Rwanda

Rwanda, in long form the Republic of Rwanda nicknamed the “country of a thousand hills”, is a country in East Africa. Rwanda extends its 26,338 km2 in the Great Lakes region. It shares borders with, to the north, Uganda, to the east, Tanzania, to the south, Burundi, and to the west, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital Kigali is located in the center of the country. Rwandans speak Kinyarwanda and live in the hills which constitute the reference location for habitats. The history of the country is marked by the genocide of the Tutsis perpetrated between April and July 1994. Rwanda has been a member of the United Nations (UN), the African Union (AU), since June 2007, the East African Community, the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) , and since November 29, 2009 of the Commonwealth. In French, the spellings Ruanda and Rouanda were also used before independence in 1962 to designate the country.

Rwanda’s history

Rwanda’s politics

Rwanda is a presidential-type republic. The President is elected by universal suffrage; the Parliament of Rwanda is made up of two chambers: the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The political parties, independently of their usual activities, meet in a Concertation Forum, whose decisions are taken by consensus. The judiciary is made up of the Supreme Court, the High Court of the Republic, Provincial Courts, District and City Courts, and specialized courts: Gacaca (traditional village justice), soldiers, etc. Rwanda’s policy is strongly imbued with the consequences of the 1994 Tutsi genocide, the context of underdevelopment, and the instability of the Africa of the Great Lakes (Burundi, Uganda, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo). On June 8, 2007, the National Assembly of Rwanda abolished the death penalty for all types of convicted. This measure came into force on July 25, 2007, and will have the direct effect of seeing 600 death row inmates having their sentence converted to life imprisonment. The abolition of the death penalty was one of the requirements of the international community for the judicial proceedings against the genocidaires whose case is dealt with by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) to be transferred to national jurisdiction. Rwandan in anticipation of the dissolution of the ICTR in 2008. The Portuguese Presidency of the European Union hailed the abolition of the death penalty as “a fundamental step towards the promotion of human rights and reflects the unshakable determination of ensuring justice and reconciliation in Rwanda 13 years after the genocide. The Parliament of Rwanda became, in 2008, the first in the world to display a majority of women (in 2016, 64% of deputies). In 2015, Rwanda was in 6th position in the world for gender equality, according to the report of the “Global Gender Gap Report”.

Rwanda’s economy

The economy of Rwanda is mainly marked by its strong dependence on agriculture (40% of the GDP, 87% of the national activity, the arable lands represent 45.6% of the surface of the country), an annual growth of more by 6%, development of services, low industrialization and a very high population density (> 400 inhabitants / km2). Inflation is around 4%, and if GDP per capita is around € 200 per year, the average annual PPP GDP (weighted by purchasing power) per capita is $ 945. Its human development index was 0.460 in 2007 and the change in this index compared to the previous year is +0.005. In December 2004, one euro was worth 740 Rwandan francs; in July 2014, one euro was worth 994 Rwandan francs, a modest monetary erosion compared to the euro over eleven years. There is no longer any “black” exchange, the government has structured the profession, after having imprisoned some recalcitrants. An economist in an administration can receive 100,000 francs per month, or 135 euros. A university lecturer can earn around 175,000 francs a month, or 235 euros. Administrative salaries are effectively paid. In Kigali, a driver for a day requests 5,000 francs, or 6.76 euros. An individual taxi ride for around 5 km in Kigali costs 2,000 francs, or 2.70 euros, a men’s haircut at the hairdresser around 700 francs, an hour of internet in a cyber center 500 francs, a brick of half a liter of UHT milk 450 francs, a 33 cl bottle of spring water 250 francs, a skewer of goat cheese and fries around 600 francs (variable), one hour of parking in the center of Kigali 100 francs.

Rwanda has some mineral resources, such as tin, columbo-tantalite (niobium and tantalum ore, often called coltan), gold, tungsten and beryl. Apart from the issue of running water, which is lacking for many, one of the major problems of Rwanda is that of energy. In 2005, less than 4% of Rwandans were connected to the electricity network (30% in 2018), and this network is far from covering the needs of its subscribers who suffer frequent and long outages. The possibilities for local development of energy production are subject to agreements with neighboring countries, in a region marked by great political instability which plagues possible projects. The building sector is doing well. Kigali has grown in twenty years from a few tens of thousands of inhabitants to almost a million. The government has a global perspective qualified under the name of “Vision 2020”. This master plan expects growth of 7%, development of the private sector, modernization of agriculture and wants to make Rwanda a regional service center for Africa of the Great Lakes.

The Rwandan government has approached the initiators of the NEPAD project and shares their vision. Since 2001, Rwanda has constantly reformed its trade laws and institutions. In 2008, Rwanda introduced a new company law that simplifies business creation and strengthens protections for minority shareholders. Entrepreneurs can now start a business in two procedures and three days. Transactions between parties are subject to more stringent approval and disclosure requirements. The legal provisions governing the liability of company directors in the event of harmful transactions between the parties concerned have also been strengthened. Rwanda has improved its regulations to facilitate access to credit through the adoption of two new laws. The new security law facilitates secured loans by allowing a wider range of assets to be used as bank collateral. The law also allows extra-judicial collateral security arrangements for secured creditors and gives them absolute priority in bankruptcy. The adoption of the new insolvency law in Rwanda has simplified the reorganization procedures. The reforms also included measures to speed up cross-border trade and the registration of land holdings. Delays at borders have been reduced thanks to longer opening hours and simpler documentation requirements. The reforms removed bottlenecks that existed in the property register and the Revenue Authority, reducing the time required to register a property by 255 days.

This allowed, for the first time in a sub-Saharan African country, Rwanda, to lead in the reforms according to the report of the world bank “Doing Business 2010” and to make a giant leap (76 places ) in the general classification by rising to 67th place out of 183 countries evaluated; he was ranked 143rd the year before. In 2015, it moved to 3rd place on the African continent. GDP by sector: agriculture: 42.6%; industries: 22.2%; services: 35.2%. Main export partners: Kenya: 30.1%; China: 9.1%; Thailand: 8.6%; Germany: 7.3%; United States: 4.5%; Belgium: 4.1%.

Rwanda’s inflation: 5.5% (2011) In 2011, the amount of exports was 293 million dollars, while this amount of imports amounted to 1.307 billion dollars. Rwanda is now one of the safest and most stable countries in this part of Africa. The roads are paved, the landscape is tidy, and the government has launched an ambitious campaign to preserve the little remaining forest in Rwanda. In 2008, before Paul Kagame’s re-election, hundreds of thousands of hectares belonging to wealthy landowners in the country’s eastern province were bluntly redistributed to citizens – although the president and some of his influential friends still own immense properties. Rwanda is, since 2012, considered one of the good students of the continent, posting an economic growth of 8%.

On January 1, 2016, Rwanda stood out in particular for the following performances: – it occupies 1st place in terms of Human Development Progress over the last 20 years, according to the latest United Nations report (December 14, 2015); – the “World Economic Forum”, in its latest report on good global governance, estimates that Rwanda is the 7th best managed country on the planet. Beyond these international recognitions, Rwanda has succeeded in the difficult gamble of national reconciliation when it was the victim of a genocide which still strikes every family. In addition, Rwandans benefit, in addition to social security, paid maternity leave, modern medical infrastructure, an anti-corruption fight in constant progression, absolute security throughout the country, ” greater cleanliness than most European cities, more than 90% paved and maintained road network, 4G Internet network and fiber optics, etc. With a high fertility rate, 5 children per woman, the demographic pressure turns into a handicap: to deforestation is added soil erosion caused by intensive agriculture. Many pilot projects of German and Belgian cooperation, in particular, help the country in terms of agroforestry.

Rwanda’s demography

Rwanda is the most densely populated country in mainland Africa (430 inhabitants per km2 of arable land). According to the World Refugee Survey 2008 published by the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, Rwanda was home to approximately 54,200 refugees and asylum seekers in 2007, including 51,300 from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo-Kinshasa), more than 2,900 from Burundi, and some from other countries. In 2001, the population living below the poverty line was estimated at 60%. In this densely populated country, of which four fifths of the population depend on agriculture, the rapid increase in population can lead to overpopulation, a factor of conflict in several African countries. In 2014, when three out of five inhabitants are under 25 and the average age of the population is 19, there is hardly any fallow land. With the still high birth rate, the United Nations predicts that in the absence of a significant increase in emigration, density will double by 2050. The country must already import food.

Rwanda’s education

Rwanda’s language

Kinyarwanda is the language spoken by the vast majority of the population, in 2002 it was the language spoken by 99% of the population. French and Kinyarwanda have been the official languages ​​of Rwanda since the Belgian presence at the beginning of the 20th century. President Juvenal Habyarimana had eliminated the teaching of French in primary schools, but it was restored after the genocide of the Tutsi by the government of national unity. Nevertheless, the tense relations between the new government and France since the genocide of 1994, the return of many Tutsi who grew up in Uganda (whose English is the official language with Swahili) as well as the alignment of the country with the United States, lead the government to want to replace French with English. English then became an official language in 2003 alongside Kinyarwanda and French.