Rwanda’s Kigali International Financial Center (KIFC) is one of the reasons the small East African nation is one of the leading sources of investment on the continent as of 2023.

KIFC has been ranked 3^rd in Africa and 2^nd in Sub-Sahara Africa in the latest 2023 Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI 34).

Investors under the KIFC are granted a preferential corporate income rate and exemption from withholding tax on dividends, interest and royalty payments, in addition to being facilitated to legally and operationally set up their various enterprises and activities, in under 6 months.

“What Rwanda is doing is developing an international financial centre with a clear proposition to investors: direct access to multiple African markets and a centralized, holding presence for investors to locate all their financial activities across Africa, within a safe, fully compliant, transparent environment underpinned by the rule of law and serviced by Rwanda’s fast growing, high quality financial services industry.”

– Kigali International Financial Center

According to Jean-Marie Kananura, Chief Investment Officer, Rwanda Finance Limited, through KIFC, various structures are facilitated to set up in Rwanda. These include:

• Investment Funds
• Holding Companies
• Special Purpose Vehicles
• FinTechs
• Trusts
• Pes
• VCs
• Global Trading Companies

In a recent interview, Kananura highlighted some of the steps the center is taking to increase business competitiveness and set-up processes.

“To make Rwanda as a preferred destination for investors means we must have better legal framework, develop necessary skills and enhance our promotion activities,” he said. “We have 16 tax treaties in force to enable firms setting up in Rwanda for instance avoid being taxed twice, which is an incentive,” he noted.

According to the Global Financial Centers 2023 Index, Kigali International Financial Center is ranked among the top 15 destinations they consider will become more significant over the next two to three years. @LongFinance