Rwanda – Economy in transition

 

Rwanda is best known globally for the civil war that ravaged the country between 1990 and 1994, which culminated in the genocide of over 900,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. Whilst it is difficult to discuss this crime against humanity in terms of positive outcomes, it did force the country’s political establishment to reimagine how it should be governed, and in 2003 political parties organized around ethnicity and religion were outlawed. The change sparked an extraordinary turnaround in the country’s fortunes, described by the Financial Times as ‘Rwanda’s economic miracle’. Despite being a landlocked country over 1000km from a seaport and with extremely high utility prices Rwanda has recorded an annual growth of over 8% for the past decade. In the space of twenty years, Rwanda has transformed itself from a country that was tearing itself apart to Africa’s third most business-friendly destination according to the World Bank.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Programme focus  

 

The Rwanda program will immerse participants in an economy that was able to: climb out of an abyss; improve its infrastructure; remove bureaucratic barriers to business; provide good health services for all, and most importantly take more than one million people out of poverty. During the program, the participants will visit the developing agro-processing industry, learn about Rwanda’s unique business ecosystem, experience the booming tourism industry, and also learn about the country’s efforts to preserve its guerrillas and their habitats. At the end of the program participants will better understand business in Africa and also how, in partnership with government, business can be a catalyst for change.