The Rwandan economy is on the path of economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic shock, which is strengthened by the country’s effective control of the virus, Rwandan Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Uzziel Ndagijimana said on Tuesday.

The economy is expected to grow at 5.1 percent in 2021, 7 percent in 2022 and at above 7.8 percent in 2023 and 2024, said Ndagijimana at the cross-listing event of mobile network operator MTN Rwanda in the capital city Kigali.

This outlook is an opportunity for investment and private sector development in the central African nation, said Ndagijimana, adding that the cross-listing is a testimony of the confidence in Rwanda’s economy.

According to him, Rwanda has made impressive progress in improving its investment climate and continues to improve further its business environment to support both local and foreign investment in line with its National Strategy for Transformation and its development blueprint Vision 2050.

Rwanda is implementing its strategy of becoming an international financial center and is seeking new investors in the financial market, he said.

Rwanda’s economy growth shrank to 2.3 percent for the financial year 2019-2020 from 8.8 percent recorded the year before, as the coronavirus outbreak dealt a huge blow to the country’s economic activities.

Following Tuesday’s cross-listing, MTN Rwanda has become the first mobile network operator to list its shares on Rwanda’s stock exchange.