KIGALI, Rwanda — The two-year-old stock market in this small central African backwater is not exactly bustling with billion-dollar deals. But stock brokers here have earnest ambitions to become a financial powerhouse, and not everyone thinks they’re crazy; on the contrary, they’re actually making real progress.
The country synonymous with genocide is aiming to become the economic powerhouse of East and Central Africa. For now, Rwanda’s stock exchange resembles a middle-school classroom more than Wall Street. It consists of a white board where a young man occasionally writes up an offer with a black Sharpie. Above the whiteboard is a portrait of President Paul Kagame. Nearby is a wooden-handled bell, used to open and close trading.
David Mitali, 28, snaps open his cell phone and advises a broker about Bralirwa Brewery. An “operations manager” at the exchange, he knows Bralirwa well: it is one of only four listed stocks; the exchange also handles government bonds.
“The Rwanda Stock Exchange aims to become the financial center in east Africa,” says Mitali, who has worked here since it opened. He enthusiastically lists reasons why Kigali may succeed.
“We’re developing a good reputation for being user friendly,” he says. “No tricky, tricky business here. No corruption. We are becoming a market where investors like to do business.”
“The security of the country is good. Our economy is fast developing. Investors are coming here to invest in the wider region,” he adds.
There is some truth to Mitali’s assertions.
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