Is Rwanda a perfect example of how can some countries get out of poverty, crimes and economic stagnation?

Most of us might hear about the Rwandan genocide in the 1990s. Less might hear about their economic progress during the last decade. This case study is interesting just because it’s an example of an African country where in the past was known for crime and poverty. In different competitive index at those times it was at a very low position in those different lists. Nowadays, things might be slightly or maybe a lot more different from the past. Rwanda is the economic rock star of Africa, the model and example to follow economically, the place to invest in with freedom.

We’ll see whether they are the best example of a successful economic upturn. Learn about historic failure, achievement, and strategies that are useful to economic revolution for African and Caribbean countries.

Our words are not that sufficient to describe this epic story of a country where at the same time it has been ravaged by violence but ended up becoming one of the best on the African continent. There are many explanations. However we can exclude the fact that this country is dominated by a dictatorship, which might be a “progressist” one. Paul Kagame the current president was in office since 2000 and is in office until 2034. For now, he’s on his 19th years a president. It’s an African Normal presidential behavior but the difference with others is the different outcomes.

Because success has many parents, some international organisms claim their contribution in helping Rwanda to become a success story. Institutions such as the World Bank are showcasing their contributions, the different funds that have been invested in Rwandan development projects. Let’s just start by doing a geographic presentation of the country which will help us to understand some factors of difficulty and also of strength.

Geographic Presentation of the Republic of Rwanda

Rwanda is a tiny East African country that is sharing borders with countries such as Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo. Based on the article written about Rwanda on Forbes Africa described the different odds of this nation such as their small size, or even position. Their capital is Kigali, one of the nicest places in Africa nowadays. Some point out that it’s the third African city that holds more international summits and conference. The three African cities that host most international summits are Cape Town in South Africa, Casa Blanca in Morocco, and Kigali in Rwanda.

Let’s talk about the history of Rwanda and point out the different blueprint in their current situation

Rwanda was previously a colony of Belgium. In 1959 they took their independence from their Belgium dominators. Things were not for the best as decades of crime and violence have followed this independence, Rwandan territory kept being a war zone for a long period. One of the most unforgettable things about their history is this bloody incident perpetrated by the Hutu in 1994 against the Tutsi and moderate Hutu. This tragedy left a sequel in Rwandan population memory, where almost 1 million people have lost their life. Some sources have revealed that it was 800,000 people the unfortunate number of those who perished under the weapon. It’s still hurtful when thinking about this tragic moment in Rwandan history. But, they're based on that to keep complaining and wait for international support. Kagame and his team took the office in 2000 and keep it for longer than usual but still manage to bring economic results and social improvement situation for women.

What were and are their current challenges for this nation

Challenges always contributed to whether to improve or destroy a nation, community, an individual. The handling of challenges is the most important when coming through the way. Some of them might be harder than others. The case of Rwanda is an example of challenges extremely hard. Their position and size are two of their biggest challenges. The biggest one is the difference of tribal group which was at the origin of the genocide in 1994. People died and constructions destroyed everything had to be rebuild which is a pretty hard situation to get over. Putting those two groups together should still call for violence, as it is usually said that the same problem brings the same issues. And that my friend was the biggest challenge that everyone should think was on the failing path. But it remains mysterious the way they overcome all those challenges but not that mysterious, as their strategies have been studied.

Let’s highlight some numbers relative to Rwandese economic achievement

Here are some numbers helping us showcasing the actual economic situation in Rwanda:

-         In 2017, they were ranked at 8th rank as the least corrupted nation in the 2017 corruption perception index

-         Personal income and corporate taxes rates are around 30 %.

-         Rwanda has a population floating around 12 million precisely 11.8 million people made up their somehow heavy population.

-         In 2019, their GDP (PPP) is $ 24.6 billion (Which is pretty interesting for a small-sized country).

-         Their per capita GDP (still PPP) is precisely $ 2,080.

-         The unemployment rate is very low, 1.3 % is the percentage of those who don’t have a job in Rwanda.

-         The inflation (CPI) is 4.8%

-         On 47 countries in the Sub-Saharan region, Rwanda is pointed at the second rank.

-         63% of the Rwandan population is still live in extreme poverty with less than $ 1.25 (weforum.org)

-         In 2010, there was an improvement in the % of people living below the poverty border. It went from 57% in 2005 to 45%.

-         In 2017, They have collected $ 42 million from 192 conferences. (forbesafrica.com)

P.S: those numbers are from weforum.org and heritage.org

Economic theories applied to their example and their model throughout the time flying

There’s a kind of Keynesianism adherence when analyzing their economic strategies. They are more into letting the government controlling the economic activities or give direction into the growth of the economic and financial environment. It’s like there’s a winning of Maynard Keynes ideology than those of Classic or even Adam Smith. Government has taken a huge part in what the Rwandan economy has become.

Diversification is also an innovative strategy in their trade relationship which gives them a larger range of products. They prove that outside of some famous theories they can success going against them. For example, the economic theory of specialization, based on the comparative advantage was not necessary and they didn’t care about it.

The final statement on our economic analysis on Rwanda

Economic success should be manifested in a wide range of activities and Rwanda has managed to do that. Their trade international relationship is not only based on a traditional model of relation such as exporting their best or one product from a sector. People once they hear about Africa they tend to associate their economic activities specifically their exportation to the selling and exports of agricultural products. Rwanda has something different, I’m almost ready to say that maybe Rwanda is the Wakanda (the plot used by Marvel for their movie Black Panther). Rwanda, in my opinion, is like the China of Africa, they’ve managed to diversify their economic activities. Modernity isn’t strange to them. It’s one of the African countries with the best internet activities and network; they manage to technologize their activities.

I think that maybe instead of saying “Wakanda forever” like a utopia, people of this country might be proud to bring Wakanda to life and would proudly say: “Rwanda forever”. And they’re right as soon as they keep display those results or better ones. Kagame and his team have done a good job during the last two decades it’s there still room for improvement in Rwanda.

But… there’s more analysis that might take place on the overall country. Even this epic turning in their history there still has some places in this country that might need some improvement whether in people’s lifestyle or environmental improvement.

Widley Marcelin

References

Theconversation.com

Forbesafrica.com

Weforum.org

Worldbank.org

Heritage.org