Although only less than 5 per cent of foreign direct investments (FDI) worldwide flow onto the African continent each year, Rwanda shows an increasing tendency to attract companies from all around the world, especially from Asia. This development is no surprise and can be explained by the business-friendly environment Rwanda has created over the last decades. As a result, Rwanda ranks second among all African countries and 38^th globally in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Index. With excellent infrastructure, minimal bureaucratic hurdles, and a highly skilled talent pool, Rwanda provides a first-class business environment for entrepreneurs. Additionally, investors enjoy low risks due to the stable political situation, high security, and low corruption.

According to the World Bank, Rwanda's economy grew extremely fast at almost 8 per cent annually in the ten years before the COVID -19 pandemic. In 2023, economic growth reached 6.9 per cent. Furthermore, Rwanda is an ideal entry hub into the Central and East African region, and investors can benefit from attractive regional markets in Uganda, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Burundi. With the Task Force Rwanda, Invest for Jobs aims to use this potential to create good jobs and to improve working conditions for Rwandans by promoting Rwanda as an attractive investment location.

BVMW, the German Association for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, is the largest business association in Germany with more than 28,000 member companies. BVMW supports and represents small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in more than 300 branches across Germany. Since April 2023, Invest for Jobs Rwanda has collaborated with BVMW and established a “Task Force Rwanda”. The Task Force is a service unit for German and Rwandan companies to intensify the cooperation between companies of both countries. It utilises Rwanda's enormous potential to promote’ the country as an attractive investment location and to create good jobs for the Rwandan workforce.

To kick-start this collaboration, BVMW and Invest for Jobs organised a first trip for six German companies to Rwanda in May 2023 to learn more about the country as a business hub. The participating companies, mostly members of BVMW, benefited from Invest for Jobs’ local contacts and wide network and had the unique opportunity to meet relevant partners from business and politics. Due to their rapidly expanding markets in Rwanda, German companies across all industries can benefit from these exchanges, particularly investors in the IT services and e-mobility sectors.

Furthermore, the Task Force uses online events to inform interested BVMW members about the latest news and developments, such as business opportunities in Rwanda and financial and technical support mechanisms of Invest for Jobs.

Since establishing the Task Force Rwanda, several partnerships and accomplishments have been achieved. For example, the company Yelbridges expanded its operations from Kenya and established a branch office in Rwanda as a result of the first business trip organised by the Task Force in May 2023. As of May 2024, the newly established branch has already set up a team and is working on its first project. In the future, Yelbridges plans to expand and employ more than 50 people in Rwanda.

In 2024, the Task Force continued its efforts to attract more investors to Rwanda and has conducted another one-week business trip for German companies to Rwanda in May 2024. Several BVMW member companies joined the delegation to discover Rwanda as an ideal hub to enter the Central- and East African markets. In addition, BVMW continues to regularly organise online events for its members to inform about business opportunities. The objective for participating companies is to expand and create jobs in Rwanda.

BVMW is supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH within the framework of the Special Initiative "Decent Work for a Just Transition" on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).