Rwanda armed forces' shop has been granted authority to make investments under a bill that was passed by the Lower House on May 2. According to the Ministry of Defence, the move intends to enable the entity to achieve its objective in a sustainable way.
"Making investments will therefore help it to achieve sustainability at the same time attaining its goal, especially because its beneficiaries may increase," she said, indicating that the bill provides that an order of the minister can determine its new beneficiaries. "This implies that there would be an imbalance in the competition on the market between AFOS and others," he argued, citing a scenario where AFOS might bid for a public tender to supply to correctional facilities or schools.The Minister of Defence, Juvenal Marizamunda, said that AFOS was given an initial or starting capital to enable its function, but it is not given a budget annually, rather receives government support in terms of tax exemption on a list of eligible products.
Meanwhile, he told lawmakers that it will not be trading products for which it enjoys tax exemption, but rather small amounts of money that have been accumulated, adding that if it ventures into taxable activities, it will pay due taxes.