Rwanda: An inspiration for Africa

Rwanda, one of the fastest growing economies in the world, the Singapore of Africa as it’s referred to, is rebranding itself as an economic miracle. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim has praised Rwanda as a nation to admire for its economic progress even though it has few natural resources as is the case with Singapore. This economic progress is becoming ever more evident when one looks at Kigali (capital of Rwanda). 

Kigali is a modern city with new buildings of glass and steel with remarkable cleanliness. Shopping malls and hotels are booming in Kigali with demand outstripping supply when it comes to housing. A new airport and rising rent prices show progress. Extreme poverty has gone down. People are living longer and earning more. Rwanda is having an expanding services industry and moving towards a cashless society. How was so much success achieved? Many Rwandans point to one man, Paul Kigame.

Rwanda in 1994

When talking about Rwanda, the genocide of 1994 is not easy to overlook. It was termed as one of the greatest crimes of the 20th century. Extremist Hutus murdered more than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus mostly by hacking the victims to death using machetes. Government institutions, schools and banks were closed. Businesses were looted and the government itself did not function for several months. Buildings, roads and airports were destroyed. The 1994 genocide left Rwanda a totally destroyed country. 

Paul Kagame-led Rwandan Patriotic Front defeated the Hutu government army and took power in the country. Kagame formed a government with the Tutsis. A fear of retribution led to an exodus of Hutus leaving the country. This was the state of the country when Kagame inherited it. Rwanda was in chaos. But it had to have economic growth to outshadow the devastation of the genocide. Economic growth was harder with the fact that Rwanda had few natural resources and no seaport.

Paul Kigame – Lee Kuan Yew of Africa

Kagame is a Tutsi (victims of the Rwandan genocide). He was a rebel leader at the time of the genocide and resumed the war in 1994 and won it. After being the Vice President and Defence Minister of Rwanda for six years, Kagame became the President in 2000. Even in the six years before becoming the President, Kagame was the de facto leader of Rwanda. Kagame prioritised national development putting great efforts to transform Rwanda into a middle income country by 2020. The government has focused heavily on healthcare, education, services and tourism. 

Rwanda is dependent on a stable government and peace as the lack of these two can bring in the ethnic divide which led to the genocide in 1994. So Kagame is a strong leader and is referred to as a pillar of strength. Certain human rights groups have accused him of being undemocratic and suppressing the media. But many in Rwanda have agreed that a strong leadership is needed to keep Rwanda stable. He is very popular in Rwanda and has been called a miracle man. 

Kagame has introduced a new amendment after a referendum allowing him to run for president for a third term. The amendment does have a two-term limit but it does not take effect until 2024. So theoretically he can be president till 2034. Many would welcome this because of the stability brought by Kagame as his government has focused on economic growth over communal disharmony. Rwanda is still a poor country with most people living in rural areas but this is changing rapidly and the government has to continue. 

Rwanda of today

The Rwanda of today is totally different to the one in 1994. Over 80% of the refugees have returned to Rwanda as Kagame has brought stability and confidence to the country. Many Rwandans who fled the country and became successful abroad are reinvesting in the country. Rwanda has a higher percentage of female representatives which is well above the world average and women are allowed to own and inherit land unlike in certain other African countries. 

Rwanda has rich soil and even though 75% of the population lives in rural areas, it requires food to be imported. The Kagame government has bet on services and tourism to grow the economy. Poverty has decreased and around a million people were taken out of poverty in the last five years alone. Infant mortality rate has dropped a lot and so has dependency on foreign aid. 

Forgive and forget

None of this could have been possible if not for the peace between the Tutsis and the Hutus. Rwandans as a whole made a wise decision to forgive and forget. Two decades ago, the Tutsis and Hutus were fighting each other to death. Today, they are doing joint ventures in businesses. Business partnerships between the Tutsis and Hutus are common. They prefer to partner with someone from the other ethnicity if it is good for business as now Rwandans put business before communal disharmony. Tutsis and Hutus are seen playing sports in the same team. The government has worked hard to bring communal harmony and remove division based on ethnicity. This has worked miracles for Rwanda. 

Rwanda moves forward

Rwanda beats its neighbours in every kind of development. The World Bank in 2013 itself ranked Rwanda as the second best place to do business in Africa in its Doing Business Report. Kagame wants to turn Rwanda into a high tech hub for Central Africa. Carnegie Mellon University moved into Rwanda and offered masters in IT and electrical engineering.

Another industry was the Arabica coffee industry which was destroyed after the genocide. Rwanda could not compete with countries like Brazil on quantity so the Rwandan coffee industry changed its strategy to focus on quality and today Rwandan coffee is found in cafes in the West. Like Singapore, Rwanda is doing its research and finding a way out of difficult situations which is remarkable. 

In 2016, Marriot opened its first hotel in Rwanda seeing it as a transportation, logistics and services centre for Central Africa. The 254-room Marriot in Kigali enhances Kigali’s reputation as a regional hub for conventions and conferences. 

Rwanda is a fast growing economy with a vision to become a cashless, service based economy with an efficient bureaucracy, business-friendly environment, good infrastructure, good education, healthcare and is a rising tourist destination. It has the potential to attract investments as it is undervalued. If it continues to have the same stability, peace and vision of the government, it can be an inspirational story for the world. A story of a devastated country with few resources and no seaport which made it to the top.