Rwanda Reconsidered

It is impossible to talk about economic inequality without also speaking about economic redistribution. In a nutshell, economic redistribution is the redistribution of resources from the population of a country which can then be given to either elites or citizens. Though often economic redistribution is thought of in terms of social welfare and economic growth, giving the resources back to the citizens to improve their livelihoods, it also exists in another form, redistribution to elite citizens for private gain.  In Rwanda you can see examples of both.As the country with the highest rates of economic inequality in the region of East Africa, Rwandan policy has been dominated both by policies linked to economic redistribution as will be seen in the two examples below (https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/business/Rwanda-has-regions-highest-inequality-rate-/2560-3908112-t4t51ez/index.html).

In Rwanda, there are a lot of policies related to economic redistribution to the citizens through social welfare systems and economic development. For example, Rwanda has compulsory health insurance which covers more than 90% of the population, helping to increase life expectancy and health for many of the population (https://www.bti-project.org/de/berichte/laenderberichte/detail/itc/RWA/). Furthermore, many of Rwanda’s policies explicitly target the poorest of the population, including food aid to reduce malnutrition and other aid, which have in turn contributed to a reduction of the proportion of the population below the poverty line from 56.7% to 39.1%, a significant change (https://www.bti-project.org/de/berichte/laenderberichte/detail/itc/RWA/). All of this has contributed to economic development in the region and serve as good examples of redistribution to the public.

However, there is also evidence in Rwanda of economic redistribution to the elite of the nation. Though the 2017 Corruption Perception Index “ranked Rwanda as the third least corrupt country on the African continent” (https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/what-makes-rwanda-one-of-africa-s-fastest-growing-economies-23410) corruption does still exist, and claims are made especially about President Paul Kagame lining his pockets and those of his party especially in the security sector. For example, the Transformation Index in it’s BTI 2018 Rwanda Country Report noted that despite seemingly pursuing a liberal fiscal policy, that there are a growing number of private enterprises linked to the army and the dominant party that have expanded their influence, leading to private gain for these elites. Furthermore, there have been charges that the agricultural policies pursued by Kagame, supposedly to help farmers, have actually been used to help large corporations and have been influenced by Kagame’s party, another example of redistribution to the elite rather than the poor farmers the policies claim to support.

Works Cited:

• Asiimwe, D. (2019, September 4). Rwanda has region’s highest inequality rate. The East African. https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/business/Rwanda-has-regions-highest-inequality-rate-/2560-3908112-t4t51ez/index.html
• BTI 2018: Rwanda Country Report. (2018). Transformation Index BTI. https://www.bti-project.org/de/berichte/laenderberichte/detail/itc/rwa/ity/2018/itr/esa/Detail. (n.d.). Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://www.bti-project.org/de/berichte/laenderberichte/detail/itc/RWA/
• Nzohabonimana, D. (2019, January 17). What makes Rwanda one of Africa’s fastest growing economies? TRTWorld. https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/what-makes-rwanda-one-of-africa-s-fastest-growing-economies-23410

Bienvenue! Murakaza neza! Welcome to my e-portfolio in which I will over the course of this semester be going in depth on one particular country in order to become a country expert. As the only requirements for the country chosen were a) To be lower or middle income countries b) not to be actively involved in a civil war and c) to be non-democratic or in transition, I settled on Rwanda for my country.

I deliberated for quite a long time before I decided which country I wanted to choose for this e-portfolio. I knew I was interested in Sub-Saharan Africa because my work had increasingly brought me into contact with the region, engaging y curiosity. But admittedly, there are many Sub-Saharan countries, most of which would have fulfilled the three requirements set by the course, so why Rwanda?

Of course I already had impressions of Rwanda before choosing this country. Probably the most dominant impression I had in my mind was of the Rwandan Genocide, which happened the year of my birth. I grew up learning about the genocide, slowly learning more and more details, truly uncovering the horrors that happened in various classes throughout middle and high school before finally getting more in-depth in a class at my undergrad. However, I never understood anything about the country beyond that impression, part of the reason I was so surprised when in my work on gender, peace and security I discovered that Rwanda had in some ways some of the most gender-equal structures in place in their armed forces and peacekeeping contingents. While most other nations struggled to meet a basic requirement for women in peace operations or security, Rwanda seemed to meet it much more consistently. So I was intrigued. The dichotomy between the genocide and horror I’d heard of, and the progressive policy in this one arena.

In these upcoming weeks I am hoping to continue to challenge my preconceptions of Rwanda as I also seek to understand the themes from our class. Grappling with the question of whether it is important to have regional expertise as well as understanding more about the political underpinnings of countries like Rwanda.