After spending a week in Rwanda in November 2020, Yared Gebremichael‘s perspective on investing in Africa was transformed. The 32-year-old Ethiopian national’s intentions to build his companies in the Middle East were derailed by his stay in Rwanda. He had investments in both his own country and the United Arab Emirates.

In an interview with The New Times, Gebremichael stated, “I liked the country, the people, and the environment here. It’s a very friendly environment. So, I decided that I had to invest in this country. Now, this is my third year.”

He initially opened a furniture store in Kigali with a friend in order to gauge the state of the local economy. He founded an agriculture company that exported red kidney beans after he realized that business might succeed in Rwanda.

“We already operated agro-processing companies in Ethiopia and served a sizable Middle Eastern clientele. Because there was so much room for profit, we chose to increase our real estate and agricultural assets in Rwanda,” he stated.

In the Eastern Province, YDH Agro Limited, the business of Gebremichael, collaborates with tens of thousands of outgrowers and farmer cooperatives. In Rugende, Gasabo District, it also has a cleaning and sorting plant that it uses to service other exporters of agricultural products.

According to Gebremichael, each enterprise has an investment of over $2 million, or roughly Rwf2.4 billion. The companies employ more than 70 temporary workers (up to 120 during harvest season) in addition to about 40 permanent staff members.

The company shipped more than 1,400 tonnes of beans between June and August.

“The business climate in Rwanda is favorable. There is relatively little red tape and minimal bureaucracy when starting a business. The majority of government services are available online.”

In addition to growing his real estate holdings, he intends to begin exporting additional income crops like coffee beans, sesame seeds, and chia seeds. He had trouble securing a loan at first, but he was able to acquire one recently from a nearby commercial bank that took his machines and warehouse as security.

He advises Rwandan banks to adopt novel approaches to obtaining collateral. Export businesses with reliable purchasers might use their contracts as collateral to obtain bank loans in other nations. According to him, if Rwandan banks took such contracts as collateral, they could promote the expansion of businesses.

Gebremichael has also observed that fresh investments in the nation have a limited lifespan. He claimed that while it is relatively simple to launch a business in Rwanda, maintaining one for more than two years is difficult.

He recommends that government organizations in charge of luring capital, in particular the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), should follow up with the companies to find out what problems they are facing with an equally rigorous effort. That, he claimed, would be a surefire approach to identify answers and stop the companies from suffering in quiet.

By choosing to invest in Rwanda, Gebremichael became more interested in other African nations. Since then, he has been looking into chances in nations like Zambia, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi, and Kenya.

“I formerly believed that the opportunities only existed on our continent. However, here in Africa are the best chances,” he stated.

He thinks that the greatest way for Africa to prosper is for more Africans to invest there. He hosted a delegation of potential Ethiopian investors in Rwanda around the end of August.

“We truly need to connect with one another and think big as African brothers and sisters. 1.4 billion people live in Africa; that is a much larger market than 14 million people in a single nation. Africa has greater potential, he stated.