by Tuyishime Emmanuel
Monday, 27 February 2017
Sunday, 26 February 2017
Rwanda bids to host FIFA council meeting
by Tuyishime Emmanuel
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| FIFA president Gianni Infantino photo from google |
FIFA presidentGianni Infantino has said that the World governing body will asses Rwanda’s bid to host the 2017 Fifa Executive Committee meeting in October. Infantino said this yesterday at Ferwafa House after arriving for a one day visit that also saw him commission a Rwf 3.8 billion Ferwafa hotel.
“ We are here to assess whether Rwanda is capable of hosting the meeting,” the Swiss lawyer said adding that Rwanda has a very good chance of hosting the meeting because of its success in hosting continental football tournaments as well as global meetings.
Infantino arrived in the country yesterday afternoon and immediately went to watch a league match that pit league leaders Rayon Sport against Police. The game ended in a 2-2 draw. The FIFA president then laid a foundation stone for the construction of FERWAFA Village, which was originally FERWAFA Hotel, in Remera.
The FERWAFA Village, whose construction works is expected to take 18 months, is estimated to cost Rwf3.85 billion. The hotel will be built in four phases and the first phase will include construction of 40 rooms.
The hotel is expected to reduce on the expenses that the Ministry of Sports and Culture (MINISPOC) incurs on national teams during residential training or accommodation for visiting national teams.
The FIFA president will visit Gisozi memorial centre today before departure.
Thursday, 23 February 2017
Over 50 to train in post-harvest handling
by Tuyishime Emmanuel
More than 50 local agribusiness dealers and farmers will undergo post-harvest and storage handling and pitching training in Nairobi Kenya.
More than 50 local agribusiness dealers and farmers will undergo post-harvest and storage handling and pitching training in Nairobi Kenya.
Under the theme, Supporting Innovative Technologies for Postharvest Loss Reduction the training programme is expected to attract over 400 participants from across East Africa.
The training which will begin on April 4-5 will focus on how best to reduce post-harvest loss through better storage management practices and technologies, said James Shikwati, the chief executive officer of the Inter-Region Economic Network.
According to Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), about one third of the food produced globally is lost or wasted representing a loss of 1.3 billion tonnes of food per year.
Emmanuel Kayiranga, the chairperson of post-harvest handling and storage taskforce and head of the national strategic reserve at the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources, said the ministry is currently training more farmers and agro dealers to address the challenge.
“We are mobilizing farmers and the private sector to engage in post-harvest activities and ensure the problem is addressed,” Kayiranga told The New Times yesterday adding that the idea is not only to train but also equip farmers with modern storage infrastructure that ensure quality along the value chain.
Therefore we are optimistic that the training in Nairobi Kenya will boost what we are already doing at grass roots level, he added.
Overall, the initiative according to experts will help improve production, and ensure food safety and security. “Such innovations will make it easy to improve post-harvest management of perishable foodstuffs, livestock and fish products, as well as non-perishable commodities like grains, and cereals,” said Claudine Musabyimana a maize farmer in Gicumbi District.
Last year, the East Africa Postharvest Technologies Competition 2017 was launched to help address the challenge of post-harvest loses in the region.
Rwanda has already confirmed its participation in the challenge, which will be taking place in Nairobi, Kenya in April this year.
The competition seeks to identify 25 scalable innovations and technologies that address challenges in postharvest management.
Young innovators from Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Burundi can participate in the contest whose three top contestants will pocket $30,000 in seed funding.
The competition will help identify a range of technologies that have the potential to help the continent confront and counter the huge challenges in post-harvest management.
It is also an opportunity for stakeholders in the food supply chain to learn, share information and build strategic partnerships that will help reduce post-harvest losses in the region.
Rwanda step up preps for Amissa Bongo race
by Tuyishime Emmanuel
2017 Stages
Stage 1: Moanda-Akiéni (Feb. 27)
Stage 2: Leconi-Franceville (Feb. 28)
Stage 3: Mounana-Koulamoutou (Mar, 1)
Stage 4: Fougamou-Lambaréné (Mar, 2)
Stage 5: Lambaréné-Kango (Mar, 3)
Stage 6: Akanda (Cap Estérias)-Libreville (Mar, 4)
Stage 7: Owendo-Libreville (Mar, 5)
Six members of Team Rwanda are currently undergoing rigorous final preparations at Africa Rising Cycling Centre in Musanze District ahead of the forthcoming 12th edition of Gabon’s La Tropicale Amissa Bongo.
The 2.1 UCI Africa Tour road race is slated to start on February 27 and will run over seven stages through March 5.
Rwanda is among the 10 African countries that will grace Africa’s arguably most gruesome race that will also attract four UCI continental teams from Europe and one from Asia.
A very youthful team, that includes five riders that will be making their debut appearance, has been training since early January under the close eye of national team assistant coach Felix Sempoma and retired cyclist Nathan Byukusenge.
According to Sempoma, the spirit is high among his riders.
“We are taking a relatively very young and new team but, of course, the objective is to win stages and get the highest possible ranking. The motivation and spirit are high, which is very important, we training extensively and ready for the challenge,” Sempoma told the dailyhood.
Fresh from competing at African Continental Championships, the team will be led by Bonaventure Uwizeyimana, the winner of the competition’s stage five in 2014 (Rwanda’s best performance at the race so far).
Riders who will be making their La Tropicale Amissa Bongo debut include; Rene Ukiniwabo, Alex Nizeyimana, Samuel Hakiruwizeye and Eric Nduwayo and Jeremy Karegeya.
Last year, Team Rwanda finished in eighth place out of 14 participating teams while Patrick Byukusenge finished second in the mountains classification, with Jean Claude Uwizeye finishing third in the junior category.
Wednesday, 22 February 2017
Will new insurance policy help sector rebound?
by Tuyishime Emmanuel
Over the years, the insurance sector in the country has witnessed growth of players singing a song of promise, but without real impact, according to the National Bank of Rwanda.
The penetration confirms this. According to the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR), it stands at about 2 per cent and cases of unpaid claims are becoming more frequent.
The number of insurance companies by December 2016 stood at 15, with BK General Insurance Ltd having joined the market in July 2016. Currently, the Rwandan insurance industry is composed of nine non-life insurers, four life insurers, two public medical insurers, 15 insurance brokers and 415 insurance agents.
The pension sub-sector is composed of one public pension scheme, Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB).
So the question is whether the decision last week by BNR to halt licensing of new insurance players in the country will give a chance to the sector to stabilise.
According to a statement signed by BNR Governor John Rwangombwa, the measure came into effect last week.
Peace Uwase, BNR director-general for financial stability, told The New Times on Friday that the suspension of new licensing is meant to give insurers time to improve their operations and build public confidence in the sector.
She cited unfair and unhealthy competition among the challenges hurting the sector, which has led to price undercutting.
“This has had an impact on their performance, profitability and capital with most of them having to recapitalise over again. We made a bit of progress by December, as a number of them had been able to recapitalise,” she said.
“We issued a directive to be able to guide the conduct in terms of competition. The moratorium is supposed to give us time to implement some of the changes that we have started. Restore confidence and good practices in the sector as we go forward.”
Profit wise, private insurers are not fairing very well with their net loss in 2016 going up to Rwf 4.4billion from 2.7 billion in 2015, according to the central bank.
“This performance was mainly driven by unhealthy competition among private insurers that led to price undercutting and an erosion of premiums underwritten. This was further exacerbated by high claims ratio and management expenses,” the bank said in its latest Monetary Policy and Financial Stability statement.
It is still too early to determine how long the freeze will last but BNR said they were optimistic that it will not take too long.
“The shorter it takes the better for everybody. We have seen some progress because of the recapitalisation of insurance companies,” Uwase said.
“I do not think it will take way too long but it is too early to be certain how long it could take. I think it is ideal that we get the sector to a point where the performance is promising for everybody and provide confidence to the market at large.”
The Rwandan insurance sector is said to have a lot of potential.
The entrance of foreign firms into the sector over time had created excitement and optimism that it could influence change which has not yet come to be.
Industry experts had expected that the foreign players would bring in best practices worth emulating by local firms.
Foreign players, little impact
Uwase said that although that was the expectation, there has not been much impact as a result of new entrants.
“That would be the expectation that as we get players from other economies and other markets that are probably more developed than our own, they would positively impact the sector here in terms of innovation and practices,” she said.
“We have seen an influx of foreign players but have not felt that impact as expected in terms of product innovation. We do not know if it is that entrance that led to unfair competition. It is difficult to tell but the expectation is that as we get players from other markets, they bring innovation. It is a bit disappointing to say that impact really has not been felt.”
The freeze, however, will not apply to instances of mergers, acquisitions, takeovers or purchase of shares of insurance companies.
The move will also not affect the expansion processes of new firms as they open up branches and rollout new products into the market.
The freeze comes at a time when a public insurer, RSSB, is in the process of acquiring Sonarwa Insurance Ltd, one of Rwanda’s oldest and largest insurers.
Sonarwa currently has multiple shareholders, including RSSB and Industrial and General Insurance SA, a Nigerian insurance firm which acquired 35 per cent stake in the insurance company in 2008.
This is not the first attempt to fix the issues that have dogged the insurance industry. Last year, the central bank issued a directive stopping insurers from selling premium on credit while the Rwanda Insurers Association (ASSAR) issued a statement warning members against unprofessional conduct around the same time.
Jean Pierre Majoro, the Executive Secretary of ASSAR told us that they support the move by the regulator and would work closely with the central bank to fix the long standing challenges.
“The regulator has a role to develop the market and such decision is for the good of the industry. We will talk with BNR to find out why such a decision was taken.
Rwandan Afrobeat Star, Man Martin Rehearsing To Rock DRC
by Tuyishime Emmanuel
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| Mani Martin's Photo from google |
Local Afrobeat and R&B musician, Mani Martin, is expected to hit hard and represent Rwanda for the 3rd time at the Amani Festival over the weekend in Goma, DRC.
He will perform alongside the Kenyan band sensation Sauti Sol and JB Mpiana from DRC.
The Amani festival is a three-day multi-cultural carnival that connects different people from around the world including artists, music lovers and international media.
It is also a good platform that brings together diverse cultures and enables people to learn from each other.
This being the 3rd time for Mani Martin to perform, it goes to show that he delivers beyond expectation.
“My fans love my music like serafina , gorilla, Afro and this has kept me going,” he told Taarifa in a chat over the weekend. “The first time I performed in the festival, I did it with ‘Kesho Band’ and the audience really enjoyed since this was the first time for some of them to hear Rwandan music.”
“… they were blown away,” Martin brags!
Most of his songs are in Kinyarwanda and a few hits in French and Kiswahili. He prefers using Kinyarwanda because he believes that it enables him to connect with his fans.
Meanwhile, Martin says he has a lot to offer his fans at this year’s Amani (Peace) festival.
“I have many songs that my fans love…I will be performing some of my hits that are known around the region as well as my new song called ‘Afro’ which I recently released,” he said.
He has been rehearsing for days now ahead of the event. “I am working hard preparing for the festive and I’m currently rehearsing with ‘Kesho Band’ preparing for the festival.”
Martini believes that Festival will open up many doors for him and give him opportunities to meet artists from all over Africa.
“I want my music to inspire and change people’s lives. I am humbled to be sharing the stage with other big artists from the region.”
Emmy tuyishime's Dreams to be the best musician
by Tuyishime Emmanuel
My name is TUYISHIME Emmanuel, but I’m mostly known as Emmy Lix. I am XX years old and I was born in Rubavu, a district in the western province of Rwanda. I am a hip-hop Gospel singer by profession and I also play different instruments.
I attended MUHOZA primary school in the Musanze District and then high school at College George Fox of Kagarama (C.G.F.K) where I studied History, Economics, and Literature as my main subjects. My family has been my inspiration.
Since I was young as they used to play different kinds of instruments, which caused me to fall in love with music. During my childhood I wanted to become a singer; I started teaching myself how to play instruments like guitar, drums and the piano.
Music was my main priority even though my parents did not agree and it was really challenging to convince them that music was important to me, more than anything else as I felt it and practiced it all the time. Lucky Dube was my favorite singer. My family did not believe how music could impact me and help me to earn living.
Music is a career, it is a business like other businesses, and it just depends on how you do it. Today they understand and support me. I play different instruments including a base, acoustic and solo guitar, and also the piano and drums. Today I help different artists and producers in Rwanda during sound production with my talent of playing piano and guitar.
One of the artists I work with hand on hand is Jody Phibi. I am currently studying Journalism at the University of Rwanda as another option but I want to pursue music later. I regret that I was not able to study music as my major but I believe that the future of having a music career is in my hands. Different people always ask me why I have chosen to be a Gospel Hip-hop singer, one reason is because as I was raised in a Christian family where my dad, my brother and my grandfather are pastors this influenced my desire to be a Gospel Hip-Hop artist.
Another answer to that question is very simple; I always want to stay unique, to bring a hip-hop with my own identity. Today hip-hop is my language and is the only way I have to express my message to people. People think Hip-hop is for gangsters and people with bad habits but that is not correct, it is a complete lie.
Hip-hop is like other kinds of music. My message to all young people is to be unique and creative by bringing something new and different. I believe that in 10 years I will be among the top artists in Rwanda. “If you have a passion, stick to it and avoid any distraction that may take your talents away. Focus on it and go forward “
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| Emmy tuyishime / Photo by Canisious Kagabo |
My name is TUYISHIME Emmanuel, but I’m mostly known as Emmy Lix. I am XX years old and I was born in Rubavu, a district in the western province of Rwanda. I am a hip-hop Gospel singer by profession and I also play different instruments.
I attended MUHOZA primary school in the Musanze District and then high school at College George Fox of Kagarama (C.G.F.K) where I studied History, Economics, and Literature as my main subjects. My family has been my inspiration.
Since I was young as they used to play different kinds of instruments, which caused me to fall in love with music. During my childhood I wanted to become a singer; I started teaching myself how to play instruments like guitar, drums and the piano.
Music was my main priority even though my parents did not agree and it was really challenging to convince them that music was important to me, more than anything else as I felt it and practiced it all the time. Lucky Dube was my favorite singer. My family did not believe how music could impact me and help me to earn living.
Music is a career, it is a business like other businesses, and it just depends on how you do it. Today they understand and support me. I play different instruments including a base, acoustic and solo guitar, and also the piano and drums. Today I help different artists and producers in Rwanda during sound production with my talent of playing piano and guitar.
One of the artists I work with hand on hand is Jody Phibi. I am currently studying Journalism at the University of Rwanda as another option but I want to pursue music later. I regret that I was not able to study music as my major but I believe that the future of having a music career is in my hands. Different people always ask me why I have chosen to be a Gospel Hip-hop singer, one reason is because as I was raised in a Christian family where my dad, my brother and my grandfather are pastors this influenced my desire to be a Gospel Hip-Hop artist.
Another answer to that question is very simple; I always want to stay unique, to bring a hip-hop with my own identity. Today hip-hop is my language and is the only way I have to express my message to people. People think Hip-hop is for gangsters and people with bad habits but that is not correct, it is a complete lie.
Hip-hop is like other kinds of music. My message to all young people is to be unique and creative by bringing something new and different. I believe that in 10 years I will be among the top artists in Rwanda. “If you have a passion, stick to it and avoid any distraction that may take your talents away. Focus on it and go forward “
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