Kigali, 28 March 2019: The Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Infrastructure, Eng. Uwase Patricie officiated the opening of the Construction Sector Conference organized in Kigali from 25-29 March, 2019 by AHK Services Eastern Africa Ltd, the service company of the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Kenya (AHK), in cooperation with the building trade associations (Baugewerbliche Verbände).

The conference was attended by Chargée d’Affaires ai of the Federal Republic of Germany to Rwanda, Ms. Renate Lehner and business institutions and companies engaged in construction solutions and products in the area of construction from both Germany and Rwanda.  

The objective of the construction conference was to bring together the German and Rwandan companies to attain insight of the Rwandan construction market with the aim of establishing new or as well as foster already existing business relationships in both countries.

During the opening of this high-level sector conference, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Infrastructure, Eng. Uwase Patricie commended the delegation of Germany Industry and Commerce in Kenya as well as the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy for having considered Rwanda as a host for this important sector conference, which is considered to have a significant impact on the socio-economic and political environment globally.

“This conference edition on construction sector offers an opportunity to discuss and explore potential cooperation and scope for joint projects in Rwanda”, she said. She stressed that construction sector has always been one of the strongest pillars at the forefront of our country’s prosperity and development and this is true for any country.

Taking the example of Rwanda, Eng. Uwase said that “Rwanda today is in the midst of an intense socio-economic transformation transiting to the middle-income status, enabling and managing the construction sector properly is highly relevant”.

She mentioned that construction of infrastructure services and facilities is a productive sector that catalyzes broader economic growth and greatly contributes significantly towards creation of decent off-farm jobs, which in turn catalyzes the realization of ambitious socio-economic transformation aspirations.

Permanent Secretary Uwase hailed the contribution of construction sector towards the national economy.

 “According to the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda, the contribution of construction sector to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has grown from 392 Billion Francs (about $460M) in 2014 to 508Billion Francs ($595M) in 2018” she said, adding that” The Annual Economic Report for the FY 2017/18 accounted the construction industry to be the second fastest growing sector with a growth rate of 4% per annum”. 

Eng. Uwase said that the implementation of the various construction projects mentioned in the sub-sectors accelerates the socio-economic growth of the Rwanda while contributing to the creation of 1.5million decent and productive jobs for Rwandan community (214,000 annually).On this point, Eng. Uwase praised the remarkable contribution of both the private sector and development partners in achieving construction targets.

“This remarkable achievement cannot be possible without the support of our private sector and development partners. Nevertheless, there is still much more to be done. At the Ministry of Infrastructure, we have many ongoing projects as well as those in pipeline”, she mentioned at the conference.

She mentioned that the Ministry of Infrastructure through its agencies is undertaking different construction projects in the areas of Transport, Energy, Water and Sanitation, Urbanization and Human Settlements.