BUJUMBURA August 1st (ABP) – The Director General of the Burundi Development Agency (ADB), presented, on Wednesday July 27, 2022 in Bujumbura, major achievements made during the fiscal year which runs from June 2021 to July 2022.
Before showing those great achievements, the Director General of the ADB first announced the themes to be developed which relate to the missions of the ADB, to the creation of companies.
He also cited the granting of the certificate of eligibility for the benefits of the investment code, after care visits, participation in major events promoting the image of Burundi as well as the achievements of the ADB.
With regard to the missions of the ADB, Mr. Ngendakumana cited the promotion of investors and exports, the mission of conducting studies, carrying out prospecting and research to identify investment opportunities, carrying out studies of investment projects for sale to investors, design policy reforms, legal and institutional framework.
He also listed other missions, among others, registering any natural person having the status of trader, any commercial company, as well as any branch of a foreign company and monitoring them, ensuring the coordination of investment facilitation mechanisms, develop the professional and entrepreneurial capacities of Burundians in general and in particular women and young people to increase their competitiveness within the national economy.
Another mission is to inform national and international investors about investment and export opportunities in Burundi, to support them in all the steps necessary for their proper installation and conduct of their business, he added.
Regarding the creation of companies, that general manager at the ADB indicated that from July 2021 to June 2022, they registered 4,974 companies which will give 18,994 jobs compared to the budget year 2020-2021 where 5,105 companies were created. with 19,366 declared jobs.
He therefore specified that during the financial year 2021-2022, 50 certificates of eligibility for the advantages of the investment code were granted, while specifying that among the 50 projects belonging to the 50 entrepreneurs who were elected, 44 projects are national and represent 81.4% of the total projected capital.
The Director General of the ADB did not fail to point out that field visits were carried out to ensure follow-up and to verify whether the companies have respected their commitments to facilitate the work of processing applications for temporary certificates of compliance. It was also a question of asking about the real problems experienced by investors on a daily basis in order to assess their achievements against their commitments, he explained.
Mr. Ngendakumana said that this agency participated in several investment promotion activities such as the “Tanganyika Business summit 2022” business summit in Kigoma, the COMESARIA 2022 annual meeting in Kenya which brought together the directors general of national development agencies promotion of COMESA investments for experience sharing and networking, and others, and finally he pointed out the various achievements that the agency has made such as the organization of the industrialization week, the organization a horticultural fair, as well as reinforcement workshops, to name a few.
Asked why foreign investors remain weak compared to local investors, the director general of the ADB indicated that foreigners are oriented in many countries with several factors such as mines and oil. To this same question, Mr. Ngendakumana added that the lack of fuel is holding back foreigners.
Regarding the strategy that can be adopted to encourage these foreign investors, he replied that the media are called upon to contribute by disseminating the information necessary to announce business opportunities in Burundi to foreigners.
The one who asked for the rate of women and girls in entrepreneurship, Mr. Ngendakumana recalled that this rate is low with a rate of 21%, but he pointed out that awareness workshops have been organized for them to encourage them to invest and become competitive, specifying that the development of the country does not exist without the share of women and girls.
Mr. Ngendakumana also recalled that the ADB was created to replace the Investment Promotion Agency (API) in order to promote and facilitate investors as well as exports in Burundi. He therefore pointed out that the ADB is the gateway and the only interlocutor for all investors looking for business opportunities in Burundi, from where the latter is called upon to improve a business climate in order to attract more investors to the country.