Strengthening RSSB's Catalytic Role in Crowding in Private Sector Investment in Rwanda

This SIPA workshop project identified mechanisms that the Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB) could adopt to catalyze private sector investment in the country. RSSB is a state-owned enterprise that manages various social security funds, being the largest institutional investor in Rwanda. The workshop team analyzed a pool of similar institutional investors against which to benchmark RSSB’s current activities, in addition to conducting interviews with government officials, development practitioners, and academics. Based on the findings from these exercises, the team grouped their recommendations into three streams: encouraging foreign investment, spurring domestic investment, and enhancing interagency coordination. To encourage foreign investment, the team recommended that RSSB could bolster its marketing activities for co-investments, strengthen its ESG frameworks, develop new co-investing strategies, and leverage special economic zones. To spur domestic investment, RSSB could diversify its equity holdings, enhance its investment-readiness facilities, and create specialized SME funds. The team also identified two sectors that have the potential to be transformative for Rwanda’s economic development: the pharmaceutical and finance sectors. The team encouraged RSSB to focus its investment attraction efforts on these two sectors, as the industries capitalize on the country’s long-term growth ambitions while overcoming the country’s geographical constraints.