The past year has seen CEOs fired and others demoted as Rwanda's government agencies and corporate bodies sought results.

Valentine Sendanyoye Rugwabiza, a former deputy director-general World Trade Organisation (WTO), was named head of Rwanda Development Board (RDB). The position of RDB CEO was also elevated to Cabinet level, giving it more authority as the country tries to wean itself of declining foreign aid worsened by a weak private sector.

Ms Rugwabiza became the fifth CEO of an organisation that has been in existence for only five years after taking over from Clare Akamanzi, who was in an acting capacity following the appointment of John Gara as head of the Judicial Commission.

Mr Gara had replaced Francis Gatare, now in the President’s Office. American businessman Joseph J. Ritchie, was the founding CEO in 2008.

Ebenezer Asante, the new MTN Rwanda boss, took over amid cut-throat competition in the telecoms sector as rivals ate into the data and voice segments.

The first task for Asante would be to improve the network by tackling the drop calls menace. Analysts say that for a telecom company to survive in the competition, it should ensure availability, affordability and accessibility of both data and voice services.

Years of monopoly

After enjoying years of monopoly, MTN, the oldest telecom operator in Rwanda, today faces competition from Liquid Telecom, Tigo and Airtel, players who have stepped up recruitment campaigns, offering affordable pricing to woo subscribers.

Though MTN still leads in subscriber numbers, the competition is closing in. MTN’s 3.6 million customers in September dropped to 3.5 million the following month, before reducing to less than 3.5 million in November.

However, Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (Rura) attributed the decline to a recent SIM card registration drive that forced telecoms to disconnect some subscribers who were not registered. MTN management attributes the growth of its customer base from 1.3 million to more than 3.6 million to great customer care.

Jack Kayonga, CEO and chairman of Crystal Ventures Ltd, the investment arm of Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), took over the mantle with the task of positioning the businesses as a market leader.

He has to improve the efficiency of Rwanda’s biggest local investment company’s businesses, whose net worth is estimated to be Rwf335 billion ($500 million).

READ: Crystal Ventures in management shake-up

Changing face

Mr Kayonga replaced Prof Manasseh Nshuti as the board chairman, signalling the changing face of a business that has been fighting allegations of disproportionately benefitting from lucrative government contracts.

Analysts say Crystal Ventures demands results and has zero tolerance for under-performance. These changes are intended to ensure that the company continues to perform well because, even as they look for strategic partnerships elsewhere, they want to ensure that it is properly managed.

Specifically, the RPF will be seeking to tap into Mr Kayonga’s experience as an investment banker as he is credited with turning around the country’s development bank —Rwanda Development Bank (BRD) — where he was the chief executive for four years from 2009.

Oversaw major reforms

Mr Kayonga oversaw major reforms such as instituting corporate governance structures that saw BRD named by the Association of African Development Finance Institutions (ADFI) as the third best-managed development bank in Africa.

Ephrahim Turahirwa became the first Rwandan national to hold the position of CEO at Bank Populaire du Rwanda (BPR) after it became a commercial bank in 2008. He comes in when there is growing competition for the mass market as traditional banking institutions also venture into this segment through agency banking.

The seasoned banker will will have to come up with strategies to beat competition as some of the customers are finding the traditional banking system more attractive, a development which has eaten into the bank’s customer base.

End the year strongly

For instance, commercial banks such as I&M Bank Rwanda, KCB Rwanda and Bank of Kigali are ending the year strongly through small and medium business lending after the credit guarantee fund was established.

But the strongest point with Bank Populaire is that 65 per cent of the shares are former co-operative society members while 35 per cent is controlled by a strategic partner, Rabobank. This gives the bank leverage over the competition by having shareholders as customers.

Mr Turahirwa is taking over leadership at a bank that is already strong in retail business and which has ventured into agriculture, the biggest employer in the country.