Page 35 - Nile Explorer Issue 007

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Statistics from the RDB from 57% in 2005 to 45% in 2010.
indicate there were about Despite this, 63% of the population still
10,488 hotel rooms in the lives in extreme poverty, defined by the
country in 2017, while World Bank as less than $1.25 a day.
aviation traffic is expect- Currently around 83% of Rwanda's
ed to grow to about population of 10.5 million lives in rural
1,151,300 in 2018, from areas and more than 70% of the popula-
926,571 in 2017. tion still work in subsistence farming.

The trend is expected to But the government, led by President
persist going forward. Paul Kagame, wants to change this.
Rwanda will by the end of According to Vision 2020, the Rwandan
2020 have a new modern state is tasked with ensuring good
airport located in the governance, which includes account-
Bugesera District, a ability, transparency and efficiency in
25-minute drive from the deploying scarce resources to key
capital. sectors of the national economy.

Moreover, Rwanda’s According to the 2019 World Bank
leadership in recent times Doing Business index, Rwanda is the
seems to be turning its 29th easiest place to do business in the
attention much to world - the only low-income country
Diversification has regional integration in the six-member (LIC) in the top 30.
been achieved, in
Photo: part, through an East African Community so as to In 2018, the RDB registered over US$2
Breathtaking increased focus on bolster its investments attractiveness. billion-worth of investments. Around
view of the City of Kagame is looking at the consolidated 173 investment projects worth
Kigali at night tourism, driven by market of over 200 million citizens as a US$2.006 billion, against a US$2 billion
taken from the initiatives such as more reassuring market and therefore a target set for the year, were registered,
Rooftop restau- the Meetings Incen- business case for joint infrastructure
rant, tives Conferences according to an RDB press release.
and Exhibitions (MICE) strategy which projects such as the Standard Gauge Of the total investments registered in
Railway, which would connect the
in less than five years placed Rwanda landlocked country to the coast. Two 2018, an estimated 26 percent
among the top conference destinations such projects are on the cards one represents export-orientated projects.
in Africa. through Uganda to Mombasa, and Across the different sectors, manufac-
In May 2018, the International another connecting via Isaka to the port turing, mining, agriculture and
Congress and Convention Association of Tanga. agro-processing accounted for 57
(ICCA) ranked the capital Kigali as the The UN recently designated 7 April, the percent of investments registered.
third most popular conference and start date of the 1994 Rwandan geno- Other sectors that attracted significant
event destination on the continent, after cide against the Tutsi, in which 800,000 investments were tourism, healthcare,
Cape Town in South Africa, and Casa- people were killed, as an annual day for business services and ICT.
blanca of Morocco. the world to reflect on the unimaginable The economic growth that Rwanda has
According to Clare Akamanzi, the Chief human suffering that took place over experienced was able to pull at least one
Executive of the Rwanda Development 100 days and in the aftermath. million citizens out of poverty between
Board (RDB), the country collected a 2005 and 2011, according to the Rwan-
total of $42 million from 192 confer- More than two decades on, Rwanda’s dan Household Living Conditions
ences in 2017 and was projecting $74 economy, left in tatters following the Survey. Rwanda's GDP per capita in
million in 2018. genocide, has come a long way. Rwan- 1994 was $146. In 2017 it stood at $774
The diversification strategy has opened dans are generally living healthier and and is projected to have reached around
wealthier lives. But while poverty has
up investment opportunities for local fallen rapidly, more than 60% of the $819.652 by the end of 2018, according
and international investors (Marriott, population still lives on less than $1.25 a to the International Monetary Fund.
Radisson Blu, Park Inn, Serena among day. About 39 percent of the population lives
others) and created thousands of jobs in below the poverty line and 16 percent
the hospitality industry. The country reduced the percentage of lives in extreme poverty, according to
people living below the poverty line government statistics.
The Nile Explorer 007 | 35