Rwanda and the AfCFTA

Rwanda was among the first countries to ratify the agreement on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which was signed in the country’s capital, Kigali, at the 10^th Extraordinary Summit of the African Union in March 2018.

Rwanda recovered well in 2021 from a Covid-19-induced contraction the preceding year and its real GDP grew by 8.2% in 2022.

The AfCFTA will further assist Rwanda in achieving its economic goal of reaching middle-income status by 2035 and high-income status by 2050.

How Rwanda is preparing the ground for the AfCFTA

Rwanda aims to strengthen and grow its small private sector, increasing competitiveness and supply-side capacity to positively affect the ability of companies to respond to market signals, compete across the continent and take better advantage of the AfCFTA.

Rwanda is working towards its goal of reaching middle-income status by 2035 and high-income status by 2050. It has put together a series of seven-year National Strategies for Transformation (with the first being NST1). These are underpinned by sectoral strategies focused on meeting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. NST1 followed two five-year Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategies (2008 to 2012 and 2013 to 2018), during which Rwanda experienced robust economic and social performance. Growth averaged 7.2% a year over the decade to 2019, while per capita GDP grew at 5%.

The GIZ’s assistance in Rwanda focuses on:

Strengthening institutions for strategic steering and coordination at continental, regional and national levels

Facilitating negotiations on trade-in-services liberalisation

Creating capacity to implement commitments under trade in goods and facilitating negotiations

Supporting preparation for Phase II negotiations, specifically on investment, competition policy and digital trade

Promoting sustainability approaches for social, ecological and participatory trade negotiations and implementation of the AfCFTA

Areas of GIZ support

In Rwanda, the GIZ programme supports negotiations and national implementation efforts and collaborates with the National Implementing Committee (NIC). A national AfCFTA implementation strategy has been set and structures have been established to implement the Action Plan for Boosting Intra-African Trade, which seeks to address key constraints and challenges of intra-African trade.

Rwanda is one of eight countries being supported through the programme at a national level. The programme assists officials in negotiations on and implementation of the AfCFTA at continental, regional and national levels, helping countries, regional bodies and the African Union (AU) to respond to the complex nature of the AfCFTA’s negotiation and implementation, as well as to the heterogeneity of the state parties.

Key activities under the Rwanda component are:

Supporting national implementation of the AU’s Action Plan for Boosting Intra-African Trade

Support in building the competitiveness and growth-readiness of small and medium-sized enterprises

Sensitisation and training on the rules of origin for customs and other relevant authorities and stakeholders

Training workshop for members of the NIC in trade in services, in line with the AfCFTA

Supporting the Rwanda negotiation team through position papers and capacity building for Phase ll and lll negotiations

Organising awareness workshops

“The AfCFTA is an asset … It’s a huge, huge asset that Africa has if Africans can trade with each other, can invest in and with each other.”

– President of Rwanda Paul Kagame, in an interview with CNBC Africa on 5 July 2023.

Our partners in Rwanda

Political partner: Ministry of Trade and Industry

Main implementing partners:

Rwanda Revenue Authority – Customs Services  

National Institute of Statistics Rwanda

Rwanda Development Board

Private sector stakeholders:

Rwanda Private Sector Federation

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