President Paul Kagame has directed the Prime Minister to immediately find a solution to the bureaucracy surrounding the acquisition of licenses inside the country’s one-stop center.
The directive was made at the ongoing national dialogue following a young entrepreneur, Cheyenne Muvunyi, proprietor of Glow Force – a hair and skincare company, raising the issue of obtaining documents from the Rwanda FDA, Customs, and REMA.
Muvunyi said that she has been bounced around with requirements, and even when she fulfilled them, she was asked to bring more. “One thing I face across all these institutions is when I am applying for a license or certain certification, they will give me a list of requirements, and I take a week or two to fulfill these, and I go back, and they give me another list of requirements,” Muvunyi told the dialogue.
Cheyenne Muvunyi
“This wastes a lot of time. Mind you, these things I am applying for have been applied for by other people. My issue is why am I not given an exhaustive list to save both time and money,” she asked.
Muvunyi said that following her inquiries in the named institutions, she has found that there is a lack of sufficient information among persons in charge.
This issue returns to the national dialogue even when the president had tasked the relevant authority at the Rwanda Development Board to resolve it during the 18th National Dialogue Council – Umushyikirano 2023.
Back then, the Head of State pointed out that the one-stop center was not doing what it was established for – putting all services local and foreign investors needed to do business in Rwanda in one place.
President Kagame pointed out that it was meaningless if investors have to hop from one institution to another, yet there is a one-stop center that is supposed to offer them all services in one place.
Following the criticism, RDB (that was led by Claire Akamanzi) moved to expand the one-stop center, revealing in March 2023 that clients and investors can follow up on or pick up their licenses and permits at the One-Stop Centre.
RDB said that all licenses and permits required for business setup or import and export operations will be issued at the RDB One-Stop Centre with more licenses – over 23 licensing services
. Responding to Muvunyi’s concern, the current RDB CEO, Jean-Guy K. Afrika, said that the center is providing all the services, and she is invited to the center to get her concerns resolved.
Not satisfied with the response from RDB, Kagame said that there is a need to educate the public, and this cannot happen by dealing with one person at a time.
“You cannot keep explaining to one person and then another separately. So why doesn’t she know where to go? We create one-stop center – it doesn’t work; nobody knows where it is. So who addresses that problem?” Kagame asked. Without wasting time on the matter, Kagame ordered the PM Dr. Justin Nsengiyumva to resolve the matter immediately.
“This matter should be resolved quickly, and we are done with it. Throughout the system. We cannot keep handling one particular case,” Kagame reprimanded the PM
. In response, Nsengiyumva said that the task is taken into consideration, and despite the plan to put in place a single framework to handle all requirements, each regulatory body has its own regulations.
However, President Kagame expressed his concerns that after 10 to 20 years, the center, which must be fully operative and addressing the bureaucracy concerns, remains a concern that has been raised at different occasions and wondered why this issue keeps popping up.
“We cannot do business this way,” Kagame said.
From providing licenses and key information on investment, the efficiency of the discussed One-Stop Center plays a key role in enabling investors to do business in Rwanda – in all sectors, including allowing Rwanda to connect to the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and drive an upward economic growth towards NTS2 goals in 2029.
Rwanda’s economy is projected to grow strongly at around 6.9–8.7% in 2026, driven by services, industry, and a rebound in agriculture. The government’s medium-term strategy emphasizes structural transformation, private investment, and innovation as key growth drivers
Failure to deliver on the services at the one-stop center re-echoes some of the concerns that were raised on Day 1 of the dialogue where the President tasked leaders to deliver on their responsibilities or be held responsible and, to a new twist, pay for their failures to do so.
