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 loading="lazy" decoding="async" 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="auto, (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 is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">&#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 loading="lazy" decoding="async" 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="auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px" /><figcaption>CEO of Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Clare Akamanzi</figcaption></figure>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">&#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 loading="lazy" decoding="async" 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="auto, (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 loading="lazy" decoding="async" 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="auto, (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 loading="lazy" decoding="async" 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="auto, (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 loading="lazy" decoding="async" 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="auto, (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 loading="lazy" decoding="async" 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="auto, (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 loading="lazy" decoding="async" 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="auto, (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 is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“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 loading="lazy" decoding="async" 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="auto, (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 loading="lazy" decoding="async" 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="auto, (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 is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“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.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="743" height="534" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/image1.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-42628" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/image1.jpeg 743w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/image1-300x216.jpeg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/image1-600x431.jpeg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 743px) 100vw, 743px" /></figure>



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

27006621371_792cfd870e_k

Invest in Rwanda, A Country With Unconventional Vision And Leadership

Colorful baskets ready for sale

The Baskets Holding Them Together

CEO of Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Clare Akamanzi



Advertorial by Rwanda Development Board 



1. Looking at RDB’s ten-year journey, what did it take to get it here?



It took a bold vision by H.E. Pres Paul Kagame, and the
entire Government, to prioritize private sector development, as the driver of
Rwanda’s socio-economic transformation.&nbsp;
This formed the basis for the creation of the Rwanda Development Board,
as a one stop institution to provide key services, and expedite decisions
affecting investors as well as reforms for a very conducive business
environment. 



We wanted to bring all the agencies responsible for business
registration, investment/export promotion, privatization and specialist
agencies which support the priority sectors of ICT and tourism as well as SMEs
and human capacity development in the private sector all under one roof. This
meant less legwork for investors as they had one major institution to work
with, as well as time and financial savings for Government. 



This vision has paid off. Today, Rwanda, at 38th rank, is
the only Low-Income Country in the top 50 of the 2020 World Bank Ease of Doing
Business Report and is the 2nd easiest place to do business in Africa after
Mauritius. Consequently, Rwanda has been recognized as the top global reformer
by the World Bank with the highest number of implemented reforms over the last
ten years. 



Similarly, in terms of investments into Rwanda, last year we
surpassed the US$ 2 billion target for the first time in the country’s history,
with investments registered over US$ 2.006 billion in 2018 up from about US$
400 million registered in 2010. This is a sign of the continuous investor
confidence in Rwanda by both local and foreign investors. Tourism has also
doubled within the same period reaching over $400m today, while exports of our
key products in agriculture, minerals and manufactured products quadrupled over
the last decade.



As an institution, I am also proud to say that we are a
competitive employer, with many talented Rwandans are aspiring to join our
workforce, and be part of a unique opportunity to contribute to Rwanda’s
transformation. 



2. Rwanda’s seems to have claimed her place in the world, what did it take to achieve that?



Apart from the ambitious reforms that we have put in place
over the last decade, we have done our best to showcase Rwanda to the world as
the best place to invest and do business, the best place to set up a factory
and sell Made in Rwanda products as well as the best place to enjoy exciting
tourism offerings. 



Last year, we signed a strategic partnership with two major
global players, Arsenal Football Club in London and Alibaba from China. 



The deal with Arsenal aims to market the country under the
‘Visit Rwanda’ brand. Through the partnership, we have been able to increase
people’s knowledge and interest in Rwanda.



Let me illustrate. Since the announcement of the partnership
in May last year, we have seen a lot of interest especially through our online
presence:



• Within two weeks of the launch, 58 news stories reached a
global audience of 1.2 billion people;



• Google searches of Rwanda in the US increased by over
1000% for keywords like: ‘Visit Rwanda, Rwanda travel, Rwanda tourism, and
Kigali Rwanda hotels’.



• Visit Rwanda is now seen 35 million times each time
Arsenal plays.



• Visit Rwanda social media posts by Arsenal reach a direct
global audience of over 15 million people. 



In the same way, Rwanda partnered with Alibaba Group in October
2018 to bring Rwanda tourism packages closer to the Asian market through
Alibaba’s online travel platform, Fliggy, as well as Rwandan products through
Tmall. We are selling coffee and tourism on these platforms and will soon add
chillis.



We also participate in global platforms such as the World
Economic Forum, trade fairs, and investments forums to Showcase Rwanda to the
World. 



3. The country is still struggling to curb the balance of trade deficit, now what is being done deliberately to improve this position?



We are exploring different ways of solving the country’s
trade deficit by looking at ways to benefit from Rwanda’s strategic regional
positioning in order to increase exports as well as domestic manufacturing.



Rwanda has strategic access to four countries and a
catchment area of a consumer market of nearly 60 million people reachable by
road, barely four hours away from Kigali in all directions. This market has a
purchasing power of US$1-2 billion in basic fast-moving consumer goods and
another US$1.5 billion in consumer durables. To maximize the benefits from this
market, the Rwandan Government established Special Economic Zones (SEZs) to
enhance the country’s competitiveness as a commercial/logistics hub, taking
advantage of her natural strategic location through the promotion of export
oriented industrial activities as well as re-exports, manufacturing and
services.



Today, over 29 companies are already set up in the Kigali
SEZ and others have set up in the other SEZs located country-wide, manufacturing
made in Rwanda products using raw materials sourced from Rwanda, most of which
is exported after.



If you look at Rwanda’s 2018 exports, a big part of that
were processed products made by companies in the SEZs. For example, we have
Africa Improved Foods who make nutritious foods using soya, milk, maize among
other products. They buy from farmers, process then export it. Last year, they
exported goods worth almost US$ 30 million.



Soon we hope Rwandan companies will also start exporting
cars assembled by VW, phones made by Maraphones, pharmaceutical products made
by Cooperpharma.



Lastly, we are also growing exports in Services,
particularly tourism, innovation through our innovation ecosystem among others.




&nbsp;4.&nbsp; 70% of working population in agriculture with the coming of the fourth industrial revolution and a focus on manufacturing, is there a plan to reskill this population?



In terms of creating jobs, Rwanda has been creating new jobs
every year and targets to create over 1.5 million jobs over the next seven
years. To achieve this, industrialization is key to absorb our youth who can
move from agriculture to basic manufacturing. A very good example is in
garment-making. Pink Mango located in the Kigali SEZ will employ over 1,500
people. If we have 100 more businesses like Pink Mango in the SEZs, it would
have industrial parks as the primary source of jobs in Rwanda. We are also
preparing to move further in the industrial chain in order to take advantage of
the industrial revolution.&nbsp; This is
through investing in vocational training as well as world-class STEM education.
Carnegie Mellon University in Rwanda, for example has produced over 100
graduates over the last 10 years. Others training in STEM are Africa Leadership
University, African Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), as well as the
University of Global Health University, in public health. 



5. What are the aims/goals for the next 10 years?



RDB’s vision is to work with our partners to transform Rwanda into a dynamic global hub for business, investment, and innovation.&nbsp; The next 10 years will deepen this goal. We will continue to foster and fast track private sector led economic growth across all sectors, and make Rwanda every investor’s first choice. Our best years are yet to come.

Clare bio pic

Rwanda Aspires To Become A Business And Innovation Hub In The Next Decade

On this day in 2008, the
United Nations Security Council adopted resolution
1820 declaring that rape and other forms of sexual violence could
constitute “a war crime, a crime against humanity, or a constitutive act with
respect to Genocide”. For countries such as Rwanda, which have experienced
conflict and its devastating consequences, this was a major step forward.



The 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi saw over 1,000,000 men, women and children slaughtered in a 100 days. Of those who survived, many endured torture and public humiliation, often in the form of rape and sexual assault. 



Between 250,000 and 500,000 women were systematically raped, with the additional intent to infect them with HIV. The result was, approximately 67 percent diagnosed as HIV+, and an estimated 20,000 children born of these mass rapes. 



READ MORE | <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Rwanda’s Gorillas Have Figured Out Where To Find Their Sodium Fix. But It’s Dangerous (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2019/04/09/rwandas-gorillas-have-figured-out-where-to-find-their-sodium-fix-but-its-dangerous/" target="_blank">Rwanda’s Gorillas Have Figured Out Where To Find Their Sodium Fix. But It’s Dangerous</a>



Twenty-five years later
Rwandans have worked hard to pick up the pieces, and continue efforts to build a
country its citizens can be proud of. A healthy foundation is now in place, upon
which future generations will stand, to shape an increasingly secure, peaceful
and prosperous nation. Slowly but surely, Rwanda is healing. &nbsp;



For survivors of rape, who in many ways carry a double burden, the journey of healing is more complex, filled with pain that most struggle to keep buried and forgotten. 



Beyond the physical damage they suffered, these women and girls – and in some cases, men and boys – continue to suffer from severe mental wounds that stripped them of their dignity, leaving them feeling like lesser human beings.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">For true healing to occur, we must create and promote a conducive environment where survivors can live dignified lives, unbound by crippling thoughts and the helplessness brought about by their ordeals.</blockquote>



Efforts must be pooled from the highest levels of leadership to the grassroots, to establish safe spaces that allow each victim and survivor of rape to heal, reconnect and reintegrate with the right support and at their own pace.



Even more so, as survivors have to live next to
perpetrators, as many of them remained in their original communities; while the
most notorious, will soon be returning to their homes, after serving their
sentence.



In my experience working
with survivors of rape in Rwanda, I have seen first-hand the miracles that can
occur when survivors’ individual healing journeys are not brushed away, forced
or ridiculed, but simply enabled. 



One particular story stands out in my mind, is that of Suzanne, a woman I met through my work with ABASA, an association of genocide and rape survivors. 



READ MORE | <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Young women in Soweto, South Africa, say healthy living is hard. Here’s why (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2019/06/07/young-women-in-soweto-south-africa-say-healthy-living-is-hard-heres-why/" target="_blank">Young women in Soweto, South Africa, say healthy living is hard. Here’s why</a>



During the Genocide against
the Tutsi, Suzanne, who was 58 years of age, was raped for several days by militia,
some of whom were her neighbours. Suzanne suffered severe injuries, both
physical and mental. When I first met her, she had no control of her bodily
functions, let alone her life. &nbsp;She had
been in and out of hospitals, with no lasting solution to her medical problems.



My organisation, Imbuto
Foundation, supports the women of ABASA by facilitating their access to HIV
treatment and providing psychosocial and financial support. We ensured that Suzanne
received quality treatment and surgery at a reputable hospital, and stayed
close to her throughout her recovery. As result, she is now a strong and
healthy citizen, whose experience of the Genocide is no longer a physical mark,
left for all to see. 



Every individual story like
Suzanne’s, and that of thousands of Rwandan women raped publicly, and taken to what
was known as ‘Maison des Femmes’ only
to be abused by countless men, underline the vital
importance of recognising rape in conflicts as a weapon of destruction. 



More than that, it is a
call to the international community to:



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>take bold steps by bringing to justice
those who are still on the run;</li><li>mobilise solidarity, responsibility and
resources to enable the healing and reintegration of rape victims.</li></ul>



For Rwanda, especially during
this Kwibuka (Genocide Commemoration),
a quarter of a century later, it is a call to acknowledge survivors of rape as
true heroines and heroes of our history, and to strip rape of its cruel power.



For all of us, men and women, it is a call to become part of the solution.



READ MORE:



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li><a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="2018 African Of The Year – President of Rwanda Paul Kagame (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/featured/2018/12/26/2018s-african-of-the-year-president-of-rwanda-paul-kagame/" target="_blank">2018 African Of The Year – President of Rwanda Paul Kagame</a></li><li><a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Noëlla Coursaris Musunka The Trailblazer In The Congo (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2019/03/19/in-pictures-noella-coursaris-musunka-the-trailblazer-in-the-congo/" target="_blank">Noëlla Coursaris Musunka The Trailblazer In The Congo</a></li><li><a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Ravaged by Ebola and War, Congo Named Most Neglected Crisis of 2018 (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/current-affairs/2018/12/20/ravaged-by-ebola-and-war-congo-named-most-neglected-crisis-of-2018/" target="_blank">Ravaged by Ebola and War, Congo Named Most Neglected Crisis of 2018</a></li></ul>



&#8211;This is an opinion piece by First Lady of the Republic of Rwanda, Jeannette Kagame, looking at the importance of enabling healing for rape victims and survivors, in line with the anniversary (19 June 2019) of UN Security Council Resolution 1820, recognising rape as a war crime.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="521" height="586" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Rwanda.png.png" alt="" class="wp-image-40881" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Rwanda.png.png 521w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Rwanda.png-300x337.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Rwanda.png-267x300.png 267w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 521px) 100vw, 521px" /><figcaption> First Lady of the Republic of Rwanda, Jeannette Kagame. Picture: Supplied</figcaption></figure></div>

gettyimages-137491727-170667a

Enabling Healing For Rape Survivors

Chinese billionaire and Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma came calling to Rwanda to sign a deal to boost its digital economy.



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



When a Chinese billionaire comes calling, for two consecutive years, it means serious business. 



On Jack Ma’s November trip to Rwanda, he announced a first-of-its- kind-in-Africa deal with the Rwandan government. 



The Alibaba Group, one of the world’s largest e-commerce businesses that Maco-founded and chairs, has established an electronic world trade platform(eWTP) hub that will enable Rwandan products to be sold in the Chinese market and boost cross-border trade. 



Ma, with an estimated net worth of $34.4 billion according to FORBES, called Rwanda “a great country that walks the talk” at the launch of the hub at the Kigali Convention Centre. The mood was euphoric as Rwandans took to Twitter with the hashtag #Rwandaworks. 



“It’s a great honor for myself and Alibaba to be able to partner with Rwanda. People ask me, why Rwanda? There are so many countries in Africa. It’s so difficult we have a lot of criteria to pick a country to be an eWTP hub. My answer is why not Rwanda?” said Ma. 



“When I first came here, I was shocked by its safety, cleanliness and by its power to embrace change. Last year was my maiden visit to Africa, I realized that it is so different from what I thought. I said if every country in Africa was like Rwanda, how powerful Africa would be. 



“Rwanda is making things happen. Most countries talk about supporting 



small businesses, young people, farmers but very few of them take action&#8230; This is why we came here. When other people complain, we take that as a great opportunity. What impressed us is not only the products you have but also the government’s efficiency.” 



He said he was proud to know Kagame. The leader, in turn, also paid tribute to Ma, whom he referred to as “my friend”. 



He commended Ma for looking at Africa differently. 



&nbsp;“Jack is a believer and in most cases, he believes correctly,” said Kagame. 



The eWTP partnership covers tourism, capacity-building and e-payments as the primary areas of cooperation. 



It ultimately aims to enhance the capabilities of small and medium enterprises to produce and export quality, globally-competitive products while supporting the development of the digital economy in Rwanda. 



Products sold on the platform will initially be handicrafts and coffee, which is Rwanda’s third biggest foreign exchange earner after mining and tourism. 



The platform presents an opportunity for Rwanda’s coffee producers to access the Chinese market whose coffee consumption is growing at 15% per annum. 



On the platform, Rwandan coffee farmers will be receiving $12 per $16 sold, which is significantly higher compared to other markets like the US where they normally get $8 per $16 sold. 



The deal will also attract high- spending Chinese tourists. 



Players in Rwanda’s business community, especially in the trade and tourism sector, call the deal unprecedented and overdue. 



Abdallah Bawazzir, Director General of New Dawn Associates, says: “We’ve been having issues as far as e-commerce is concerned. We’ve had promises from other big entities which come around and nothing really tangible comes of it. Alibaba having done this in China, I’m sure they are very much capable of doing this in Rwanda.” 



Ephraim Rwamwenge, Chief Executive Officer at Rwa Business Group, adds: “One of the challenges that plagued our export markets such as China, which is a massive market, is access. It was next to impossible to find customers to take your products but thanks to technology, it’s now cheaper to do business across borders.”



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Steven Muvunyi&nbsp;</li></ul>



READ MORE | <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/economy/2018/12/05/rwanda-the-emerging-economy-to-watch/">Rwanda The Emerging Economy To Watch</a>

gettyimages-1057636520-594×594

Rwanda ‘Walks The Talk’ Says Jack Ma

The tiny East African nation has proven to be a role model for the continent.
During her November 2018 visit to Rwanda, World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva described the country as one that has enjoyed impressive growth and often has bold ambitions.
In recent years, at business summits across the world, it’s not uncommon to hear such praise about Rwanda. Various speakers have singled it out as one of the emerging economies to look out for in terms of investment opportunities, value for money and economic growth.
The statistics explain why Rwanda has become Africa’s poster child for progress. The country has reduced reliance on donations and currently, domestically funds about 84% of the budget up from about 36% two decades ago.
In the last fiscal year (2017-2018), the economy grew by 8.9%.
Barely 24 years after the horrific genocide against the Tutsi, when the East African nation lost over a million lives and the devastation left a trail of trauma and economic ruin, its achievements have often been described as miraculous.
<blockquote>At the center of the tiny country’s recovery is President Paul Kagame, who led the revolt that ended the genocide.</blockquote>
Kagame has led his country from penury to prosperity. His government has co-invested alongside private capital to reduce risk and create a more appealing proposition.
For instance, when one of Africa’s leading telecoms groups, MTN, was keen on entering the Rwandan market in 1998, the government boosted their confidence by purchasing a 20% stake in the company.
This was driven by an ambition to not only attract the firm to the country but to ensure citizens have access to affordable telecom services. Years later, the government offloaded its stake in the firm through an initial public offering, allowing citizens to be part of a meaningful income-generating firm.
MTN is just one example of the strategic approaches taken by the Kagame-led government. The same has been replicated in multiple sectors, including finance and agriculture.
The last two decades on the Rwandan economic front have also been characterized by improving the investment ecosystem to create interest from the international and local business community.
While most would concentrate on the odds against the country, such as its small size, and its landlocked location, amidst a volatile region, Kagame sought to give investors every reason to put their money in Rwanda.
In a continent that has always been associated with corruption, the Rwandan government adopted a zero-tolerance stance on graft.
This was paired with the improvement of service delivery across all sectors, eliminating the need for bribes to access public services.
<a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/interview/2018/10/19/paul-kagame-together-is-when-we-are-going-to-succeed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE | Paul Kagame: ‘Together Is When We Are Going To Succeed’</a>
The most recent Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International placed Rwanda as third least corrupt country in Africa.
The reforms have for the last two decades addressed challenges that have often kept investors up at night. Steps that are cumbersome in countries across the world, such as business registration, were eased to a six-hour activity, while tax declaration and registration were simplified to online processes.
The World Bank ranked Rwanda 29th globally in its 2018 Ease Of Doing Business Report and put it second in Africa. The index tracks business efficiency across the world.
Many African economies are known for distinct exports or income streams that have remained unchanged for years. Rwanda chose a different path by embarking on a concerted effort to diversify exports and revenue streams.
This approach has seen services become the leading driver of gross domestic product growth  in the last three years, taking over from agriculture.
Diversification has been achieved, in part, through an increased focus on tourism, driven by initiatives such as the Meetings Incentives Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) strategy which in less than five years placed Rwanda among the top conference destinations in Africa.
In May 2018, the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) ranked the capital Kigali as the third most popular conference and event destination on the continent, after Cape Town in South Africa, and Casablanca of Morocco.
The ranking considered as the country’s capacity to accommodate international meetings and events, together with landmark infrastructure such as a modern airport and a state-of-the-art conference center.
The country has projected doubling revenues from conference tourism.
<a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2018/08/15/a-country-on-a-roll/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE | A Country On A Roll</a>
According to Clare Akamanzi, the Chief Executive of the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), the country collected a total of $42 million from 192 conferences in 2017 and was projecting $74 million in 2018.
The diversification strategy has opened up investment opportunities for local and international investors (Marriott, Radisson Blu, Park Inn, Serena among others) and created thousands of jobs in the hospitality industry.
The Rwandan media was in November abuzz with news that all hotels in the country’s capital were fully booked for conferences during the month. Conference organizers and tour operators were also said to be stretched to capacity.
Statistics from the RDB indicate there were about 10,488 hotel rooms in the country in 2017, while aviation traffic is expected to grow to about 1,151,300 in 2018, from 926,571 in 2017.
The trend is expected to persist going forward. Rwanda will by the end of 2020 have a new modern airport located in the Bugesera District, a 25-minute drive from the capital.
While pursuing externally-driven growth, Kagame has not forgotten about the home front. This led his government to adopt a ‘Made in Rwanda’ strategy in 2016, which has reduced the trade deficit by about 36% and increased the value of total exports by about 69% from about $558 million to $943 million. Local producers have fast become empowered to produce for the local and export market.
The Rwandan leader has turned his attention to regional integration in the six-member East African Community to counter complaints about Africa’s small, fragmented markets.
The consolidated market of over 200 million citizens is more reassuring to investors and makes a business case for joint infrastructure projects such as the Standard Gauge Railway, which will connect the major Kenyan centers of Mombasa and Nairobi.
Lisa Kaestner, a practice manager for finance competitiveness and innovation at the International Finance Corporation, says: “I see Rwanda is keen on this and trying to support through the East African Community. This is one way to reduce the cost of doing business. If you look at it through the doing business lenses, all countries are trying to improve.”
Kagame’s continental mission has been evident in his various roles at the African Union (AU).
<blockquote>As the chairperson of the AU Reforms team, Kagame has advocated for less donor dependency and more sustainable funding by African states.</blockquote>
He has often challenged African countries who contribute less than 30% of the AU’s budget and turn to external donors with a begging bowl, which has been blamed for influencing the body’s decisions and priorities.
As  AU chair, Kagame has sought an adjustment of terms between Africa and the rest of the world for mutual benefit. This, he has argued, is more sustainable in the long run and presents an avenue for growth among all parties, as opposed to aid, which maintains dependence.
Months after assuming the chairmanship of the AU, in March 2018, Kagame hosted over 50 African heads of state and government in Kigali for the signing of the African Continental Free Trade Area.
As a trade bloc, the trade agreement envisions a continental market of 1.2 billion people, with a combined gross domestic product of more than $3.4 trillion.
So far, 49 countries have signed the agreement, with nine ratifications. The development is a huge step towards encouraging industrialization and job creation across Africa.
Peter Mathuki, Executive Director of the East African Business Council, says: “The country’s leadership is on grip to lift the EAC country to middle income level faster than most African countries. The fast economic growth is premised on pillars of good governance, easy-to-do business climate and zero tolerance to corruption… Rwanda is indeed Africa’s rising star and driver for economic transformation.”
&#8211; Collins Mwai

Kigali city view from Nyarugenge

Rwanda The Emerging Economy To Watch

Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and head of the African Union speaks to CNBC Africa’s Chris Bishop on continental trade, business and China’s influence. Excerpts of the interview.

Q. Philosophers and poets have been talking about a united Africa for decades. It seems on the business front, it is on the cards. We are talking about an African Continental Free Trade Area. As Chairperson of the African Union, how are you going to make this happen? 
A. Africa coming together and being united is a very important task and responsibility for all of us. It’s never going to be a task of the Chairperson of the African Union alone. What the Chairperson does is to govern the understanding and support and everyone together so we do what needs to be done for our continent to be unified. We have already started with the Continental Free Trade Area; before that, we have been talking about regional integration. Regions with a lot commonalities can come together to do business, to invest in each other or deal with the rest of the world as one entity.
Q. How difficult is this going to be? 
A. It is going to be difficult bringing change even when it is very necessary… As Chairperson of the African Union or even as a president of my country, I know it is the task of other leaders to not only talk about nice things that should happen, but also do the hard work to lead all of us to the results of the effort we have to put in. So we have to keep raising our voices first of all, reminding people, assuming that they have forgotten, because some of them do not know what they are supposed to do. So you have to keep raising your voice, keep reminding people and we do it collectively. It is always going to be useful if we do it together and understand that together is when we are going to succeed.
Q. A lot of countries have not yet signed up to the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement. What can you do about this? 
A. The best way is to start from somewhere and demonstrate the good that can come out of such a thing as a free trade area and having an agreement over that and what needs to happen. Once you demonstrate the benefits, I think people will quickly move towards doing things that benefit them. And in actual fact, we also need to look at what happens elsewhere in the world. We know the stories of different parts of the world where people have come from and the paths they have taken and where they are today. And from Africa, we look at what has happened in Asia, the long history of Europe, Latin America, United States, Canada and so on. So we need to relate to where they are with a number of things that have happened or they have done to be there… But we can’t be there by just admiring what other people have done and not doing exactly what you need to do for yourself and get moving with the situation and improving it&#8230;
Q: What do you think a leader should be doing to keep talented young people on the continent? 
A: It is governance; we need to govern our people properly. But governance alone does not provide anything; what you do within those structures, and that comes to the investments we make that are responsive to people’s needs, aspirations and desires. It’s around the creation of a business environment, whether small or big businesses can make money, can do whatever they can and do that freely, because people know how to do some of these things, but until there is a conducive environment for them to play that part, that won’t happen. So leaders must make sure that this is the case and allow people to participate in all that. Once there is participation, there is benefiting, there is the feeling that what they have is what they wanted; at least they have hope, they are sure that things are moving in the right direction even if they do not have what they wanted now, they can have it tomorrow.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/life/2016/04/01/tribute-remarkable-rwandan-women/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: ‘A Tribute To Remarkable Rwandan Women’</a>
Q: To your role as Chairperson of the African Union, I mean if you can argue that this is Africa’s time, but still there is that lingering fear and concern sometimes about stability, even in your own region in East Africa. How are you planning to tackle this in your job? 
A. It is just to keep bringing out these discrepancies. The complaints people have are real. You need to listen to them and you need to get to the bottom of why there are these contradictions, of course the major problem being we have many of us who say the right things but the next day, we are doing the complete opposite. So until we exercise some conscientious discipline to an extent really, if we understand that this is what we need to do and it’s good for everybody, it’s good for you, it’s good for me and in fact if there is something that is good for both of us, we shouldn’t tamper with that, we need to only take it forward and make sure we benefit more but together. This is something we have seen over many years because even when we are talking about regional integration, which has made good progress over the years, we still have people who will talk about integration and will talk about all the good things and how everybody should do this and that and then you find the same people are the ones undermining integration. It has happened. We see it every day. So we need to keep shouting out to these people and say ‘please, you know this is affecting me and maybe at the end, it will affect you’.
Q: How do you think Africa is doing right now in persuading the businessmen of the world to put their money into this continent? 
A: Well, let me start with my own country Rwanda. On the continent of Africa alone, Rwanda is the second best place when it comes to the ease-of-doing-business index. I am saying every country on our continent is trying to fix different problems that create obstacles for business in Africa. Every country is making an effort, Rwanda is one of them. The whole of East Africa is involved in that. So on people’s minds, they know how important it is for countries to create a good environment for investors to invest in, for people doing business to do business or for the business people of one country to do business in another country or with the citizens of another country. This is now a very common discussion. People are always searching for better ways to allow that to happen, so I think things are on the upward trend, things are in the right direction but it’s never enough and I think Africa is still lagging behind many other parts of the world. Even if we look at intra-Africa trade, it is still very low, when it comes to other regions, it’s much higher, so we need to improve, we need to do better and we need to move faster.
Q: A lot of countries have run into a lot of soured private-public investments. How do you approach it as a leader when trying to negotiate private-public partnerships? 
A. You see, the starting point is, let’s say both sides, are we prepared? Do we know what we want? Do we know how to get it while we allow the partner to also get what they want? You see, there are two parties here. Why things have gone wrong is some people have gone into partnerships and this is mostly with governments; a lot of things happen that prove that either government did not know what they wanted or they knew but the people who were involved on behalf of the government ended up trying to benefit themselves instead of looking at the country’s interest, and the other partner who is the private partner. This has always been the case but if governments are prepared and governments have expertise, if they do not have it in-house, they can hire expertise to act on their behalf. There is so much out there that once you ask people to stand in for you as expertise, they will do that. So it is not the formula of private-partnership that is problematic, it is those who are involved in the transactions that become problematic.
Q: So you are talking about corruption here? 
A. Absolutely! Corruption comes in, there is no question about it. Corruption is part of it or just bad governance of the whole process.
<div id="attachment_37491" style="width: 750px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-37491" class="wp-image-37491 size-large" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/GettyImages-825575448-1024x683.jpg" alt="" width="740" height="494" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/GettyImages-825575448-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/GettyImages-825575448-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/GettyImages-825575448-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/GettyImages-825575448-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/GettyImages-825575448.jpg 1654w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" />Incumbent Rwandan President Paul Kagame greets the crowd after addressing supporters at the closing rally of the presidential campaign in Kigali, on August 2, 2017. </div>
Q: I know it is something you have tried to fight for a decade. How close do you think you are to actually getting it out of the system here? 
A. You will never kill corruption completely, but you can reduce it to the bare minimum and what has happened is to create an environment of accountability and transparency, where things will be done and without fear or favor, justice will be exercised. It does not matter whether it is a big person or an ordinary person. Once they are caught up in this, the law should apply.
Q: From all the corners of the continent, a lot of people are still saying China smacks of neo-colonialism – the influence they are exerting in Africa right now. What do you say? 
A. Well, tell me about neo-colonialism or the old one? The new or the old I don’t know, but they are all bad things, but again it comes to the whole point… There are Chinese investments in Africa; you do not make investments for nothing, and it is not charity, right? Africa needs investments and again, it goes back to the other point I raised – does Africa know what it wants in working with other people from other parts of the world? If China offers an opportunity, that’s the way I prefer to see it. What does Rwanda want from China or what can we ably get from China, where we will benefit and China will benefit because again it is not a charity relationship. So if we know that and have discussions about it, then we should have a fair deal. Do I want the Chinese to build a power plant for me, for Rwandans to have sufficient electricity? How much is China able to lend to us or how much actually do we owe, or different groups that have been lending us money, so we make sure that we don’t end up owing too much or more than we can actually absorb from China and if you did it with any other country anywhere, it would be the same problem so we have to be conscious of that but if they are able to give us resources or money or lend us and say ‘we build for you power plants because that’s what we want’, and we say ‘okay, we are going to have this much invested in it and this is how we are going to repay the debt’ and so on and so forth… why should that be a problem? Because I don’t know of any place where China has walked into and started grabbing things, and if it happened, then it is not a problem of China, it is a problem of where it is happening I think. For the country to just surrender everything and be grabbed, then there is a problem.
Q. Where do you think you would have been if you hadn’t gone into politics and become a president? What would you want to do with your life? 
A: Well, when I was in my youth, I used to like to do things, to make things. Maybe I would have pursued certain careers and professions. You would have seen me as an engineer, or somebody doing an innovation or creating things.
Q: So you would have been quite happy as a carpenter or… 
A: Absolutely! A mechanic or…
Q: And if you were, what would you be saying to your president of Rwanda today? 
A: I would say try to do the best, to provide us with an environment that does not stand in the way of people’s ability to realize their potential or do whatever they want to do, meaning, get the government out of the way of people trying to thrive and do things they wish to do. And this goes back to the same story, it’s like what we are always trying to say – what is it that we can get out of the way of business, investments or people who have benefitted from education to base on the knowledge and skills they have to do what they want to do and improve their standards of living. This would be my request to my president. If that was the situation, I would say make sure government does not stand in the way of the freedoms of people to realize their potential and do what they wish to do.
For the full interview, visit cnbcafrica.com

Rwanda President Paul Kagame At Harvard

Paul Kagame: ‘Together Is When We Are Going To Succeed’

The tiny country of Rwanda is now producing factory-fresh Volkswagen cars from its rolling hills. Next up are ride-hailing and public car-sharing services by the German carmaker.

“Africa doesn’t need to be the dumping ground for second-hand cars or second-hand anything, because in the long run, you end up paying a higher price anyway. So if you can pay a high price for second-hand, why not pay a high price for something new?”
These powerful words were by Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame in a speech delivered at the launch of the Volkswagen (VW) assembly plant late June in the country.
The German carmaker, which now has a presence on the rolling hills of the Kigali Special Economic Zone, is the first international automobile giant to invest in Rwanda.
It will have a capacity to produce up to 5,000 cars with a starting price of $23,000.
President Kagame observed that Africans deserve better and this is one way of showing how they can afford it.
“In the medium-term, the only way for us in East Africa to move up the industrial value chain from assembly to manufacturing is to build an integrated regional manufacturing base.”
For this to be achieved, he underscored the need to shift from the logic of competition to one of cooperation but also fuse the two “because when they are put together, everyone gains”.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2018/03/27/african-car-no/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: The African Car That Is No More</a>
Thomas Schaefer, the Chairman of VW Group South Africa, revealed that opening an assembly plant in Rwanda aligns with the firm’s strategy to strengthen regions, focusing on new and upcoming markets.
Schaefer admitted there are challenges but emphasized the project is bound to succeed.
“Having worked with emerging markets for a large part of my career, I can categorically say that Rwanda stands out as a country where it is about what we can do to make a project work rather than listing all the obstacles as to why something would not work,” he said in an interview to CNBC Africa.
VW joins Rwanda’s market at a time when the country is conducting the ‘Made in Rwanda’ program to support local industries and promote consumption of locally-made products.
Economic analyst Kenneth Agutamba believes VW’s entry into Rwanda lays the groundwork for other brands to tap into the market.
“It’s a big win. Every time a major international brand gets into a country, it boosts the confidence of other potential investors,” he tells FORBES AFRICA.
He adds that the investment is an opportunity for job creation in the country.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/life/2018/01/11/worlds-popular-cars-2017-included-fewer-cars-suvs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: The World’s Most Popular Cars In 2017 Included Fewer Cars, More SUVs</a>
“A single car has 30,000 parts and putting them together requires a minimum of 20 people. So it’s a very labor-intensive job.”
He explains that although Rwanda is a smaller market and landlocked, it has security, and political and economic stability, among other factors rare on the rest of the continent.
“It can be a base where major brands can build their headquarters but targeting the markets around it,” he says.
Clare Akamanzi, CEO of the Rwanda Development Board, hailed the development as a very important step and a new chapter.
“The fact that Volkswagen took time to study Rwanda and found it a good business case we can invest in here, means a lot for us. It’s something that shows feasibility of such business that can thrive in Rwanda and we expect other companies to emulate,” she told CNBC Africa.
Starting next year, the company will also offer ride-hailing and public car-sharing services under the Mobility Solutions program.
Lionel Mpfizi, CEO of AwesomityLab, a local company hired to provide a mobility solution platform commended VW for its openness to local companies in an interview with CNBC Africa.
“We are very happy that VW is open to work with local companies to achieve what they want to achieve. There’s something we are bringing to the table if we are local: we have the understanding, we know the clients and we are the clients,” said Mpfizi.
&#8211; By Steven Muvunyi

IMG_6097

A Country On A Roll

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has an iconic status in Africa and the world. As the first elected female head of state in Africa, she served as the leader of Liberia for two elected terms.
Those terms saw Liberia’s slow and steady march from what was considered a pariah state to a country with what the Mo Ibrahim Foundation calls a “trajectory of progress” that has helped transform its economy, survive the shock of Ebola, and restructure public institutions to respond to the needs of the people.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/politics/2018/03/02/the-peoples-president/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: The People’s President</a>
It is only fitting that FORBES WOMAN AFRICA gets to meet the Nobel Peace Prize winner in Rwanda, a country known for its high representation of women in Parliament, and where Sirleaf is awarded the Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership at a special ceremony.
Q. Please share your thoughts on the African Union (AU) self-funding reform goal, the Kaberuka Proposal. 
The dependency of the AU on external sources has been the subject of debate for many years, and the thinking of our leaders is that it is better to finance our operations by ourselves and alleviate pressure and dictation from these external sources. On the other hand, we know that to have financial autonomy, every country must be able to contribute consistently. So, the crux of the reform is to change the payment formula and make sure everyone knows they have to pay their part.
When it comes to the Kaberuka suggestion, it meets our objective of financing our organization ourselves. However, it does place a burden on the poorer states&#8230; So, our position with the Kaberuka plan is to study it some more so when we commit, we do not fall into arrears. We want to see the reform implemented, and for it to include cost-reduction in structural aspects such as travel and positions etc., thus reducing the burden on poorer countries.
Q: Will Africa really be able to tackle illicit financial flows? And with women being conspicuously absent from financial decision-making, yet being the greatest losers on such issues, how do we tackle these discrepancies? 
We have to become more accountable and pass stringent mandates in institutions, as well as instill practical capacity to understand the complexities of these financial transactions. Also, we must implement a legal system that will enforce against such flow violations.
Access for women is difficult even in the case of legitimate flows. Even with a growing manufacturing sector and agri-industrial activities usually manned by women, access is still limited, for rural women particularly.
There is a big effort being put in by different regional institutions; in Liberia’s case, GIABA, the Intergovernmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa, has been analyzing the flows and determining what is illicit. 
But it is up to women to stand up and put other women in leadership roles, because the record is clear: women are more credit-worthy when it comes to financial transactions, and this suggests the more women there are heading these institutions, the more we can be assured that regulatory laws will be more effective.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2018/06/08/womens-leadership-is-under-attack-globally/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: &#8216;Women’s Leadership Is Under Attack Globally’</a>
Q: What are your plans? How would you encourage young women to follow in your footsteps, or even create their own path? 
We are establishing the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center for Women and Development. The activities will center around five themes that will promote women in business; women in leadership; women in fragile states; women in migration; and education for women and girls. We will use the life experiences of women who have excelled in these areas. For the young women, I say to all, be self-confident and pursue your goals&#8230;Let us be bold as women.
&#8211; Interviewed by Laura Rwiliriza

Tag: Rwanda

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