Economic, political and military power merge in Crystal Ventures, the holding company of President Paul Kagame’s party. The company operates opaquely but monopolises the country’s production system and is increasingly present in Africa.

Since coming to power in 2000, Rwandan President Paul Kagame has constructed a precise narrative, which can be summarised in the formula “from the destruction of the genocide to a successful economy”. Behind this image, however, lies a complex reality where economic, political and military power merge into a single, large entity: Crystal Ventures Ltd (CVL), the holding company owned by the head of state’s party, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF).
Founded in 1995 under the name Tri-Star Investments, Crystal Ventures has gone from being a fund for post-genocide reconstruction in 1994 to a business empire with an estimated value of around one billion dollars. The company dominates several key sectors of the Rwandan economy: from construction to telecommunications to real estate, through consumer products, construction and manufacturing.

Kigali Convention Centre at night, lit up in the colours of the Rwandan flag. The facility is designed to host a variety of events and is a top attraction in the city. Shutterstock/Jennifer Sophie

Despite its size and influence, Crystal Ventures operates opaquely. Its website provides no annual reports, details of its governance structure beyond its ownership of RPF, or any of the information that a company of its size would be required to disclose.
The lack of transparency makes it nearly impossible to independently verify the true value of Kagame’s venture. CVL has grown so much that it has more staff and more economic power than many state institutions. The company has four divisions—infrastructure, consumer products, building materials, and services—and dozens of subsidiaries operating in Rwanda and increasingly across Africa. In the consumer products sector, Inyange Industries is emblematic of CVL’s monopolistic ambitions.
In 2023, this subsidiary of Crystal Ventures opened Rwanda’s first milk powder plant, a $45 million facility with the capacity to produce about 250,000 litres of milk per day. Research by this writer reveals that part of this venture was financed with resources from the state pension fund: it involves using public pension savings to support the building of assets for the ruling party. David Himbara, a former economic adviser to Kagame who has since become a critic of the president, has devoted two books to the topic, one of the most problematic aspects of CVL’s expansion: Kagame Ate Rwanda’s Pension and Rwanda’s Stillborn Middle-Income Economy.

Kigali, Rwanda. A broad view overlooking the city centre, with Pension Plaza dominating the foreground and Kigali City Tower visible in the background. 123rf

Several of its revelations are confirmed by the author’s investigations: in addition to the aforementioned powdered milk plant, Rwandan workers’ savings have been channelled into multiple CVL projects, from the Kigali Convention Centre to real estate development plans to the growth of manufacturing industries.  What emerges is a scenario in which pension funds become venture capital for pro-government party businesses, with little or no government oversight. Crystal Ventures’ expansion beyond Rwanda’s borders follows a different model, one that blends military deployment with economic penetration. In Mozambique, Rwandan troops have been present in the resource-rich province of Cabo Delgado since 2021, to combat an Islamist insurgency. A few months after the military’s arrival, CVL subsidiaries and affiliates secured a series of infrastructure, energy and security projects. Intersec Security Company (Isco), a company under the CVL umbrella according to its own website, has won a majority stake in a joint venture that provides security for the facilities of the French giant Total, the leader of a mega natural gas project in Cabo Delgado. This pattern – first military intervention and then preferential entry of certain businesses – is also being repeated in the Central African Republic. Kigali’s military arrived in Bangui in 2020 to support the fight of President Faustin-Archange Touadéra’s government against rebel groups. Shortly thereafter, mining companies linked to former CVL executives obtained gold and diamond mining rights through unclear procedures. Local civil society organisations have been unable to trace the revenue flows from these operations, raising serious concerns about the possibility of illicit activities.

Flag of Rwanda on a soldier’s arm. Kigali’s military arrived in Bangui in 2020. Shortly thereafter, mining companies linked to former CVL executives secured mining rights for gold and diamonds. Shutterstock/Bumble Dee

Back in Rwanda, CVL’s dominance extends to virtually every sector. Its subsidiary NPD Limited, controls major construction projects; Inyange Industries operates food and beverage retail; East African Granite Industries monopolises granite mining and processing; Kinigi Cassiterite and Wolfram Mining Company (KCWMC) has secured mining rights for other major minerals. Again, the CVL website proudly lists these companies – except for KCWMC – but offers no additional information. Crystal Ventures’s ambiguous structure also makes anyone who criticises its business practices automatically a government critic – a dangerous position to take in Rwanda, given the repressive political climate there. International financial institutions and Rwanda’s development partners have long overlooked CVL’s governance problems. Its grey structure defies scrutiny in both the private and public sectors. Without a separation between party, state and commercial interests, the Rwandan model risks normalising a system in which political loyalty is more important than anything else: economic efficiency, transparency and fair competition. If it were to become the rule in Africa, it would be a new blow to decades of laborious reforms of governance systems on the continent. (Open Photo: Rwandan President Paul Kagame. CC BY 3.0/Hildenbrand /MSC)

Samuel Baker Byansi