Attendees at the just-concluded Women Deliver 2023 Conference in Kigali exchanged ideas and experiences through thought-provoking discussions that set the stage for the unveiling of new and transformative policy frameworks supporting women’s rights and issues.



In the heart of Kigali, Rwanda, the BK Arena and Kigali Convention Centre buzzed with excitement as women from all corners of the world gathered for the Women Deliver 2023 Conference (WD2023), from July 17-20, held for the first time in Africa.



Held under the theme, Spaces, Solidarity, and Solutions, the sixth Women Deliver Conference aimed to ignite collective action, empower the feminist movement, and foster a world where gender equality and women&#8217;s rights thrive.



A wide range of topics, including abortion access, LGBTIQQ rights, gender-based violence and impact of the climate crisis on women and girls, were discussed, along with focus on fostering youth engagement and elevating the perspectives of young women in the global gender equality movement.



The event saw an impressive turnout with thousands in attendance. Notable speakers included renowned personalities such as activist Malala Yousafzai. Also in attendance were four heads of state including Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame – with his wife and first lady Jeannette Kagame – Ethiopia’s President Sahle-Work Zewde, Senegal’s President Macky Sall, and the President of Hungary, Katalin Novák.



One of the most significant announcements came from the collaboration between Women Deliver and Open Society Foundations, a grant-making network founded and chaired by Hungarian-American business behemoth and philanthropist George Soros.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/53061404639_04db8de2ad_k-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-58967" width="582" height="388" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/53061404639_04db8de2ad_k-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/53061404639_04db8de2ad_k-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/53061404639_04db8de2ad_k-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/53061404639_04db8de2ad_k-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/53061404639_04db8de2ad_k.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 582px) 100vw, 582px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo credit: Women Deliver</figcaption></figure></div>


Together, they unveiled a new funding facility to address, among other things, neglected areas of female sexual health and reproductive rights. The room erupted in applause as the audience recognized the potential of this facility in empowering marginalized women and girls who have long been denied access to basic healthcare.



As the conference progressed, it became evident that the commitment to drive change extended beyond the arena’s walls. More than 40 organizations came together to launch a powerful campaign addressing the gender nutrition gap. Their collective call urged governments to take transformative action, shining a spotlight on the stark inequalities that persist globally in women&#8217;s and girls&#8217; nutrition.



Another momentous step forward was the unveiling of the RESPECT Women website. Developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), UN Women, and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), this policy framework and online platform has been designed to combat and respond to violence against women and girls. The website&#8217;s potential to create a safer environment and promote gender equality and women&#8217;s empowerment was met with resounding support and recognition.



Perhaps the most moving moment at the conference was when UNFPA introduced Kigali Call to Action: United for Women and Girls&#8217; Bodily Autonomy. This powerful call placed bodily autonomy, reproductive rights, and gender equality at the core of the agenda. With a clear focus on women-led organizations and the feminist movement, the call aimed to drive coordinated and collective action towards gender equality by 2030.



The conference&#8217;s commitment to empowering future generations was expressed with the launch of the Women Deliver Emerging Leaders Program to provide young people with trust-based funding, knowledge, resources, and leadership opportunities in the pursuit of gender equality and reproductive



health advocacy. As the torch was passed on to the next generation, the attendees celebrated the potential of these emerging leaders to create a lasting impact on the global stage.



Throughout the conference, attendees engaged in thought-provoking discussions, exchanging ideas and experiences, leaving no stone unturned in their quest for progress. Challenges were acknowledged, and the urgency to address them collectively was clear.



The importance of funding for gender equality advocacies resonated strongly among the attendees. Julia Fan, Senior Manager for Youth Engagement at Women Deliver, emphasized that funding remains a critical aspect in driving forward the agenda for gender equality and women&#8217;s empowerment.



Alongside the vibrant discussions and inspiring stories of progress, Soraya Hakuziyaremye, the Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda, too offered valuable insights. She acknowledged the strides Rwanda has made in promoting women to leadership positions, highlighting that this progress did not happen overnight but has been the result of extraordinary leadership that recognized gender equity as a vital indicator of the nation&#8217;s progress, almost three decades ago.



While there were successes to celebrate, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the Board Chair of Women Deliver, also addressed a pressing concern shared by many attendees.



She remarked: &#8220;What concerns most women today here is that progress in gender equality has been slow and uneven, and a major space where all countries have failed is violence against women. It is sad to sit and talk about this here again; I was talking about this 10 years ago.&#8221;



While gender issues still persist, efforts to combat them also have a history, starting with the Beijing Declaration in 1995 that opened the door for women’s issues to find mainstream recognition globally, leading to the Platform for Action adopted unanimously by 189 countries. In the words of Mlambo-Ngcuka, “it was a defining moment when women’s rights received the status of human rights”.



The development and acceptance of the Maputo Protocol on Women’s Rights in 2005 has also come a long way. The protocol has one of the highest number of ratifications for an instrument in the African Union (AU) and has objectively established a uniform basis for protecting the rights of women and girls in Africa. Forty nine of the 55 AU member states have signed the Maputo Protocol thus far.



Reflecting on the week&#8217;s transformative experience. Rania Dagesh, the Deputy Regional Director for eastern and southern Africa at UNICEF, expressed her sentiments: &#8220;The past week at Women Deliver has been phenomenal; there have been moments of reflection, profound exchanges, and valuable learning. I am truly grateful for participating.&#8221;



As the final moments of the conference unfolded, the atmosphere was one of hope, determination, and camaraderie.

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From Rwanda To Beyond: New Collaborations And Collective Action At Women’s Conclave

The recently-launched NBA Africa is seeking to elevate basketball on the continent, and the Basketball Africa League held in Rwanda was a historic game-changer.



BY ARNOLD KWIZERA



The hosting of a global or continental sports tournament in the midst of a pandemic is no mean feat, and making it successful an even greater achievement. 



The inaugural Basketball Africa League (BAL), Africa’s premier men’s basketball league, at the newly-built Kigali Arena in Rwanda in the second half of May saw Egyptian giants Zamalek crowned champions of the first-ever National Basketball Association (NBA)-backed league outside of North America. 



But it was not only the triumph of the North African side that was a highlight at the tournament. The event brought together leading global names to the East African hill city of Kigali. For a football-crazed continent, this marked a new beginning for basketball in Africa.



The star-spangled event featured some big names. In attendance was French President Emmanuel Macron, the former CEO of Credit Suisse Tidjane Thiam, American businessman and co-owner of NBA franchise Milwaukee Bucks, Wes Edens, basketball royalty such as Dikembe Mutombo and Joakim Noah, and ardent basketball fan and tournament host, Rwanda’s President, Paul Kagame.



The continent’s music stars were in attendance too – from Nigeria, South Africa, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo – descending on Kigali’s green streets for the historic event.



The two-week tournament kicked off with attention brought to it by the participation of Grammy-award-winning American rapper J.Cole’s set for Rwanda’s Patriots Basketball Club.



The inaugural BAL season featured 12 club teams from 12 African countries: Algeria, Angola, Cameroon, Egypt, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, and Tunisia.



BAL was supposed to be held in 2020 in Senegal capital Dakar but the pandemic pushed it out. That didn’t deter the organizers from holding it a year later, moving the showpiece to Rwanda. Taking lessons from the NBA bubble created to host the 2020 playoffs, BAL was held as a live event ensuring the safety of all players and staff. Spectators had to present a negative Covid-19 test and attendance was limited with social distance measures observed.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-beginnings">THE BEGINNINGS</h3>



In February 2019, the NBA and International Basketball Federation announced they would jointly set up a continental clubs basketball tournament. The announcement made by NBA commissioner Adam Silver during the All-Star Weekend dwelt on a champions league format competition whose long-term aim would be to tap into not only a growing basketball market but also create opportunities for talent from Africa to play at an elite level.



Think Joel Embiid from Cameroon, who finished second in this year’s Most Valuable Player voting in the NBA, or Pascal Siakam, an All-Star player who had an integral part in the Toronto Raptors winning the 2019 NBA championship.



Experts say Africa has the talent but for a long time has lacked a formal structure to propel that very talent.



“When you think of the likes of Hakeem Olajuwon, a former NBA Most Valuable Player, we have never lacked in talent but we need infrastructure to help us tap into this talent and create opportunities for young Africans,” says Masai Ujiri, President of the Toronto Raptors.



Masai, of Nigerian and Kenyan origin, has been influential in bringing NBA programs to the African continent.



But one man key to the tournament was Amadou Gall Fall, the soft-spoken Senegalese at the helm of BAL, who brought global brands and businesses to the event for multi-year partnerships of the league that is now being valued at more than $1 billion.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">THE OPPORTUNITIES</h3>



Edens, known for his investment in sports, said the potential of BAL is enormous with now being the right time: “There is no doubt the talent is there, the market is there but what largely lacked is the infrastructure. This is not only an opportunity for sportsmen but for economies on the African continent to tap into a whole new ecosystem.” According to BAL chief Fall,the opportunities are beyond the basketball played on court.



“We have to look at the potential for growth of the creative industry, the coaches, agents, it’s a whole network that we as Africans can tap into,” he said.



For this to happen, leadership on the continent will need to chip in. On meeting with BAL and NBA officials in 2018, Kagame had asked what it would take for his country to be a part of the development of the sport. He was told the country would need a world-class facility for the tournament. The 10,000-seater Kigali Arena was hence built from the ground up.



“It is such visionary, people-centric leadership that we need on the continent for our growth,” said Ujiri.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">WHAT NEXT?</h3>



At the awards ceremony, Fall announced that Kigali would host the next two editions of the tournament with a stronger focus on empowering national leagues. “We need to strengthen the enthecompetitiveness of the national leagues as this will have a long- term impact on the quality of the tournament,” he said.



As the organizers of the tournament, NBA Africa pledged its support to national leagues with various partners also doing so.



“We have to create more funding avenues and have an all-rounded ecosystem; when you look at the NBA, it employs more people than the number of athletes,” said Mutombo, one of the investors in NBA Africa.



As Zamalek’s captain Mostafa Kejo lifted the Baobab tree-inspired trophy, it not only brought the curtain down on a world-class tournament but heralded the beginning of a new dawn for the sport on the African continent.

2021 NBA Finals – Game Two

How Africa is Aiming High to Elevate Basketball on The Continent

With reset bilateral relations, the hill country of Rwanda is attracting fresh interest from French business. 



In May, French President Emmanuel Macron’s two-day trip to Rwanda was hailed as historic in helping reset relations between the two countries.



During the visit, Macron acknowledged France’s role in the genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994 that left over a million dead. “France has a role, a history and a political responsibility in Rwanda,” he said in a landmark speech delivered at the Kigali Genocide Memorial in the capital, Kigali.



But Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame insisted the visit was about “the future, not the past”. “France and Rwanda are going to relate better to the benefit of our people, politically, economically and culturally,” he said.



Testament to that is a rising French business interest in Rwanda. In the new suburb of Rebero, for example, the Vivendi Group has established a cinema hall, a games center and has plans for a Universal Music Studio. Its internet and media businesses, Canal Box and Canal Plus, is a household name in Rwanda. The group’s business, Bolloré, specializes in warehouse, logistics and customs clearance services.



Roger Nkubito, Bolloré’s General Manager in Rwanda and Burundi, reveals the company has been investing further in the country.



“Obviously, every investor wants to associate with a country that is politically stable. Without good politics, it’s always hard for investors to make quick investment decisions,” he says.



Nkubito admits that the revitalized bilateral ties have inspired the business community from France to do business in Rwanda.



“French companies at this moment are asking whether there is a possibility to have a double tax avoidance agreement signed between the two countries. That wouldn’t have happened without the two countries making efforts to talk to each other,” he asserts.



Nkubito says Bollore Logistics has now set aside $15 million to expand its reach in Rwanda.



“We are investing in the Kigali Economic Free Zone. We have completed the first phase of the project – a big modern warehouse with 10,000 square meters, which has cost us $7 million. The second phase will begin at the end of this year,” he explains.



A few kilometers away, another French firm, Duval Group, has committed millions to set up one of the largest shopping malls in the country.



Duval Group, a family-owned business which already has operations in Cameroon, Senegal, Ghana and Ivory Coast, is one of the latest French players in the Rwandan market.



The company is partnering with local businessman Vicky Murabukirwa for various planned investments.



“We are investing in Rwanda because the political landscape is conducive, the IT infrastructure is advanced, and there’s security. These are some of the key things that have attracted French investors here,” Murabukirwa says. On the cards for the group is a property complex



that will comprise duty-free shops, a four-star hotel, a hypermarket, a food court and other entertainment facilities.



Rwanda is positioning itself as an international financial center and has been working over the years to market itself as a hub for meetings, conferences and events.



According to reports, last year alone, French businesses invested $6.8 million in Rwanda.



“We have a long-term strategic vision towards Rwanda. Beyond Inzovu Mall (the real estate project), we are exploring opportunities in microfinance and insurance sectors,” Eric Duval, the Group’s Founder and Chairman, tells FORBES AFRICA.



BY JULIUS BIZIMUNGU

TOPSHOT-FRANCE-SUDAN-POLITICS-DIPLOMACY-SUMMIT

Newer Heights: ‘Every investor wants to associate with a country that is politically stable’

The East African nation has raised the money to strengthen economic recovery



The Government of Rwanda has raised $620 million through the issuance of the latest 10-year Eurobond bond issuance, the second Eurobond after 2013 when the government last went to the market.



The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning announced on August 2 that Rwanda’s second international bond was oversubscribed nearly three times as it attracted some $1.6 billion in orders.



The sale, handled by Deutsche Bank and Citigroup, priced the new debt at a 5.5% yield.



“We are pleased with the positive response from investors in this 2021 Eurobond issuance,” John Rwangombwa, Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda, said in a statement.



“The lower yield of this issue will result in a reduction in our annual interest payments over the next 10 years, strongly contributing to our debt sustainability strategy,” the Governor noted.



Just over half of the proceeds go to refinance the majority of the country’s other outstanding mortgage, which raised $400 million in 2013 and would expire in 2023.



The rest, the Finance Ministry said, will be spent on “key priority projects” to strengthen Rwanda’s economic recovery. With a slightly higher issue, it puts Rwanda in the main emerging market bond index which means that investors will be looking for such issue.



“This was a very attractive time for Rwanda to come to the market. This is indicative of the much lower coupon that Rwanda sold its bond at – more than 1 percent lower than what they borrowed in 2013,” Kevin Daly, a fund manager at Aberdeen Standard Investments, told CNBC Africa.



Global ratings agency Fitch gave the latest bond a B-plus rating last week and downgraded Rwanda’s outlook to negative. The ratings agency said a failure to stabilize the debt at the current level of about 70% of gross domestic product could lead to a downgrade in the future.



However, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) sees Rwanda as a low-risk debt country in contrast to Kenya and Ghana – countries that have been to the Eurobond market recently.



“The success of the new issue is a validation that investors at this stage are not overly concerned about the medium-term outlook for Rwanda,” Daly weighed in.



Rwanda is the latest among African countries that have issued international bonds since the start of this year, including Kenya that raised $1 billion by issuing a 12-year Eurobond at 6.3% on June 17.



Countries like Benin, Cameroon, and Senegal have been to the market this year, and on average, African bond issuances have been oversubscribed three times, reflecting increased investor appetite. 



By Julius Bizimungu

RWANDA-ECONOMY-URBAN-PLANNING-POVERTY

Rwanda’s $620mn In Second Eurobond And Increased Investor Appetite

How do you forgive a man who has killed all your loved ones? Rwanda’s reconciliation efforts have seen survivors and perpetrators of the 1994 genocide against the tutsi living next to each other, healing and transforming. FORBES AFRICA travels to Bugesera to capture one such moving tale.



BY TESI KAVEN Photos by Ridhima Shukla



IT’S ONE THING TO FORGIVE a person who has committed a crime against you, and quite another to reconcile, live next to and even cultivate a strong friendship with the person, especially when he has horrifically claimed the lives of your entire family. 



This scenario is not strange in Rwanda, a country once torn apart by the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, when more than a million people lost their lives. This year, in April, Rwanda marked the 27th anniversary of the genocide, and reconciliation, though unfathomable at one point, has become a concept the country has become known for. On the outskirts of the capital city of Kigali, approximately a two-hour drive away, is a village with a rich history, one that’s not easily given away by the serene and beautiful surrounds. 



<div class="wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile" style="grid-template-columns:41% auto"><figure class="wp-block-media-text__media"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="768" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Maria-1024x768.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-51460 size-full" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Maria-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Maria-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Maria-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Maria-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Maria-2048x1536.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure><div class="wp-block-media-text__content">
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">Someone we thought was a friend offered to help us, but instead, he delivered my husband and children to the killers. – Maria Izagiriza</blockquote>




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In what almost looks like a gated community, 110 houses stand at the Rweru Reconciliation Village in Bugesera District. To foster the concept of reconciliation, perpetrators and survivors of the genocide live next to each other. In this village, we meet Maria Izagiriza and Philbert Ntezirizaza. 



Targeted attacks against the Tutsi community had begun long before the 1994 genocide, resulting in mass killings and forced relocations. Among the many affected, was 63-year-old Izagiriza, who lost some of her siblings in killings in 1973 and later, her first husband. 



Widowed at a young age, she later remarried and moved from her birthplace to Bugesera district, where she gave birth to four children. News of the death of the then Rwandan president, Juvénal Habyarimana, was delivered to Izagiriza by a neighbor on that fateful morning of April 7, 1994. She remembers it all as if it was yesterday. 



“My neighbor informed me that the president had died the night before and went on to say that my people were responsible for his death,” Izagiriza tells FORBES AFRICA. “My neighbor said my people and I would pay dearly for what we had done.” 



Indeed, nothing could have prepared Izagiriza, her family and millions of other Rwandans for the atrocities that took place over the next 100 days, following the death of Habyarimana. The militia descended on Izagiriza’s home that morning, killing all her livestock, burning down her house and beating her husband to a pulp, leaving him for dead. The children were miraculously spared. 



She managed to escape through a hole she had created in the mud wall of her kitchen. When night fell, she returned to her compound to get her husband and children. 



“Though breathing, my husband was so badly wounded and bleeding from all parts of his body,” she says, pausing to wipe the tears streaming down her tired face. 



”The children were scared stiff but unharmed.” With the help of her children, Izagiriza somehow managed to drag her injured husband to a hiding place where she felt they would all be safe. This would, however, be the last time she would see her husband and children alive. 



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/IMG_4004-1024x768.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-51450" width="393" height="295" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/IMG_4004-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/IMG_4004-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/IMG_4004-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/IMG_4004-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/IMG_4004-2048x1536.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 393px) 100vw, 393px" /></figure></div>



“Someone we thought was a friend offered to help us, but instead, he delivered my husband and children to the killers. Again, I managed to escape, but this time, with my four-month-old baby strapped to my back. That was the last time I saw my family alive.” 



Izagiriza’s family was led to a barricade where a group of young, blood-thirsty men were killing people. Among them that day was Ntezirizaza. He was only 18 years old at the time. Hatred for the Tutsi people, he says, was planted in him when he was still very young. 



“In 1994, I was a teenager, my body full of youthful vigor and my mind filled with a terrible ideology, fed to me since I was in elementary school,” Ntezirizaza tells FORBES AFRICA. “Our mindset at that time was more lethal than the machetes we carried.” 



Asked what happened to Izagiriza’s family, Ntezirizaza pauses, then, with a low voice and distant gaze, says: “We hacked her husband and eldest son to death and threw the remaining two children in a deep pit, alive. We knew they wouldn’t survive.” 



A while after the genocide, Ntezirizaza was sentenced to 12 years in prison, after confessing to his crimes. It was while in prison that he met with members of Prison Fellowship Rwanda (PFR), an NGO that sought to unite and reconcile Rwandans. 



“PFR helped us see how deadly the beliefs and ideologies we harbored were and the importance of seeking forgiveness from those we hurt,” he says. 



<div class="wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile" style="grid-template-columns:42% auto"><figure class="wp-block-media-text__media"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="768" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/IMG_4011-1024x768.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-51455 size-full" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/IMG_4011-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/IMG_4011-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/IMG_4011-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/IMG_4011-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/IMG_4011-2048x1536.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure><div class="wp-block-media-text__content">
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">We have built nine reconciliation villages across the country, and they stand not only as a monument of Rwanda’s history but also as an example to future generations that unity and reconciliation can be achieved. – David Nsoro, the communication officer at Prison Fellowship Rwanda</blockquote>




</div></div>



In 2003, six years into his sentence, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame pardoned prisoners who had admitted to their crimes. Though free, guilt kept gnawing on Ntezirizaza’s conscience. 



“I felt like I had been released from one prison and walked straight into another. I had no peace, no rest.” Izagiriza, who had managed to escape to Burundi with her infant daughter, was now back in Rwanda, trying to pick up the pieces of what was left of her life. 



News had reached her while in Burundi that her family was no more, and she battled depression and suicidal thoughts. Just like Ntezirizaza, she met members of PFR, who at the time were building the Rweru Reconciliation Village, to help settle survivors whose property was destroyed and perpetrators who were coming out of prison but with nowhere to call home. Volunteers and pastors from the NGO counseled Izagiriza, helping her to come to terms with what had happened. 



“The PFR team helped me realize that forgiving and letting go was for my benefit. Mentally, they prepared me to meet and forgive Philbert,” she says. “But I must admit, it wasn’t easy.” 



As a sign of remorse for his actions, Ntezirizaza would work on Izagiriza’s farm under the cover of darkness. “I would prepare the farm for planting on one night, then plant the seeds the following night and water them the night after. I wanted to do what the children or husband I killed would have done had they been alive,” he says. 



Eventually, the two had a sit-down session and he narrated all that befell her family and asked to be forgiven. At present, the two are genuine friends. Izagiriza asked Ntezirizaza to be her daughter’s godfather at her baptism. When her daughter got married and walked down the aisle, he was there to witness it all.



The story of Izagiriza and Ntezirizaza may just be one story but it mirrors the experiences of many in the tiny East African hill country. 



It is echoed by countless other survivors of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi who have chosen the path of unity and reconciliation, however difficult it has been. 



David Nsoro, the communication officer at PFR, says that seeing the survivors and perpetrators living together in harmony at the reconciliation villages is a huge milestone. 



“We have built nine reconciliation villages across the country, and they stand not only as a monument of Rwanda’s history but also as an example to future generations that unity and reconciliation can be achieved,” Nsoro tells FORBES AFRICA. In his address to the nation on the 27th commemoration of the genocide against the Tutsi, Kagame emphasized on the transformation that had taken place not just in the country, but more in the hearts and minds of Rwandans. 



Said Kagame: “The immensity of what has been achieved is almost miraculous. The results are attested to by Rwandans, and indeed indisputable. But the intangible transformation which has taken place in the hearts and minds of our people is even more important.”

IMG_3989

A Story Of Reconciliation, Healing And Hope

Rwanda is renowned for its green and immaculate public spaces. And 35-year-old Viateur Ndahayo is a flower farmer playing his part, beautifying the city of Kigali with his ornamental flora.



At Gacuriro, a leafy neighborhood in Kigali, dressed in a white shirt and blue jeans, Ndahayo shows us around his RWF250 million ($255,000) nursery. He has come a long way to be in this prized spot.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="768" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Ndahayo-giving-directions-to-his-workers-1024x768.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-49738" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Ndahayo-giving-directions-to-his-workers-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Ndahayo-giving-directions-to-his-workers-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Ndahayo-giving-directions-to-his-workers-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Ndahayo-giving-directions-to-his-workers-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Ndahayo-giving-directions-to-his-workers-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Ndahayo-giving-directions-to-his-workers-600x450.jpg 600w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Ndahayo giving direction to his workers</figcaption></figure>



After primary school, he could not pursue his secondary education due to limited means. As a firstborn, he had to help his widowed mother bring up his siblings.&nbsp;



“I was competent and excelled in my studies but my mother’s land was too small to finance our education,” he recalls.



With a heavy heart, Ndahayo made the decision to drop out of school and concentrate on growing flowers. Little did he know he was sowing the seeds for a successful future.&nbsp;



“I grew flowers as an experiment because it was not a common activity here. Only one Belgian company used to do it,” he says. Ndahayo explains that when the Belgians flew back home from Rwanda, the people who took over their business weren’t doing it properly.



“I had never seen colored plants before as I was used to green ones. They caught my attention and made me very inquisitive.



“I didn’t envisage a profitable business growing flowers, I was just driven by passion.”



He had no formal training but started selling in 2000. “I realized I can make a living from this and even employ others if I put in more effort.”



But he needed land, seeds and equipment.



“I knew the project would succeed but had no money to finance it. So I approached a friend of mine who had three goats. I pitched my project to him and convinced him to sell them.”



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignright size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/A-worker-packing-flowers-into-a-wheelbarrow-1024x768.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-49734" width="331" height="248" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/A-worker-packing-flowers-into-a-wheelbarrow-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/A-worker-packing-flowers-into-a-wheelbarrow-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/A-worker-packing-flowers-into-a-wheelbarrow-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/A-worker-packing-flowers-into-a-wheelbarrow-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/A-worker-packing-flowers-into-a-wheelbarrow-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/A-worker-packing-flowers-into-a-wheelbarrow-600x450.jpg 600w" sizes="(max-width: 331px) 100vw, 331px" /><figcaption>A worker packing flowers into a wheelbarrow,</figcaption></figure></div>



“They paid us RWF21,000 ($21) but my friend changed his mind after a while because he saw no immediate profit,” recounts Ndahayo. He returned the capital three months later. “What pleases me is that afterwards, he realized I had not lied. I taught him the business and he’s doing well.”



Ndahayo lived on the outskirts in Nduba and had to travel to Kigali to sell his products. “I had to package up to 10 flower vases in a carton and carry them on my head because I had no transport. I would receive RWF1,000 ($1) to RWF3,000 ($3) for each.”



Slowly, he established connections and made a name for himself. It required courage and patience.



“At times, I felt hesitant about what I was doing and my colleagues thought I was crazy. But the passion I had kept me going,” he says. He conducted his own research and consulted others, thereby developing expertise in the trade over time.



“I made mistakes but drew lessons from them. It cost me a lot but benefitted me in the end.”



In 2008, he set up his nursery. It was the year he started reaping the fruits of his labor. &nbsp;



Today, he boasts nurseries with up to 270 types of flowers and plants such as Hemerocallis, Agapanthus blue, Roystonea palm and Ixora red, to name a few. He’s become a go-to flower grower in Kigali.



“If you can’t find a given flower here, don’t expect to find it anywhere else,” one of Ndahayo’s customers tells FORBES AFRICA.&nbsp;



Ndahayo claims to have mentored most of Kigali’s flower farmers.



While his profits vary depending on seasons and other aspects, he says he makes a minimum of $1,000 a month. If he wins a bid to supply flowers, that could go up a staggering 50 times.



He says the fact that Rwanda is a country that cares about cleanliness and the environment has been an enabling factor for his business. Nonetheless, he believes more support could be provided to those in flower farming.



“For example, you can’t go to a bank and secure a loan for this business. They’ll tell you we don’t trust it. But I’m telling you, it’s profitable although it’s a long-term investment,” he asserts.



Married with two children, Ndahayo lives in his own house. “I’m glad that I’m one of the people in this country who can add a brick on another,” he laughs.



Ndahayo employs more than 10 people on a permanent basis. He is hoping to expand his business by venturing into green house agriculture and has now formed a company called Green Smart Farm.



And his advice for young aspiring entrepreneurs?



He mentions the Kinyarwanda proverb ntiwakama inka utaragiye, which loosely translates to “you can’t milk a cow you’ve not fed”. He explains that genuine success takes ambition, hard work and patience.



“Life is a battle and you must commit to win.”



By Steven Muvunyi

IMG_6340

Rwandan Entrepreneur Who Is Reaping The Rewards With Booming Flower Business

A new report released by Oxford Insights shows that even though there is a digital divide as well as data poverty in Africa, five countries on the continent are taking leaps into leveraging technologies to accelerate economic growth with the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI).&nbsp;



In the 2020 Government AI Readiness Index Mauritius took the 45th position globally out of 172 countries across the world, making it the highest-ranked African country on the index. According to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MEWNMV6MQI&amp;feature=youtu.be">Oxford Insights</a>, Mauritius has always been forward-looking in terms of AI as it is is the only country on the continent to have published an AI strategy.&nbsp;



“Mauritius approach to AI is fantastic… They have a clear strategy as to what they want to achieve. They are also bringing the private sector and academia with them. They have a council with all of these sectors on them. They are investing in the skills and they are thinking about how that can be transferred back into the industry. That’s amazing and that’s the perfect playbook,” Richard Stirling, Oxford Insights CEO says. &nbsp;



The methodology of this index looks at a countries’ government’s willingness to adopt AI and if the country has a good supply of AI expertise and tools from the technology sector. In addition to that part, these tools need to be built and trained on high-quality and representative data with the appropriate infrastructure to be delivered to and used by citizens. 



Mauritius is also ranked 13 out of 34 countries on this year’s Responsible Use Sub-Index. This index, also by Oxford Insights, tracks the ethical use of AI in countries across the globe. The debate around responsible AI was put into focus this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, issues around privacy as well as ongoing global inequality. The index was measured using inclusivity, accountability, transparency, and privacy as some of its main indicators.&nbsp;



“Just because you are good at building AI, it does not mean you are using it ethically and responsibly,” Stirling says.&nbsp;



Among Mauritius, South Africa was also placed 59th globally on Government AI Readiness Index, Seychelles 68th, Kenya 71st, and Rwanda taking the 87th position. And although these countries are lower, Stirling elaborates on how these countries have focused on skills development which will harness the potential for AI not only in public services but in other sectors. Nations from the US, the UK to Russia, China, and Israel hold the top positions on the index, however, there are no countries in Africa in the top 20.&nbsp;



“We are lagging in technological development so we are playing catch up most of the time and essentially we are in catch up mode,” Araba Sey, Sub-Saharan Africa AI expert, commented on the Oxford Insights website.&nbsp;



Jean Lebel, President, International Development Research Centre (IDRC), added in a statement that though Ai has the potential to transform governance and public services throughout the world, there is a danger that regions, like in Africa, will be left behind. Lebel further adds that the index should encourage new collaborations and investments that could potentially assist with the barriers to government&#8217;s AI readiness and responsibilities. 



“We believe that this, in part, will help those currently lagging behind in our index to improve their AI readiness so that existing economic and technology inequality doesn&#8217;t become further entrenched and leave billions of citizens with worse quality public services,” Lebel said.

Young femal e engineer concept. GUI (Graphical User Interface).

Mauritius, South Africa & Seychelles Are In The Driver’s Seat Of AI Readiness In Africa

Tourism is slowly reawakening in Rwanda, with a renewed focus on the local market.



It’s a quiet, warm afternoon in June at Rwanda’s iconic, otherwise busy Kigali Convention Center (KCC). The conference venue’s paved parking lot that’s normally teeming with cars, is grey and empty against the backdrop of the green hills. Inside the KCC’s domed facility are 18 venues that can host more than 5,000 delegates at any given time. All of them are painfully silent, just like the five-star Radisson Blu hotel next to it.



This is the first time it has been as quiet since its opening in 2016. The KCC resumed operations on July 1 after the easing of lockdown restrictions, but overall, the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferencing and exhibitions) industry in Rwanda was to host close to 147 events this year targeting a revenue of $88 million. Most of these have been postponed or canceled. The highly-anticipated 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, for instance, originally scheduled for June 22-27 and that would have brought together more than a thousand business and government leaders from The Commonwealth to Kigali, has been postponed to June next year.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Five kilometers from the KCC, commercial passenger services at the Kigali International Airport that had been suspended are now slowly resuming, with national airline RwandAir announcing flights to select African routes and Dubai from August 1.



Rwanda recorded its first case of Covid-19 in mid-March and was one of the first few African countries to impose a strict and complete lockdown. As everywhere else, this has spelt bad news for the country’s leisure and business tourism sectors.&nbsp;



Take Ntende Hotel, a two-star facility owned by a 3,700-member cooperative of rice farmers called Coproriz. The cooperative’s members collected money to build the facility in Gatsibo district in the country’s Eastern Province in 2018. The hotel’s proximity to the Akagera National Park made it a big drawcard and all was well until Covid-19 changed everything.&nbsp;



James Karangwa, the hotel’s Investment Department Manager, explains that the outbreak resulted in the hotel suspending operations but it continued paying contracted staff and other fixed expenses. An even heavier burden was the repayment of a bank loan. A disheartened Karangwa says: “Having to meet such obligations whilst inoperative has affected us a great deal.”



Karangwa explains that, thankfully, the negative impact on the hotel business was cushioned by the group’s agri-business which was relatively less affected in the pandemic.



“The consequences would have been disastrous if we had not diversified our portfolio by investing in the cultivation of rice, maize and soya.”



The tourism and hospitality operators had been enduring the pain of Covid-19 since January, when the news about the virus first broke globally.



“There were already fears over the virus in January and many travelers cancelled their bookings while those that were here rushed back home to avoid being stuck,” recalls Wilson Habimana, founder of Wilson Tours and Travel Agency Ltd in Kigali. Of the 16 people his company employed before the outbreak, only four remain now.



“We have had a lot of cancellations from clients while others want their money back, hence, we had to do refund both for tours and tickets, which hasn’t been easy, as this pandemic caught the world unawares and it’s like most of the clients have lost the hope of traveling because of fear,” says Buwule Anna Fridah, a tour consultant, to FORBES AFRICA.



“As workers in the tourism industry, we have been affected by this pandemic because the source of our income has been closed,” concurs Ismael Nsengiyumva, a driver-guide, adding that investing in sectors other than tourism is one of the lessons he has learned from the crisis.



The pandemic has especially been a burden for new facilities such as the Epic Hotel &amp; Suites in Nyagatare district, in the Eastern Province of Rwanda. The four-star property opened in 2018; today, most of its workers have been sent home as the pandemic rendered them redundant.



“Since the lockdown, we certainly got affected; as most hotels, we had to lay off a large number of our workers. We came up with a policy to maintain the hotel in a semi-functional state because closing it would cost us a lot more [than] to restart,” says the chairman of its board, Alfred Ndabarasa. However, he expresses the hope of a recovery.



“The reopening of tourism and hospitality activities is helpful and we are gradually bringing our staff to work. Hopefully, by September, a big number would have returned to work if this problem does not persist.”



On June 16, a cabinet resolution that shone a glimmer of hope for the tourism and hospitality industry was released. “Domestic tourism and international tourism for visitors traveling [on] charter flights will resume,” read part of the statement. The government encouraged hotels to participate in domestic tourism promotion and offer conference services while adhering to strict health guidelines.&nbsp;



Earlier in the month, the government had launched a two-year fund for businesses affected by Covid-19. Dubbed the Economic Recovery Fund (ERF), it is to mobilize $200 million and designed to support enterprises highly impacted by the crisis so they can survive, restart work and safeguard employment.



An initial $100 million was allocated to the hotels sector loan refinancing as the cancellations of events and bookings due to the global lockdown and travel restrictions brought the sector to its knees, leading to a loss of over 90% of revenue.



Nsengiyumva Barakabuye, Chairman of the Rwanda Hospitality Association, commends the collaboration between the association and the government in responding to the crisis.



“We joined hands with the government in combating the pandemic through raising awareness to our members about Covid-19 and the measures to prevent its propagation,” he says.



“We requested for a tax waiver and economic stimulus. So far, so good. Although not all we requested was granted, the PAYE (Pay as You Earn) was waived for four months and a post Covid-19 Recovery Fund was put in place by the government.”



While the slow reopening of the tourism and hospitality sector has brought relief, Barakabuye says it’s yet to pick up. “Tourism activities have just been reopened. Borders are still closed and we are yet to start as members are preparing for the domestic market.”



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="800" height="600" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/The-Nyungwe-Canopy-Walkway-in-the-evening.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-47081" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/The-Nyungwe-Canopy-Walkway-in-the-evening.jpg 800w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/The-Nyungwe-Canopy-Walkway-in-the-evening-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/The-Nyungwe-Canopy-Walkway-in-the-evening-600x450.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/The-Nyungwe-Canopy-Walkway-in-the-evening-768x576.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption>The Nyungwe Canopy Walkway in the evening</figcaption></figure>



New opportunities in a crisis



Twentyfive-year-old Nostalgie Patrice studied software engineering in China and the United States. When he graduated in 2018, he wasn’t just nostalgic about his home country, he was also enthusiastic and prepared to use his newfound skills to seek opportunities in it. In March last year, he founded DTravela, a platform that aims to promote tourism and hospitality products digitally.



“I started DTravela after seeing how Rwanda was highly promoted as a tourism destination, and identified a business opportunity in unlocking its accessibility,” says Patrice.



But now, sales has suffered. “Covid-19 has strongly affected us because our clients are not operating. From March to June, we had almost zero sales,” he rues.



Going through this troublesome phase has been an uphill task. And like many others, he pivoted his business.&nbsp;



He revisited his idea of offering virtual tours, which had been disregarded by the many he had originally pitched it to. “When I took the proposal to different stakeholders prior to the pandemic, they could not understand its significance,” he says.



This time around, it was welcomed and supported. He makes a strong case for virtual tourism, which he considers an unexplored route to attracting tourists.



“We do teasers and that helps raise awareness about a place or product. By showcasing products and profiling people, we are able to attract tourists because research has shown that 80% of them do online searches before visiting,” says Patrice.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Last year, travel blog, Travel Lemming, voted Rwanda one of the top 30 emerging travel destinations worldwide for 2020 and the first in Africa. In addition to tourism partnerships with European topflight football clubs, 2020 was expected to be a good year for Rwanda’s tourism sector.&nbsp;



Furthermore, the Global Peace Index 2020 ranked ‘the land of a thousand hills’ as the second most peaceful country in the East African region after Tanzania and 14th in Africa, from 17th last year. It was all the more reason to believe 2020 would have been a landmark year for tourism in the country.



When Covid-19 was first identified in the country, the government suspended tourism and research activities in the three national parks namely Nyungwe, Gishwati-Mukura and the Volcanoes National Park, which are habitats of the renowned mountain gorillas and other primates.



Only Akagera National Park, home to ‘The Big Five’, remained temporarily open to visitors.



In the wake of the reopening of tourism, the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) has embarked on a promotional campaign for both Rwandan citizens and foreign visitors into these national attractions.



As Belise Kariza, Chief Tourism Officer at RDB, explains: “We’re seeing good trends since tourism reopened.



“We have 69 bookings for Volcanoes National Park in a span of a week which is a very good indication. Out of them, 42 have confirmed bookings.



&nbsp;“In terms of international tourists, they usually plan between one month-and-plus ahead of time but the good news is that we’ve got a lot of inquiries about the functionality of testing and more queries and hopefully we’re going to see international tourists arriving.”



She points out that the government’s strategy for tourism recovery will focus on domestic tourism while international tourism will be reopened in a phased manner.



Operators in the sector believe the pandemic should be an opportunity to strengthen indigenous tourism given the fact that international travel will take long to normalize. But Habimana of Wilson Tours and Travel Agency observes that traveling isn’t a passion for many Rwandese, especially now.



“Traveling isn’t a basic need and now people are stretched, some have lost their jobs, or had their salaries cut. It’s not easy to develop a package and convince them,” he says.



He believes offering promotional prices alone won’t be effective and recommends that the government also invests in behavior-change campaigns.



Rwanda’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic has been regarded by many as a success after the country made it to the list of 15 countries from where travelers are allowed into the European Union (EU) from July 1.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">&#8220;Using regional marketing and promotion strategies, countries can co-create programs and opportunities to recover, develop joint messages of solidarity to draw interests from travelers with a diversified product, pricing and packaging offers.” &#8211; Toyin Abiodun</blockquote>



Besides Rwanda, only Morocco and Tunisia are included from the continent, as the EU member states consider these countries safe due to their epidemiological situation related to the coronavirus.



While most of the pandemic-induced hardships appear to be in the past, the tourism and hospitality sector is far from getting back on its feet.



In order for it to rebound, experts say that a number of steps must be followed to ensure a balance between reopening whilst ensuring people are safe from the virus.



Toyin Abiodun, the Strategic Advisor at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, tells FORBES AFRICA the steps include dialogues with industry players to draw out short-term tailored practical measures, ensure adequacy of a variety of infrastructure components for travel to and from tourist locations and continuously send out strong messages on the safety and security African destinations offer foreign travelers. She also believes regional coordination would significantly support the sector’s recovery. “Using regional marketing and promotion strategies, countries can co-create programs and opportunities to recover, develop joint messages of solidarity to draw interests from travelers with a diversified product, pricing and packaging offers.”



Toyin adds that this would help reduce the adjustment costs associated with setting up individual protocol systems and ensure integration that enhances cross-country intel-sharing to restore traveler confidence.



Tour consultant Fridah advises that tour companies shouldn’t lose hope but rather keep on promoting their packages and revise their prices so as to be afloat.



“In addition, in cases where a company feels over-staffed, they shouldn’t fire their workers but rather come to an agreement to either pay them commission or half-salary because firing them will not bring in business.”



She explains that social media has been one of the ways she now promotes her business.



“I have been engaging with our audience on our social media handles, posting pictures for them not to lose hope [about] traveling again.”



Surely, the operative word is hope, not just for tourism, but for every industry on the planet now fighting for survival.



– By Steven Muvunyi

The-Kigali-Convention-Centres-design-is-inspired-by-traditional-Rwandan-baskets

Slowly But Surely: Tourism’s Renewal In Rwanda

In many ways, Covid-19 has been Africa’s ‘light bulb’ moment. As an example, a roundup of the new wave of pandemic-inspired innovations being tried and tested in the marketplace in hilly Rwanda.



As countries relentlessly dip into their depleting arsenal to creatively respond to the raging pandemic as also deploy new ideas to tackle it, in many ways, Covid-19 has been Africa’s ‘light bulb’ moment.



The new wave of innovations on the continent has seen governments, universities, corporates and small business rally together to come up with rejigged solutions and find effective ways to combat the crisis. In Rwanda, the ‘land of a thousand hills’ known for its tech startups and encouragement of new enterprise, a raft of new ideas are emerging, from clever face masks to ventilator machines, and food delivery apps to contact tracing apps and robots. We examine a few:



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="400" height="400" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Clare-bio-pic-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-42376" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Clare-bio-pic-1.jpg 400w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Clare-bio-pic-1-300x300.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Clare-bio-pic-1-100x100.jpg 100w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Clare-bio-pic-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Clare-bio-pic-1-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px" /><figcaption>CEO of Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Clare Akamanzi</figcaption></figure>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">&#8220;We have seen many exciting innovative responses from Rwandan entrepreneurs that have clearly demonstrated their great capacity to adapt and innovate for emerging situations.&#8221; &#8212; Clare Akamanzi, CEO of Rwanda Development Board (RDB)</blockquote>



Drones as loudspeakers?



With 30 employees and operating in six different countries in Africa, Eric Rutayisire’s drone company, Charis UAS, has worked on a number of projects in Rwanda, including spraying pesticides using drones on sites to quell mosquito breeding and malaria.



However, some of these projects came to a screeching halt when Covid-19 struck.



“Certain projects that were meant to kick off had to be stopped and we lost some revenue,” Rutayisire tells FORBES AFRICA.



The CEO says that he and his team had to quickly come up with an innovative way of joining the fight against the pandemic. They saw an opportunity to improve communication systems during the country’s total lockdown period.



“We identified gaps in the way information regarding the disease and the restriction guidelines was being passed to the community. The police would drive around in vehicles with loudspeakers communicating to people. So we approached them with the idea of using drones,” Rutayisire says.



The police quickly bought into the idea seeing as it would help limit human contact whilst also reach more people.



For this, the drones had to be slightly modified.



“We fitted the drones with megaphones and built a communication system that linked them to the police walkie-talkies, enabling them to broadcast messages from wherever they were.”



Three to four drones would be dispatched daily to various far-flung districts in Rwanda, with each drone operated by a team of two people.



Did the company make any profit for this new venture? “Our goal was not to make profits but to support the Rwandan government in the fight against this pandemic. Our company got increased visibility, but that was not our main goal,” says Rutayisire.



The use of drone technology in the fight against the coronavirus is not unique to Rwanda. Countries such as China used drones for crowd control whilst Australia developed a ‘pandemic drone’ to remotely detect and monitor individuals with infectious respiratory conditions.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="683" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/FABLAB-4-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-47050" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/FABLAB-4-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/FABLAB-4-scaled-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/FABLAB-4-scaled-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/FABLAB-4-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/FABLAB-4-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/FABLAB-4-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



Face shields as virus-busters



Never before has a commodity risen from ‘obscurity’ to becoming one of the world’s most coveted items of clothing. Face masks have instantly gone from exception to norm, and is the facial armor in the fight against Covid-19.



When the first case of Covid-19 was reported in Rwanda and it became apparent that masks would be essential in curtailing the spread, local garment manufacturing companies, and even neighborhood tailors, rose to the occasion to produce an array of masks to meet the rising demand.



Fabrication Laboratory, commonly known as FabLab Rwanda, which helps young innovators in the country turn their ideas into products, specifically in the hardware and electronics domain, saw an opportunity to produce a different kind of personal protective equipment – face shields.



According to FabLab’s General Manager, Danny Bizimana, his team decided to take a route that no one else in the country had taken before.



“There were too many textile companies in the country producing the face masks, so we decided to do the face shields because we knew that Rwanda ships them from China and they would soon be in short supply,” Bizimana explains.



Luckily for FabLab, the materials to manufacture the face shields are locally available.



“We chose simple, locally-available material to ensure that the production of the face shields can be sustained even through long periods of border closures.”&nbsp;



The company has been producing 500 face shields per day but with the re-opening of the economy, this number has risen.



“Our main clients were doctors, surgeons and dentists. However, now that the hospitality industry is operational, we are now supplying the face shields to hotels and have increased our production capacity to 700 units per day,” Bizimana says.



FabLab initially produced the face shield as its contribution to the national fight against the pandemic, but as demand for the product has been steadily growing, the company is now making profit. The mask economy is here to stay, with a study from Stanford University indicating that they are a crucial step in reopening the economy and can help ensure public safety in a post-Covid world.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="683" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/VENTILATOR-1-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-47051" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/VENTILATOR-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/VENTILATOR-1-scaled-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/VENTILATOR-1-scaled-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/VENTILATOR-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/VENTILATOR-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/VENTILATOR-1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



Locally-made ventilators



With the Covid-19 pandemic causing an unimaginable strain on health systems, one particular medical equipment has been in short supply – the ventilator machine.



The machine helps critically-ill patients who cannot breathe on their own, and is literally the difference between life and death for Covid-19 patients with acute respiratory complications.



So dire was the shortage that in Italy, which was Europe’s center of the Covid-19 outbreak, doctors were forced to make the difficult decision about who uses the ventilator machines and who doesn’t, even as Covid-19 patients flooded hospitals.



Rwanda, like most other African countries, only has a few of these life-saving machines, which are imported and cost anywhere from $25,000 and $50,000 apiece.



It is against this backdrop that biomedical engineers at the Integrated Polytechnic Regional College Kigali (IPRC) resolved to make them. According to IPRC Kigali Principal Engineer Diogène Mulindahabi, the biomedical engineers partnered with doctors at some of the local hospitals to develop a prototype.



“Within eight days, the team developed a prototype called Rwanda Emergency Ventilator (REV001) using locally-available materials. The machine they made met the minimum requirements for a patient ventilator,” says Mulindahabi.



The team of engineers also developed a second portable emergency ventilator prototype (REV002), which can be used in an ambulance.



“Since these are sensitive equipment to be used on the human body, we have to ensure they meet the required standards. We cannot afford to make mistakes. So the prototypes are going through a rigorous certification process,” says Mulindahabi.



The team at IPRC Kigali knocked on several doors in search of funds and managed to receive $20,000, which will be used to finalize the second version of the prototype. The institution is however still open to receiving more support that would go a long way in the mass production of the ventilators. But what will the final product cost once it hits the market?



Between $4,000 and $5,000.



“The country will save millions of dollars and have a locally manufactured product that works just as well as the imported ones. We also hope to take this product to other countries in the region,” says Mulindahabi.



Rwanda is not the only African country to have manufactured its own ventilators.



A team of students from Kenyatta University in Kenya also devised a ventilator machine that has met the standards of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).



Ghana and Uganda have also joined their African counterparts in taking the lead to produce home-grown ventilators.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="683" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/F98A4732-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-47052" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/F98A4732-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/F98A4732-scaled-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/F98A4732-scaled-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/F98A4732-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/F98A4732-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/F98A4732-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



Blue-eyed caregivers 



In an age of social distancing, robots are now increasingly being used as frontline health workers in hospitals across the globe.



A study published in Science Robotics states: “Robots have the potential to be deployed for disinfection, delivering medications and food, measuring vital signs, and assisting border controls. As epidemics escalate, the potential roles of robotics are becoming increasingly clear.”



In partnership with the United Nations Development Programme, the Rwandan government acquired and deployed five smart anti-epidemic robots for use in two Covid-19 treatment centers and at the Kigali International Airport.



The blue-eyed robots, acquired through ZoraBots Africa Ltd, have Rwandan names such as Ikizere (hope), Ingabo (shield), Urumuri (light) and Akazuba (sun) that depict the country’s spirit and values.



The mobile robots also feature functions such as facial recognition, temperature screening, the ability to monitor patient status as well as save medical records.



According to Benjamin Karenzi, CEO of Zorabots Africa, the information collected by the robots can be used to inform policy-makers in case of future pandemics.



“The robots are able to capture and store all manner of data and this data can be used by decision-makers even in the future in case such a crisis reoccurs,” Karenzi said during an interview with CNBC Africa.



The pandemic has surely brought forth the crucial role of robotic technology and its power to safeguard and improve human lives. The fourth industrial revolution is surely here.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="885" height="1024" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/JEAN-HUBERT-2-885x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-47053" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/JEAN-HUBERT-2-885x1024.jpg 885w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/JEAN-HUBERT-2-300x347.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/JEAN-HUBERT-2-600x695.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/JEAN-HUBERT-2-259x300.jpg 259w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/JEAN-HUBERT-2-768x889.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/JEAN-HUBERT-2.jpg 933w" sizes="(max-width: 885px) 100vw, 885px" /><figcaption>Jean Hubert&#8217;s company specializes in mobile applications</figcaption></figure>



Contact tracing app



After the partial lifting of the lockdown, restaurants, hotels and businesses such as salons in Rwanda were instructed by the government to record the basic details of their clients such as names and phone numbers. This information would then be used to trace those who might have come in contact with infected patients.



This sparked an idea in Nkurayija Ishimwe Jean Hubert, Founder and CEO of Favouriapps Ltd, a software development company specializing in mobile applications, for a digital solution.



“The idea to record the data was noble but the method used was archaic. I saw an opportunity to create a digital application that would store the data,” says Hubert.



It took him five working days to come up with the app, complete with safety features to ensure the data was safe from hackers.



The next step was to get the right people to look in his direction. He took to Twitter.



Much to his delight, Rwanda&#8217;s Minister of ICT and Innovation, Paula Musoni, replied to his tweet asking him to send his ideas on email.



Hubert says he is now in talks with the ICT ministry. If approved, the app can be used at banks, supermarkets, restaurants and commercial buildings to digitally record the data of every person that comes through the doors.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="759" height="1024" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/JAMES-NJUGI--759x1024.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-47054" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/JAMES-NJUGI--759x1024.jpeg 759w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/JAMES-NJUGI--300x405.jpeg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/JAMES-NJUGI--600x809.jpeg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/JAMES-NJUGI--222x300.jpeg 222w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/JAMES-NJUGI--768x1036.jpeg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/JAMES-NJUGI-.jpeg 780w" sizes="(max-width: 759px) 100vw, 759px" /><figcaption>James Njugi&#8217;s Kikao was birthed out of the need to provide simple and affordable solutions.</figcaption></figure>



Ed-tech platform



Like many other industries, the education sector has not been spared by the devastating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.



School compounds, which were abuzz with activity in January this year, stand deserted with an eerie silence. Others have been turned into Covid-19 quarantine centers even&nbsp; as learners, from primary school to universities, remain home.



Thankfully, there are now a number of free or low-cost, user-friendly digital communication tools that allow for a range of remote learning solutions.



Launched in Kenya in May this year, ed-tech platform Kikao, which is Swahili for ‘an important meeting’, is slowly gaining traction.



According to James Njugi, Co-founder, Manager, Partnerships and Strategy at Kikao, the platform was birthed out of the need to provide solutions that were simple and affordable.



“We did not want to reinvent the wheel, but just wanted to create a platform that was easy to use and would give the clients, whether six-year-olds or university students, a pleasant learning experience,&#8221; Njugi tells FORBES AFRICA.



So far, Kikao is being used by university students in Kenya, three civil service entities as well as Kenya’s National Defence College.



On the future of e-learning with schools slowly re-opening, Njugi says: “We cannot go back to how things used to be pre-Covid. The pace of learning has increased and knowledge is quickly increasing and learners, young and old alike, have been exposed to the numerous possibilities [of] ed-tech. E-learning should not be side-stepped in the post-Covid world, instead, it should complement the conventional learning methods.”



When all is said and done, how can this wave of innovation be sustained in the post-Covid world?



Robert Ochieng, CEO and Co-founder, Abojani Investment, Kenya, who is an expert on financial markets, innovation and technology, says that innovations need to leave the labs and hit the markets.



“An idea that has not been tested in the market remains just that: an idea. we need to focus on testing the innovations in the marketplace and making sales, that way, innovators will be encouraged to do more as they see their inventions put to good use,” says Ochieng.



He is also of the opinion that governments should increase their budget allocation for science, technology and innovation.



“African governments should increase funding for research and development to at least 1% of their national budgets and target to grow this to 3% over time. There is a direct correlation between investment in research and development at national level and the growth of GDP. This kind of vibrancy has seen the rise of tech innovation in countries like Israel,” Ochieng concludes.



– By Tesi Kaven

DRONE 2

What’s New And Exciting In The Land Of A Thousand Ideas

The real heroes are also palliative care providers who go out of their way for patients with chronic illnesses, like this Rwandan team of professionals that conducts home visits offering critical care to those afflicted even more during the Covid-19 pandemic.



It’s a Tuesday morning in mid-May, and the team from the Rwanda Palliative Care &amp; Hospice Organisation (RPCHO) is preparing to visit the homes of terminally-ill patients in need of palliative or specialized medical care. The team,&nbsp;led by the organization’s Executive Secretary, Eric Kabisa, comprises a doctor, a nurse, a social worker and a psychologist.



For this team, their work tending to needy patients is more than just a job – it’s a deep calling.



This small team cares for over 70 patients with life-threatening illnesses; visiting them in their homes, providing medical consultation and nursing care as well as addressing some of their basic needs. They also offer counseling services to patients and care-givers.



FORBES AFRICA joins Kabisa’s team, all masked-up and ready with supplies, for the home visits. This team also includes nurse Peace Kyokunda.



The Covid-19 pandemic has no doubt disrupted the momentum of their work and though RPCHO was part of the essential services that had the green light to operate during the government-imposed lockdown in the country, Kabisa explains why the team had to temporarily stall the home visits.



“Since March 14, when the first Covid-19 case was discovered in Rwanda, we had to stop the home visits and would only do phone consultations. This is because we did not want to put our patients, most of who have very low immunity levels, at risk.”



For cases that needed urgent medical attention, Kabisa and his team would ensure an ambulance was dispatched to pick them up and rush them to hospital whatever time of day or night.



Technology was the only point of contact with the patients during the lockdown period as the team would offer counseling sessions and even guide care-givers via phone on how to handle the patients.



<figure class="wp-block-gallery columns-1 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex"><ul class="blocks-gallery-grid"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="512" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/NURSE-PEACE-KYOKUNDA-1024x512.jpg" alt="" data-id="45998" data-full-url="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/NURSE-PEACE-KYOKUNDA-scaled.jpg" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=45998" class="wp-image-45998" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/NURSE-PEACE-KYOKUNDA-1024x512.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/NURSE-PEACE-KYOKUNDA-scaled-300x150.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/NURSE-PEACE-KYOKUNDA-scaled-600x300.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/NURSE-PEACE-KYOKUNDA-768x384.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/NURSE-PEACE-KYOKUNDA-1536x768.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/NURSE-PEACE-KYOKUNDA-2048x1024.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="blocks-gallery-item__caption">Peace Kyokunda</figcaption></figure></li></ul></figure>



Sadly, the lockdown was not without casualties. Nurse Kyokunda narrates how they lost one of their patients during that period.



“One of our patients who suffered from cancer needed morphine to manage his severe pain but for two weeks, he could not access it&#8230; Even though we got him an ambulance to take him to hospital, it was too late. He died at the emergency ward,” she says, her voice laden with emotion.



As soon as the Rwandan government eased the lockdown restrictions, the palliative care team was ready to resume their duty-trips, exercising utmost precaution.



With supplies including cartons of milk and adult diapers, among other things, we set off to visit the first patient with them.



Soline Kabagwira lies silently on a mat spread out on the floor of her small living room. A combination of cervical cancer and HIV/Aids has left her scrawny and frail.



The house is quiet save for the birds chirping outside her small window and young children playing in the distance. Her own two children are up and about doing chores their mother would probably have been attending to had she been well.



On seeing Kabisa and Kyokunda, Kabagwira barely manages a faint smile and can hardly move. She welcomes us but does not allow us to take any pictures.



We are the first group of people to visit her since the lockdown.



“This pandemic robbed me of something precious; people&#8217;s company. Before, people would come to see me, talk to me and even pray for me. That would give me hope, something to look forward to. But now, it&#8217;s quite lonely, no one comes by anymore,” she tells FORBES AFRICA.



Besides the loneliness, her days are filled with thoughts of what would happen to her children after her time.



“Who will take care of them when I’m gone?” she asks, shedding silent tears.



Kabisa and Kyokunda empathize with Kabagwira and take time to counsel her. They speak words of reassurance and comfort while exuding utmost professionalism. By the time we leave, Kabagwira is calm and gently falling asleep. We leave, but with an assurance of another visit soon. (Unfortunately, FORBES AFRICA learned that Kabagwira breathed her last on June 5.)



On our trip that day in May with RPCHO, we also meet Antoinette Bayambaze, another patient suffering from cervical cancer. Since the start of the lockdown in Rwanda, her condition has been moving from bad to worse. She is unable to speak but her daughter Angeline Nyirasabimana graciously agrees to share her experience from a care-giver&#8217;s perspective.



With a family of her own to take care of, Nyirasabimana has had to find a way to juggle between being a wife, mother, businesswoman and care-giver to her terminally-ill mother. She had somewhat mastered the art of wearing each of these hats, but the Covid-19 pandemic threw her off balance.



“This period has been particularly difficult for us. With the lockdown measures, I could not go to see my mother who lives very far from me. The palliative care team also had to stop the home visits. My mother did not take our absence well as she did not understand much about the pandemic. Her condition quickly deteriorated,” she tells FORBES AFRICA.



Being far from her mother when she needed her most weighed Nyirasabimana down.



“It was tough helping my mother remotely. Taking care of a sick loved one demands physical presence. There are some situations that just cannot work with social distancing,” she says.



Apart from the distance, Nyirasabimana could not easily access pain medicine as well as supplies such as adult diapers crucial for her mother, which was a main cause for concern during the lockdown.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“It was tough helping my mother remotely. Taking care of a sick loved one demands physical presence. There are some situations that just cannot work with social distancing.”</blockquote>



The RPCHO does not work in isolation. In fact, the government considers it a crucial link in the palliative care chain.



Dr Francois Uwinkindi is the Director of the Cancer Diseases Unit at the Rwanda Biomedical Center. He works closely with Kabisa and his team to ensure patients with life-threatening diseases in the community get the care they need.



For many cancer patients, accessing the Butaro Cancer Center of Excellence located in northern Rwanda for treatment and drugs was an uphill task during the lockdown period, forcing the government to come up with various solutions.



“Drugs that could only be found at the Butaro Cancer Center were now available at the Rwanda Cancer Center located at the Rwanda Military Hospital in Kanombe. The government would also provide transport services for patients who needed to go for treatment at the Butaro Cancer Center,” says Uwinkindi.



The Rwanda government also explored the option of using drones to deliver drugs to cancer patients in the rural areas, saving many lives in the process.



Post Covid-19, Uwinkindi is of the opinion that technology is the way to go. “Where necessary, we should exploit ‘telehealth’ and continue with consultations via phone or video calls. This greatly reduces costs and time,” he says.



All in all, palliative care teams around the world have had to find creative ways to work around the Covid-19 pandemic to provide crucial services to patients with chronic illnesses, recognizing that palliative care is a necessity, even during a flu pandemic.



– Tesi Kaven

ERIC KABISA

Why Palliative Care Is Also Pertinent In The Pandemic

Frank Songa, Rwanda’s second confirmed Covid-19 patient, lost his sense of smell and taste, but armed himself with information. &nbsp;&nbsp;



Imagine not being able to smell your morning coffee or taste your favorite food. This was what Frank Songa mostly experienced as he battled Covid-19. Thankfully, he is recovered and now able to smell his morning cuppa at home in the beautiful hill country of Rwanda.



Research findings strongly link sensory loss (taste and smell) to Covid-19, and Songa, a Rwandan humanitarian aid worker, was deprived of these senses for close to two weeks.



Today, he is one of many patients who have recovered from&nbsp;Covid-19&nbsp;in the tiny East African country.&nbsp;



&#8220;Food was just that; food! I could not taste it, nor could I smell the strong chlorine used to mop the floors,&#8221; says Songa. He is, however, grateful he did not develop&nbsp;severe symptoms.



On March 14, he drove to hospital to get himself tested after experiencing mild symptoms. He was not prepared for the results.



&#8220;I had a mild fever and a congested nose. Due to the nature of my work, I am a frequent traveler, so I decided to get tested just to make sure I was fine. On the 15th of March, I got a call from the hospital informing me that I had tested positive for the virus,” says the young man.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="567" height="1008" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/PHOTO-2020-04-20-14-41-41.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-45113" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/PHOTO-2020-04-20-14-41-41.jpg 567w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/PHOTO-2020-04-20-14-41-41-300x533.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/PHOTO-2020-04-20-14-41-41-169x300.jpg 169w" sizes="(max-width: 567px) 100vw, 567px" /><figcaption>Frank Songa; image supplied</figcaption></figure>



Songa was Rwanda&#8217;s second confirmed patient and was taken to the Kanyinya Health Center, one of the three treatment centers accommodating&nbsp;Covid-19 patients in Rwanda. Meanwhile, the process of tracing his contacts began.



While in isolation, he had many questions running amuck in his mind but being armed with the right information helped him keep a level head.



&#8220;I read widely, but I also ensured that I sifted through the information I received on the pandemic and this really helped me remain calm,&#8221; he says.



He will forever remain indebted to the frontline&nbsp;workers including the team of doctors, nurses, nutritionists, lab technicians and even janitors who journeyed with him on the road to recovery.&nbsp;



What was even more puzzling to him was the fact that all the services rendered, including tests, accommodation&nbsp;and even meals were all free of charge.



&#8220;They did not charge me for anything, all the expenses were covered,&#8221; he says, adding that this is not the case in most African countries.



After 22 days in isolation and a series of tests, Songa was finally declared free of the disease and was given a clean chit to return home. This was followed by another 14 days of self-quarantine.



Apart from taking seriously the precautionary measures put in place to curb the spread of Covid-19, Songa cautions against the stigmatization of people who suffer the disease, saying that this would only be regressive and counter-productive in the fight against the pandemic.



By Tesi Kaven

Deserted streets in Kigali during lockdown

How This Aid Worker Kept Calm As He Battled Covid-19

A poem exclusively penned and performed in lockdown in the US for the readers of FORBES AFRICA, by Rwandan artist Malaika Uwamahoro.



Malaika Uwamahoro, an artist born in Rwanda, and a Theatre Studies BA graduate from Fordham University in New York City, has performed her own poetry on stages around the world including at the United Nations headquarters in New York, and at the African Union summits in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) and Kigali (Rwanda).



In 2014, she made her Off-Broadway debut at Signature Theatre in the world premiere of Katori Hall&#8217;s Our Lady of Kibeho.



Currently resident in Portland, Maine, in the United States, she speaks to FORBES AFRICA about her life in lockdown, and about a poem she penned exclusively for the readers of the magazine: “To fight this pandemic, essential workers and medical doctors are doing their best on the frontlines to ensure everyone in need gets the necessary support and best care possible… Before we are all choked and out of breath just by thinking about this, I extend this poetry piece as an invitation to look inward.”



How did she come up with the poem, titled I Don’t Mind!, and its accompanying video?



“It was late in the night, my fiancé was fast asleep, and I thought to myself, ‘how do I really feel about all this, what are my true thoughts about this pandemic, what can I do’? I opened my notes and the words began to flow.”



A few days later, she shared the poem with her fiancé, Christian Kayiteshonga, a filmmaker.



“We had previously been pondering ways to make art in our home. This poem seemed like the perfect push to set us in our new path. Our home became the film set, using blankets and cake mix as props, windows and office space as locations, myself as the talent, him as the crew, and now you as the audience,” says Uwamahoro, who also performed for the ‘In the Spotlight’ segment at the FORBES WOMAN AFRICA Leading Women Summit in Durban, South Africa, on March 6.

Malaika U

‘Our Home Became The Film Set, Blankets Became Props, Windows Became Locations’

Rwanda is easing lockdown restrictions from May 4. The recovered Covid-19 patients so far commend the country’s rapid response and the emotional care they received from the frontline health workers.



“Everyone around me was afraid except me,” recalls 23-year-old Eloi Mugabe about that moment when he was taken to get tested for Covid-19 symptoms, at the Kanombe Military Hospital in Rwanda’s capital Kigali.&nbsp;



Mugabe’s illness started on Day 10 of lockdown in Rwanda when he felt feverish and cold. He had traveled abroad in February, long before the first Covid-19 case was confirmed in Rwanda. But as days went by, his symptoms persisted. He was coughing and even as he self-isolated, his condition worsened as he started to experience breathing issues. He was transferred to Kanyinya Health Centre, one of the three treatment centers set up in Kigali for Covid-19 patients.



For Mugabe, who graduated from the University of Rwanda last year, 2020 was going to be the year when he would debut his business and set up his own music studio.



His initial reaction to the virus was not fear but denial – he was confused as to how he may have contracted it.&nbsp;



“My mother was shocked but was strong and praying for me and it really helped me,” he recalls. What frightened him, however, were the messages he received from friends and family as soon as they learned he had tested positive. “I don’t know if anybody can handle that.”



At the treatment center, he says people were welcoming and the amenities on offer boosted his morale.



“From testing to treatment, books and internet, we were getting everything for free. I reflected about that and said to myself, ‘I’m proud to be having this in my country’. You looked at everything and realized that the government was really prepared to deal with it,” he says.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="434" height="790" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Mugabe-Covid-survivor.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-44825" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Mugabe-Covid-survivor.jpg 434w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Mugabe-Covid-survivor-300x546.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Mugabe-Covid-survivor-165x300.jpg 165w" sizes="(max-width: 434px) 100vw, 434px" /><figcaption>Eloi Mugabe on his experience recovering from Covid-19; image supplied</figcaption></figure>



A music enthusiast, Mugabe says he never felt lonely during the 18 days he spent at the center as the internet access enabled him to listen to his favorite songs and interact with friends and relatives.



For two days, he had a bad fever and chest pain; he was subsequently discharged on April 14 after more tests declared him virus-free. 



He says the worst thing about the virus is cutting all human interaction. 



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“We grew up being hugged by our mums, playing and shaking hands with friends without fear and that’s something I missed the most.”</blockquote>







Mugabe is one of the 120 (out of a total of 255 positive cases) who have recovered from the virus in Rwanda as of May 2.



A 36-year-old man who spoke to FORBES AFRICA on condition of anonymity also overcame the deadly virus. He tested positive a day after the first case was confirmed in Rwanda and says there was too much stigma about it at the time in the country. He experienced fatigue and fever and subsequently lost appetite and his sense of smell when he arrived in Rwanda. He suspects to have been infected at the airports in either Los Angeles or Doha where he transited. He was also taken to the Kanyinya treatment center where he spent 20 days before being discharged. One of the things he remembers while at the center was the emotional care he received.



“There was so much support from doctors, telling you it’s going to be okay and that was extremely motivating,” he recalls.



His wife and a brother also tested positive but have also since been discharged. He believes contact-tracing and the rapid response have been crucial for Rwanda’s success at curbing the virus so far. He also commends the people’s willingness to cooperate with health officials.



“The goodwill to say ‘let me go to the hospital and not put other people at risk’ is a critical factor,” he says.



Misinformation has been a worrying issue during this pandemic and he says people who recovered from the virus can play a critical role in dispelling that.



Rwanda confirmed its first case on March 14 and a few days later, the government moved to impose what became Africa&#8217;s first total lockdown, closing borders, prohibiting gatherings and unnecessary movements while allowing only essential services to go on.



Acting early meant Rwanda avoided a scenario where patients were turned away because hospitals were overwhelmed.



Dr Menelas Nkeshimana, who’s leading the case management sub-cell at Rwanda&#8217;s joint task force for Covid-19, says: “One of the strategies that made this possible is applying what we know is working and applying it early.”&nbsp;



“The doctors checked on me like five times a day telling us ‘this is something we can beat’ and that puts you in a positive mood,” adds the Covid-19 survivor Mugabe.



Rwanda is aiming for a step-by-step phased reopening after the lockdown.



Dr Sabin Nsanzimana, the Director General of the Rwanda Biomedical Centre, says vigilance must be maintained. “This pandemic continues to surprise many countries and we should adapt our interventions accordingly,” he says.&nbsp;



&#8220;It requires everyone&#8217;s collaboration. We have seen a few incidents of people refusing to comply with restriction measures and that can slow us down,” says Nkeshimana.



The government has made face masks mandatory and authorized a number of local factories to manufacture them in addition to other personal protective equipment.



– Steven Muvunyi

Public transport was banned in Rwanda as a measure to curb the spread of COVID-19. This is Kigali downtown bus terminal

‘Confused At First, Then Proud To Be In This Country’

Advertorial by Rwanda Development Board



Since the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Rwanda has risen from $752million to $9.5 billion in 2018, and the GDP per capita has grown from $125.5 to $787 during the same period. Due to Rwanda’s internationally recognized universal access to healthcare policy called ‘Mutelle de Sante’ life expectancy has risen from 29 years in 1994 to 67 years in 2016. Inflation has fallen from 101% in 1995 to 1.1% in 2018 and Rwanda has jumped over 100 places in the World Bank Doing Business Index, today ranking 38th globally and 2nd in Africa.



&nbsp;Furthermore, with the
9 Year Basic Education policy, Rwanda has seen the average expected years of
schooling rise from 6.2 years in 1995 to 11.2 years in 2017. These numbers,
both the increases and decreases, are not merely statistics on paper, they
reveal a people who have taken the reins of destiny into their own hands.
Following the defeat of the genocidal forces by the Rwanda Patriotic Army
rebels led by now president, Paul Kagame, many highly qualified development
experts believed that the fabric of Rwandan society was irrevocably torn
asunder. Over one million people had been killed in less than 100 days, over 3
million had fled the country to refugee camps in Tanzania, Burundi and the DRC
(then Zaire), the national treasury was looted and there weren’t even pens and
paper in government departments.



&nbsp;Speaking to members
of the Australian chapter of the YPO (Young Presidents Organization) in May
last year President Kagame was asked this question, “experts say that a
turnaround from a cataclysmic event such as genocide is supposed to take a
century or at least a generation, how was Rwanda able to do so in only twenty
years”? President Kagame mentioned the main aspects of the Rwandan turnaround;
thinking big, having a vision, refusing to get stuck in the status quo,
believing in, and having faith in the vision and, lastly, making sure that the
journey is inclusive by bringing people in and creating possibilities for them
to make their contribution.



&nbsp;Rwanda does not have
the usual ingredients for economic transformation. It does not have a wealth of
natural resources such as oil or diamonds, it is landlocked, it has one of the
highest population densities in the world. However, Rwanda has a will to build
a better, more prosperous nation.



&nbsp;What Rwanda did was
put together a development plan called ‘Vision 2020’. This plan envisioned a Rwanda
that was middle-income and knowledge-based. With a GDP growth rate which was
dominated by double digits over the last 10 years, we are reaping the fruits of
the ambitious plan.



&nbsp;One of the fruits is
the emerging MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and events) sector. Who
could have imagined that 25 years after the Genocide against the Tutsi, Rwanda
would become home to one of the most iconic and most expensive buildings in
Africa, the KCC (Kigali Convention Center)? The KCC, a venue that includes a
five-star hotel and conference facilities that can host over 5,000 delegates,
will this year host, among other world class events, the Commonwealth Heads of
Government Meeting (CHOGM). To date, KCC has hosted the African Union Heads of
State summit, the Transform Africa summit as well as a myriad of regional and
international events and conferences.



&nbsp;The KCC has not been
the only such ‘out of the box’ investment that the Government of Rwanda has
made to create value where no one expected. A decade or so ago, the Government
insisted on building the country’s very first five-star hotel, the present-day
Kigali Serena hotel. Our development partners baulked at the investment, saying
that there was no need for such a high-end facility. The Government, believing in
its vision, went ahead and built the hotel thereby creating the anchor
accommodation facility that opened Rwanda to the opportunity of becoming a
regional destination for business travel and MICE. The country now has five
5-star hotels and more are opening up this year. Furthermore, high end
accommodation establishments have opened their branches across different parts
of Rwanda. To create the ecosystem that a vibrant MICE sector needed, the
national carrier Rwandair was established, investments in skills and capacity
building were made and the private sector was encouraged and supported to
invest in the sector.



&nbsp;Because the
Government refused to take a laissez-faire attitude to the development of the
MICE and the overall tourism sector, investments that we have registered in the
sector as the Rwanda Development Board have totaled $1.5 billion since the year
2000. Hotel rooms have increased from 623 in 2003 to 14, 866 in 2018, tourism
revenues have jumped from $131 million in 2006 to over $300 million with MICE
tourism revenue numbers growing from inconsequential numbers in 2000 to $55
million in 2018. We expect that all the numbers will grow by at least 10% per
year and projections show that the tourism sector will be worth $800 million by
the end of 2024.



&nbsp;This might seem
ambitious, but we believe in our vision and we are actively working towards
fulfilling it. That is why we partnered with different partners, including but
not limited to Arsenal FC and Paris Saint Germain, English and French football
teams respectively, to market Rwanda as a destination for tourism, MICE and
investment. That is why Rwandair is increasing both its fleet as well as its
destinations in Africa, North America, Europe and Asia and that is why we are
currently building a new international airport in Bugesera, on the outskirts of
Kigali, in partnership with Qatar. In addition, we have taken an active role in
building an Africa that freely trades with itself through the African
Continental Free Trade Area (ACTFA) and internally we have reformed both our
business environment and visa regimes.



The business community has followed our lead. Last year, we
registered over $2.4 billion in investments on the back of over 8% GDP growth.
Leading global businesses such as Volkswagen, Motorola Solutions, Andela and
Radisson today provide jobs to young Rwandans graduating from global
institutions of learning that are based in Rwanda such as Carnegie Mellon
University. In addition to the recent opening of the first smartphone factory
by Mara Phones; companies including Volkswagen (in partnership with Siemens),
Ampersand, and Safiride are also rolling out environment friendly transport
solutions through electric vehicles and motorcycles on the street of Kigali and
other parts of Rwanda.



 When we tell businesses that Rwanda is the right place to invest in, we are confident that they will find the right environment to thrive. Why? Because we built that environment.



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Mr. Zephanie Niyonkuru is the Deputy Chief Executive Officer, the Rwanda Development Board. The Rwanda Development Board is a one stop shop for investors, bringing business registration, investment promotion, tourism, ICT development, SMEs, human capacity development, privatization and specialist agencies under one institution.



&#8211; Zephanie Niyonkuru

Tag: Rwanda

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