Rwanda - Services



Most tourists go to Rwanda to see its mountain gorillas. However, Rwanda's tourism came to a halt during the 1994 war. There is hope that if Rwanda continues to benefit from its current levels of stability, the hotel and restaurant industry (the primary beneficiaries of tourism) will grow as tourism resumes its pre-war levels.

The banking system has been liberalized by the government, and there are few barriers to the flow of foreign exchange. Rwanda has a central bank and 5 commercial banks, 1 development bank, and a credit union system. In 1999, the Rwandan parliament passed a new set of liberalization measures that in part ensure that the private banks operate under the close supervision of the National Bank of Rwanda. All in all, the progress is encouraging, given Rwanda's recent history and the continuing conflict

Trade (expressed in billions of US$): Rwanda
Exports Imports
1975 .042 .099
1980 .072 .243
1985 .131 .298
1990 .110 .288
1995 .054 .237
1998 .063 .287
SOURCE: International Monetary Fund. International Financial Statistics Yearbook 1999.

in the neighboring Congo. Retail services improved in the late 1990s as returning Rwandan refugees opened a variety of small enterprises.

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