in less than a lifetime Rwanda has gone from an impoverished State driven with violence to one of Africa's safest and most prosperous economies its streets are clean violent crime is down business is booming and the GDP has grown 15-fold since 1994. exports have increased by roughly 70 percent and the trade deficit has dropped by nearly a third official data also shows that the number of tourists has doubled and the country has played host to several high-profile Global Summits and Marquee events now rwanda's leadership intends to usher in an economic Revolution by mimicking Singapore's success good times are ahead Rwanda is to become a hot spot for tourism Innovation and business yet not everything is as it seems questions remain about the country's fund Elementals and while Asia has its Tigers Africa it seems is close to finding its lion known as the land of a Thousand Hills Rwanda is a tiny landlocked state in East Africa roughly the size of Albania wedged between Uganda Tanzania Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo its subtropical Highland Climate protected it from the ravages of malaria the tetsi fly and historically European colonization over time it developed into an agrarian semi-fudal Kingdom where economic and social status centered around cattle ownership those with cattle Loosely known as the Tutsi could land their draft animals in exchange for service but those without cattle known as the Hutu had to work the land for subsistence I go the divisions within the Rwandan Society were already in place when the Europeans showed up Belgium as a result had no trouble engineering divide and Rule ethnic Tutsis were integrated into the colonial apparatus collaborators enjoyed rewards including status wealth and education in turn Colonial administrators extracted taxes raw materials and cheap labor primarily from the ethnic Hutu underclass this not so subtle disconnection led to a radical Hutu Consciousness that persisted following Independence in 1962. the Advent of rwanda's current Tutsi leader Paul kagame came out of the resulting crisis it didn't last though a coup ushered in a houthi dictatorship in 1973. kagame tried to return to power but French intervention prevented him from doing so after back and forth negotiations a power-sharing deal was settled this Arrangement however only lasted until the houthi president was assassinated in April 1994. thereafter with French assistance and intelligence Hutu militias waged an Annihilation campaign against their countrymen who happened to be Tutsi in just three months roughly one-tenth of rwanda's population was wiped out mostly with machetes Rivals and blunt instruments kagame was able to stop the onslaught by staging yet another intervention and after becoming rwanda's effective leader he was tasked with rebuilding a shuttered nation and repairing ethnic divisions yet the path forward was not immediately obvious unusually for Africa Rwanda has scanned mineral wealth thus economic reform required extensive planning to move away from agricultural dependence to resent in the year 2000 the government established Vision 2020 a two-decade Economic Development strategy that solved the effective distribution of scarce resources and the cultivation of favorable investment climate chiefly the plan sought to establish an effective rule of law this would eliminate graft and Corruption introduce regulatory coherence and minimize political unpredictability and risk the policy seemingly paid off since 1994 Rwanda has experienced steady economic growth with its GDP climbing from 753 million dollars to 11 billion dollars with a comparable rise in per capita figures corruption is also remarkably Low by African standards and the homicide rate is half that of the United States meanwhile according to government statistics nearly 1 million rwandans have been lifted from poverty these metrics show incredible progress for a nation just one generation removed from a brutal Mass killing but Rwanda isn't done yet kagami's government has big plans ahead in laying the ideological groundwork for rwanda's development officials have drawn extensively from the case of Singapore under the leadership of Lee Kuan Yew this includes leveraging capital inflows and GDP growth to improve infrastructures Healthcare education and Utilities in theory this generates a feedback loop drawing in more investment the economy is also boosted by foreign aid to the tune of 1.3 billion dollars annually accounting for two-fifths of the country's budget as such Rwanda scores well on measures that track business friendliness including registering businesses and assets gaining construction permits access to electricity contract enforcement credit availability and insolvency resolution procedures in addition to infrastructure and utilities kagame wants to stare foreign investments into the technology sector the plan is to move away from subsistence Agriculture and move towards advanced ecologically sustainable farming to raise export Revenue other developments are afoot in informatics communication Technologies artificial intelligence and data collection for instance Rwanda has joined with Japan's space agency to launch meteorological satellites and has used drone technology to deliver blood samples to rural communities most important for National Prestige though is the modernization and expansion of the national Carrier rwand air a policy that mimics the success of Singapore Airlines rwanda's copy and paste policy tends to emphasize looks over substance but in politics the image one projects is the image others perceive for example the cleanliness and safety of rwanda's capital Kigali has allowed it to draw Marquee events like the FIFA Congress and the Commonwealth Summit these PR events have not only kept Rwanda in the news for positive reasons but they have also helped to overcome its checkered reputation that is bequeathed by history but there is more substance than meets the eye Singapore is not kagame's only influence following China's lead Rwanda established special economic zones in its capital with some key investors being Chinese firms clothes Sanitary products and intermediate goods are now being produced on the Rwandan soil meanwhile Rwandan farmers are gaining access to yield boosting Technologies in essence Beijing is sounding Out Kigali as a possible trade and Logistics hub for its African Commerce but though the development of the local industry is welcome some rwandans are upset that not enough opportunities are being thrown their way the actual level of descent is hard to assess however despite its economic gains or perhaps as a precondition for them Rwanda has minimal political opposition the last election in 2017 showed a 99 approval for the ruling leader the legislator acts as an effective rubber stamp and civil liberties are sharply on their mind so much so that the constitution was actually amended in 2015 to allow kagame to bypass term limits still despite his Democratic shortcomings kagame has done a remarkable job in improving the country all around and while his approval rate may not reach the official numbers it no doubt exists to a substantial degree and so long as the world wants to be misled it will find politicians willing to oblige even so while kagame has learned lessons from Singapore there are clear Geographic differences that complicate direct comparisons for starters Rwanda is landlocked while Singapore is an island the latter support facilities and location within the Malacca Strait make it a natural hub for the world Commerce Rwanda by contrast is subject to transport costs emanating from its Inland position and Highland geography and no matter how much it pursues a favorable investment climate at home it is still subject to the policies and whims of the surrounding countries that connected to the outside world over time this may lead Kigali to adopt a more service-based economy by bolstering its Communications and internet infrastructure thereby eliminating the physical Geographic barriers that stand in its way in this it may be more sensible to lift a page from the land-looked Switzerland's book than Singapore's but regardless of which success story to follow Rwanda faces a second complication one that is literally Beyond its control all trade and investment hubs are somewhat parasitic on the surrounding economies Singapore can draw sustenance from the surrounding Asian Giants just as Switzerland can from Europe Rwanda by contrast is surrounded by landlocked unstable and underdeveloped States it's hard to do business in such an environment even if your own house is in order the final issue in rwanda's road map to Prosperity lies in the numbers specifically believing the official statistics the methods and classification techniques used to measure progress in the country have shifted dramatically during the presidency of kagame so it stands to reason that the official numbers are no more honest than the political polls minimal data from outside agencies exist and that which does paint a mixed picture for instance the United Nations development program rates rwanda's living standards below average for sub-Saharan Africa meanwhile the World Bank claims two-fifths of rwandans are still in poverty so whatever one thinks of kagame's leadership few would disputes that further improvements are necessary All Things Considered rwanda's economic turnaround has seen clear progress but the path forward is not entirely clear and the Singapore model while useful is no blueprint for a landlocked state like Rwanda much will depend on the leadership of Paul kagame and how well his authority endures as his country's profile increases for now though kagame's leadership is secure as his status Shields him from criticism because image is everything in politics and once a leader gains a reputation as an early riser they can't sleep until noon I've been your host shirwan from 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