Rwanda Receives Training on the MEFMI Private Capital Monitoring System Version 3

Following a request from the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR), MEFMI conducted an In-country workshop in Rwanda on Foreign Private Capital (FPC) and the MEFMI Private Capital Monitoring System (PCMS). The workshop took place at the BNR premises in Kigali and Musanze over the period 6 to 17 June 2016. Thereafter, work continued to ensure stability of the system, which is now running.

The workshop was attended by 18 officials comprising two (2) IT personnel and nine (9) FPC business experts from BNR, five (5) staff from Rwanda Development Board, one (1) official from the Rwanda National Institute of Statistics and one (1) official from the Private Sector Foundation. In terms of gender participation, there were 13 males and five (5) females, translating into 72% and 28% male and female representation respectively.

The workshop had two key objectives. The first objective was to install the PCMS version 3 on the BNR’s Local Area Network (LAN) and to assess its performance in the local environment. The PCMS Version 3 is the newest version of the system, which has been enhanced to enable shorter time for data entry and to produce reports that are fully compliant with Balance of Payments and International Investment Position (BPM6) reporting methodology. The set-up of the system on the LAN was driven by the need to address the limitation of weak internet connectivity that slows down the data processing speed of the system.

The second objective was to facilitate hands-on training on the functionalities of the new version of the system, and to provide refresher training on concepts of FPC compilation and reporting. Both objectives were successfully met and the system is now being used for the current FPC survey.

At the end of the workshop, the MEFMI team, led by Dr. Sehliselo Mpofu, Director – Macroeconomic Management Programme had a meeting with the Governor of BNR, Mr. John Rwangombwa, and other senior officials. The Governor thanked MEFMI for the continued and timely support that has been provided to BNR, whenever called upon to do so. In particular, he expressed his gratitude to MEFMI for PCMS, which has facilitated the country’s FPC survey data capture and reporting. On behalf of MEFMI, Dr. Mpofu expressed the Institute’s appreciation for the support being received from the Government of Rwanda and BNR towards implementation of its activities.

Rwanda becomes the second MEFMI member state to successfully set up and use the PCMS on the LAN. This arrangement is guided by a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the country and MEFMI. In this regard, MEFMI would like to encourage other Member States to embrace the concept. This would go a long way in alleviating the internet connectivity challenges that are common in most countries in the region.