Rwandan sovereign fund "AGACIRO" reaches $34m, reports KT Press

KIGALI, Rwanda, Dec. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- On a sunny Thursday morning in rural Nyaruguru district, Rwanda, Alphonsine Murekatete, 31, sits on a tiny wooden bench with her three-year-old daughter, Françoise Uwamahoro.

Murekatete, a mother of six, depends on the family's land plot, less than a half the size of a football pitch, to grow crops to feed on.

Despite Murekatete's meager income, she has managed to save to contribute to Rwanda's sovereign fund, known as Agaciro (dignity) Development Fund. The fund–designed to be a sovereign fund, was mooted during the annual national dialogue of late 2011.

There is an account where anyone, even via mobile, donates at least Rwf500 (nearly $1).

"I have contributed to the fund twice. Each time, I gave Rwf500," says Murekatete. 

While launching the fund in December 2012, Rwandan President Paul Kagame said no nation in the world has ever progressed by relying on the assistance of others.

"No one but ourselves can give us dignity," he said as Rwf1.2 billion (over $1,562,500) was pledged in an inaugural ceremony in Rwanda's capital, Kigali.

Kagame added: "Foreign assistance should only come as a supplement to what has been generated by ourselves."

Murekatete's husband, 35-year-old Francois Nzeyimana, a community security agent, has contributed Rwf1,000 a month for seven months.

"We got this channel thanks to our government," he says, pointing to a nearby waterway. "My contribution may even help bring electricity here."

On average, a Rwandan, earns $690 per year, (per capita GD). Donating just $2 or $5 a year hurts no one, and makes economic sense. "It is working hand in hand with our government," Nzeyimana says.

To encourage Rwandans to donate, 32 cabinet members last month also contributed Rwf27 million ($38,571).

Contributions have hit Rwf24b ($34m), according to Vianney Kagabo, Chief Executive Officer of the Fund, who is overseen by the finance ministry. The fund is being invested as short-term deposits and buying of treasury bonds.

"If you buy government bonds, you are financing government projects as well," says Kagabo. "In March next year, we will start investing in direct, self-financing ventures such as electricity," he says.

The fund, Rwanda says, is part of broader ambitious plan to become independent of foreign aid. "It is a way of giving myself dignity," Murekatete says.

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SOURCE KT Press