How We Check Companies

In short

The InvestRwanda.com directory lists 1,132 companies in Rwanda. Each one has been looked at by our editors before it was published, whether we added it ourselves or the company applied. We check that the company exists in Rwanda and can be reached there, using the company’s own website and, for companies that apply, the details they give us. We do not rate companies, and a listing is not a recommendation.

• Every listing needs an address in Rwanda and a phone number or email address that the company publishes on its own website.
• We leave out government bodies, other directories, marketplaces and blogs.
• Descriptions are our own short summaries in English and French, without sales language.
• Paid memberships are always labelled as paid. They buy visibility, not a better check.

What a listing needs

These are the rules for every company we add. A company that applies through Add Your Company is held to the same rules.

Who we leave out

Some websites look like companies but are not what investors need from a business directory. We do not list them, and we remove them when we find them.

How we write a listing

Our editors write each description from what the company says about itself on its website: what it does, for whom, and where. The English text is 70 to 130 words, and each listing also has a French text. We leave out sales words such as leading, best or world-class, and claims we cannot see on the company’s own pages.

The business card shows the address, phone number and website. We do not publish email addresses or the names of contact people, as our privacy policy explains. Logos are taken only from the company’s own website, never from social media or search results. The district comes from the street address.

Companies that apply

When a company applies, the application waits in a review queue. An editor looks at the checks below and decides; nothing is published automatically.

In Rwanda, the Office of the Registrar General at the Rwanda Development Board registers companies, and one registration gives a company code that is also its tax identification number (TIN) and its social security number. A company that applies can give this code so we can match it to its certificate.

To take over an existing listing, a member either opens a link we send to the email address already on the listing, or tells us their role in the company so an editor can check. A listing run by its company shows the label Managed by the company. Every change a company makes is reviewed before it goes live.

What the labels mean

Paid listings are always marked as paid, and their website links are marked as sponsored for search engines. The prices are on the Advertise page.

Keeping listings current

Each listing records when its details last changed. If a listing that no company manages has not been updated for three years, its page says so and asks readers to check the details with the company. We recheck websites; a free listing that no company manages and whose website no longer works, is parked, has been taken over by someone else or has moved abroad is hidden until it is fixed.

Readers help too. Every company page has a Report a problem with this listing form, with these reasons: the company has closed, the details are wrong or out of date, it is a duplicate, it is spam or misleading, or something else. We read every report. A company, or a person named in a listing, can ask us through the contact form to correct or remove it.

Check a company yourself

Before you sign a contract or pay, ask the company for its documents and check them where they are issued. These are the places to start.

The sector pages of the directory explain which licences apply in each field, with links to the regulator.

What we do not check

We check that a company exists, works in Rwanda and can be reached. We do not check its finances, its ownership, the quality of its work, its prices or whether it holds every licence its activity needs. Directory pages are information, not advice. For a large contract, a property purchase or an investment, ask a lawyer or accountant in Rwanda to carry out due diligence for you.