Rwanda’s prime minister Bernard Makuza has detailed plans to further develop his country’s economy and insisted that relations with neighboring countries are on solid footing.

Speaking exclusively to fDi at the Mipim real estate conference in Cannes, France, Mr Makuza said that he would create more incentives to attract foreign investors to numerous sectors of the country’s economy.

He said: “We want to make an environment that is even friendlier to foreign investment. We are already an open economy, but we want to ensure a sustainable growth in our economy.”

The prime minister is looking for investment in several different areas, notably in energy, mining, agriculture, ICT and finance. He emphasized that his government took a hard-line zero-tolerance approach to corruption and that the political system in the country was stable following a recent election deemed flawed by many foreign observers.  He also detailed plans to improve housing conditions both in the capital Kigali and in rural areas.

When asked about relations with neighboring countries, he insisted that they were strong, despite a recent event that saw three dissident generals in the Rwandan army join rebel forces across the border in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mr Makuza described the generals as “unpatriotic”.

He said: “The whole region’s relationships are improving. We continue to work with our neighbours and the situation and government in the DRC is much better than what it used to be. You always have to be on guard, but things can happen anywhere, even in America or Europe.”

On the recent developments in North Africa, he said that the root cause of the situations in these countries was a failure of governance. Governments, he said, that do not meet the needs of their people will never succeed in bringing peace or prosperity.

Rwanda’s economy has been booming in recent years, growing 5.3% in 2009 and by close to 8% a year since 1995.