Charles Kayonga
Rwandan Ambassador to the People's Republic of China
Diplomacy / Rwanda
Rwanda’s economic emergence “defied the odds”
Following a genocide that tested the limits of the country’s social fabric, Rwanda, an East African nation of 12 million, has been reborn. Today the nation is recognized as the global leader in gender equality in politics and among the top three places to do business in Africa. With plenty of praise and investment coming in, the national is now embarking upon grand ICT ambitions. Charles Kayonga, the Rwandan Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, tells us how his people “defied the odds.”
Rwanda has been lauded for its recent social harmony and political stability. What political reforms have led to your country’s emergence?
After liberating the country and stopping the Tutsi genocide in July 1994, the incoming Rwanda Patriotic Front had to overhaul the system of governance. This was done by first establishing a new government ideology based on unity and reconciliation, rather than the divided ethnic ideologies that characterized Rwanda post-colonialism. Our new governance addressed not only sectarian problems, but also people’s rights. As a result, Rwanda is the world leader on gender parity in politics: We have the most women parliamentarians in the world, representing 63.8 percent of seats, according to the World Economic Forum, making us and Bolivia the only two countries where women outnumber men in parliament.
On the economic side, what reforms have made Rwanda an African leader?
Rwanda has embarked upon a roadmap to become a middle-income country driven by a service and knowledge-based economy by 2020: We call this roadmap the Vision 2020. To achieve this vision, we believe we’ll need a healthier and better-educated population, therefore a greater portion of our national budget has gone into the education and health sectors. Measures to attract foreign investment have also been adopted, and today Rwanda is ranked the third best country to do business in Africa after Mauritius and South Africa, according to the World Bank’s annual Doing Business report. Furthermore, and importantly, Rwanda aims to gradually become economically self reliant, weaning ourselves off of dependence on foreign aid. There has been progress: Rwanda has moved from depending on foreign aid for nearly 100 percent of our national budget in the 1990s to just 34 percent today.
What is Rwanda’s macroeconomic outlook?
Rwanda is predominantly a rural agrarian country with about 80 percent of its 12 million people living in rural areas and with more than 70 percent of them engaging in subsistence farming. Yet, in spite of this lower developmental position, Rwanda has made giant economic strides in the last 21 years. Real GDP has been growing at an average of 8 percent for at least the last decade, and the service sector currently represents about 47 percent of productivity, overtaking agriculture and mining as the major contributor to growth. (Meanwhile, growth in industry has slowed as a result of a downturn in mining, manufacturing and construction.) Inflation has been contained at single digits and the central bank’s medium-term target is set at 5 percent for 2015 and 2016, and lower food and fuel prices today are expected to maintain low inflationary pressures. However, the Rwandan economy is characterized by current account deficits due to low export earnings, which stood at 25 percent of imports in both 2013 and 2014. The objective of the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy 2 (EDPRS 2) 2013-18 is to develop economic zones with the logistics and necessary infrastructure to attract industries and thereby promote exports. Already, a number of Chinese manufacturing companies have set foot in these economic zones, notably C&H Garments, a garment manufacturing company.
The Rwandan capital of Kigali just finished hosting the World Economic Forum for Africa. What significance does hosting such an event have for your nation?
That the forum took place in Rwanda is, in itself, an historical event. Rwanda is a country that just 21 years ago was virtually written off the map. Hosting such an event is a sign that the Rwandan people have defied the odds by achieving a level of development previously thought impossible; furthermore, we now provide hope for all those countries struggling through their own post-conflict situations. The lesson is this: If your nation has visionary leadership that mobilizes the minds and means of its citizens, going forward is possible.
Rwanda is ideally located to become an ICT hub for East and Central Africa. Why should investors consider Rwanda as an African ICT hub of choice?
Rwanda takes the development of the IT sector very seriously, as it is a core component to our Vision 2020 roadmap. Today, one million Rwandans have access to the Internet, and we continue to lay a foundation for this sector by investing in ICT education, notably through partnerships with the US’s Carnegie Mellon University. At the functional level, Rwanda has promoted ICT start-ups through initiatives such as Kigali Innovations City, and many are already in operation.
Rwandan Minister of Infrastructure James Musoni earlier this year signed an MoU with Song Dongsheng, the Chairperson of Sinohydro, one of the world’s largest producers of hydropower. What is the current dialogue for Sino-Rwandan collaboration on energy and infrastructure projects?
China remains one of Rwanda’s most important FDI and trading partners. We continue to engage Chinese companies to invest in the energy sector, as well as other infrastructure. For example, Chinese companies include some of those lining up to undertake the Rusumo Hydroelectric Power Station, a project that plans to link Rwanda, Tanzania and Burundi. Power development projects like this are imperative to our developmental mission, as Rwanda would need to connect more than 70 percent of our population to the grid to fully utilize ICT as a transformational economic tool. Moreover, China has also been constructing a number of roads in Rwanda, notably the Kivu Belt road being developed by the China Road and Bridge Corporation, which will also commence the Kigali road network project that is part of the 10 cooperation plans proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in Johannesburg last December. We are also in discussion with China to construct the railway lines linking Rwanda and other East African countries.
