSN
Published
2022-10
Author(s)
World Bank Group
Abstract
Rwanda achieved rapid export growth
in the decade before the pandemic. In addition, Rwanda has
expanded business tourism by promoting the meetings,
incentives, conferences/conventions, and events/exhibitions
industry. Air transport services was another key export, as
a growing number of international airlines are serving
Rwanda. However, the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic
depressed goods and especially, services exports in 2020.
Sustained growth in trade will be a key driver for achieving
the government’s goal of becoming an upper middle-income
country by 2035. While exports have increased significantly
over the past two decades, Rwanda remains a less open
country than the middle-income countries the government
aspires to match. Regional integration can not only provide
the needed economic scale for Rwandan firms to improve their
productivity and competitiveness, but can also serve as a
vital training ground for learning to export and produce
higher-quality goods The aim of this report is to assess
policy options to foster international trade, deepen
regional integration, and reinforce the government
diversification strategy through services. The first part of
this report assesses Rwandan trade performances and trade
potential in recent years, with a special emphasis on
regional trade, trade in services, and the impact of the
COVID-19. The second part of the report assesses the main
drivers and challenges to international and regional trade
in Rwanda including: i) trade policy, with special emphasis
on non-tariff barriers and the African Continental Free
Trade Agreement; ii) trade facilitation with special
emphasis on Rwanda’s trade logistic ambitions; iii) supply
side trade constraints at the firm-level; and iv) specific
trade challenges to trade in service and data exchanges. The
third part of the report discusses potential recommendations.
Citation
“World Bank Group. 2022. Fostering Rwanda Competitiveness and Resilience in the Post-COVID-19 Era. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/38321 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”