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Rwanda's responses to money laundering( Télécharger le fichier original )par Francis Dusabe University of Western Cape - Maitrise 2014 |
1.3 Country FactsRwanda is a developing country populated by 11 million people, 90% of whom are engaged in agriculture.12 The 1994 genocide has shaken its economy, impoverished its population and has affected the country's ability to attract private and foreign investment. The government has aimed to uplift the social and economic wellbeing of Rwandans by introducing reforms such as decentralisation, the creation of competent public institutions and strengthening the private sector. However, the country lacks enough people with technical skills. The private sector is also hamstrung by relatively high energy and transport costs. Rwanda has a raft of regulations and reforms to improve the general business and investment climate, which has improved the country's competitiveness internationally.13 Rwanda's economy relies mainly on the services sector, which accounted for 48% of the National GDP in 2012.14 Other sources of revenue are agriculture, tourism, mineral exports, communications, as well as transport. Rwanda has also liberalized its international trade policy by promoting the free movement of people and capital throughout the East African Community (EAC).15 12 See the World Fact Book, available on https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world- factbook/geos/rw.html (accessed on 16 June 2014). 13 See the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report 2012/13, available at http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GlobalCompetitivenessReport_2012-13.pdf (accessed on 19 February 2013). 14 See the GDP Fiscal year estimates 2012-2013, available at
http://statistics.gov.rw/gdp-national-accout- 15 See the regulation 5 of the EAC Common Market Protocol on the
Free Movement of the People, available 6 More progress is discernible in the information and telecommunication (ICT) sector. The internet has contributed to improvements in sectors such as governance, service delivery, communications and banking. Automated teller machines (ATM) and electronic payment facilities have enhanced the conducting of online financial transactions. However, apart from a few provisions in the Penal code and a collection of different regulations on ICT, there are, for example, no specific laws or regulations to combat cyber money laundering. Rwanda's economy relies heavily on donor funds. As much as 48 percent of its annual budget consists of foreign aid. Foreign commitment to support Rwanda is based on its reputation as an effective user of foreign aid.16 However, this strong partnership with foreign countries deteriorated in 2012 as a result of allegations that Rwanda was supporting the Mouvement Mars 23 (M23) militias,17 the then rebel group which was fighting against the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This led some countries to withdraw aid to Rwanda, an act which caused a shortfall of US$230 million (equivalent to 3 percent of its GDP) per year. More efforts to restore economic stability were undertaken, and at the time of writing, the country is regaining its economic stability. Against this background, it is clear that the economy of Rwanda is still in its infancy. It needs huge investments and partnerships for it to be self-sustainable. However, the legal framework to suppress the risks of ML and FT is feeble. 16 Effective use of aid by Rwanda was announced in the 2012 Busan Fourth High level forum on aid effectiveness. The press release is available at http://www.oecd.org/dac/effectiveness/Busan%20partnership.pdf. (accessed on 24 February 2014). 17 See the UN Group of Expert report on Rwanda's support to M23
militias, available at 7 |
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