Rwanda now: The skyscraper and the chicken
19 Oct 2014 9:18 PM GMT
Alright, it is not from very long ago but hasn’t Rwanda traversed that hell, determined now to become a middle-income country, ushering in unity? It has left far behind the traces of loss, despair and abject poverty.
This landslide of events is largely attributed to its two term visionary President Paul Kagame who explains, ‘Rwanda today is important and meaningful. In the past, no one valued it. But today, the most important difference is that people have come to value themselves and to value others. They are not secondary, they are not second-rate.’
Ranked 3rd among African nations (behind South Africa and Mauritius), in the World Economic Forum’s competitive report, Rwanda’s robust growth rate portrays it as a nation which is in hurry. It is a joke that in today’s Rwanda if you blink for too long, you might open your eyes to a newly erected skyscraper! With its reputation for zero corruption and free trade, it is attracting investors left, right and centre. Kagame’s strategy has been to network with wealthy and powerful global friends to attract private investment, work up its human capital, furnish a globally competitive economy, and wean the country off foreign aid.
Rwanda tops the global league charts for the percentage of female parliamentarians- which is 64 per cent MPs as against rest of the world’s 22 per cent. Rwanda, today belongs to the youth who readily buy its current image of land of opportunity as opposed to the previous generation, most of which is bitter due to the haunting past. Investment, education, entrepreneurship and most importantly peace (Amahoro), best describe this land-locked country’s current state. While all of this progress is happening right amidst the rural limitations of managing cattle and farm, the country has inclusively utilized and mobilized all it could get and seems unstoppable.
This landslide of events is largely attributed to its two term visionary President Paul Kagame who explains, ‘Rwanda today is important and meaningful. In the past, no one valued it. But today, the most important difference is that people have come to value themselves and to value others. They are not secondary, they are not second-rate.’
Ranked 3rd among African nations (behind South Africa and Mauritius), in the World Economic Forum’s competitive report, Rwanda’s robust growth rate portrays it as a nation which is in hurry. It is a joke that in today’s Rwanda if you blink for too long, you might open your eyes to a newly erected skyscraper! With its reputation for zero corruption and free trade, it is attracting investors left, right and centre. Kagame’s strategy has been to network with wealthy and powerful global friends to attract private investment, work up its human capital, furnish a globally competitive economy, and wean the country off foreign aid.
Rwanda tops the global league charts for the percentage of female parliamentarians- which is 64 per cent MPs as against rest of the world’s 22 per cent. Rwanda, today belongs to the youth who readily buy its current image of land of opportunity as opposed to the previous generation, most of which is bitter due to the haunting past. Investment, education, entrepreneurship and most importantly peace (Amahoro), best describe this land-locked country’s current state. While all of this progress is happening right amidst the rural limitations of managing cattle and farm, the country has inclusively utilized and mobilized all it could get and seems unstoppable.
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