BUJUMBURA January 30th (ABP) – The Centre for Development and Enterprises (CDE Great Lakes) organized in Bujumbura on Monday January 28, 2018, a campaign called “Birashoboka” (It’s possible), which focuses on “The role of media professionals in reducing the barriers to business climate in Burundi”.
CDE Executive Director Aimable Manirakiza said on that occasion that media professionals play an essential role. Through their information materials, he said, they are able to promote ideas that can reduce poverty in the country. He said the “Birashoboka” campaign aims to reduce the requirements for starting a business and opening a bank account in Burundi.
According to Manirakiza, the Burundian government has put in place procedures to start a business, but potential entrepreneurs face a number of obstacles. Some of these entrepreneurs are turning to the informal economy, he said, arguing that minimizing costs to start a new business is one of the most crucial steps for a prosperous economy.
Speaking as a consultant, Mr. Bruce-Vaillant Ntangibingura said on his part that entrepreneurship in Burundi faces multiple constraints related to the investment climate. Most companies fail at their nascent stage, and those that resist do not make a remarkable contribution to the development of the nation. According to him, the Burundian economy is based on the primary sector whose contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) is 43%. Agricultural activities are dominated by food products, as the coffee and tea export sector is growing slowly.
According to him, the second sector that contributes the most to GDP is that of services (32%). It has grown in recent years in favor of investments in new information technologies, especially GSM telecommunications, which have become an important factor in combating the effects coming from being landlocked. In recent years, these technologies have grown in the range of 6 to 8%, he said.
The processing sector (25%) occupies a much more modest place, he said, adding that its growth is constrained by all the economic and social factors which are at the origin of the structural poverty of the country ( small size, isolation, low human capital, political risk …). The industrial sector is based on agro-food industries, to which are added the activities relating to the maintenance of basic facilities such as construction, road works and open public worksites in the areas of increasing energy production capacities, he said.
