Estimated GDP: US $ 24.6 billion (HDR 2019)
Per capita income (purchasing power parity): US $ 1,959 (HDR 2019)
Human Development Rank (HDI): Rank 157 out of 189, 2018
Proportion of poverty (national poverty line): 39% (World Bank)
Distribution of income (Gini coefficient): 43.7 (HDR 2019)
Market Economy Status Index (BTI): Rank 68 of 136 (2020)
Poverty Reduction, Millennium Development Goals
Based on the “Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)” of the UN, Rwanda worked out its first long-term strategic development plan “Vision 2020″ in 2000. Its elementary goals were – besides the creation of a modern IT-supported and knowledge-based society – the modernization of agriculture, including the creation of non-agricultural jobs in the countryside. The government wanted to raise per capita income to the level of middle-income countries. In the period from 2017 to 2024, the current national strategy plan, ” National Strategy for Transformation (NST1) “, will create a bridge to the next long-term vision (Vision 2050).
The National Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) formulated for the first time in 2002 and the successor plans were both embedded in Vision 2020. The successor papers EDPRS and EDPRS II, with a strong emphasis on economic development, were implemented from 2007 to 2012 and 2013 to 2018, respectively. In accordance with the current government program, the current development phase has been based on NST1 since 2017. The focus is on strengthening the private sector, which will play a central role in the future. Associated with this is the effort to increase foreign direct investment (FDI) and the expansion of the export sector.
The efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which should be implemented by the end of 2015, were positive in Rwanda. The Rwandan government had a correspondingly positive view of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs), the global follow-up project running from the beginning of 2016 to the end of 2030. The competent council of the United Nations has decided the regional center for Africato support the implementation of the SDGs in the region in Rwanda. This can be seen as recognition of the particular commitment of the Rwandan government with regard to both the implementation of the MDGs and SDGs that have already taken place and the future.
National development efforts
According to hyperrestaurant, the Rwandan government, which was well aware of the economic repercussions of the negative image abroad caused by the well-known genocide, has for many years been following a reform agenda aimed at removing restrictions on private investment. Through the establishment of an export and investment agency in 2004 (Riepa) today RDB, combined with a so-called “one-stop center” for investors, the formalities have been greatly simplified. Since 1994, the country has made significant progress in rebuilding its economic and social infrastructure. His achievements in guaranteeing security across the country and an administration that functions well for the region are recognized by international organizations and bilateral partners, but also increasingly by private investors. The comparatively low level of corruption that the country has recorded in recent years also plays an important role in the good investment climate. Transparency International leads Rwanda in its annual ranking In the last few years around 50th place (currently 51st place) out of around 180 countries examined, Rwanda is thus significantly better placed than all neighboring countries and is in third place behind Botswana and the island state Cape Verde in Africa.
The government has sought to privatize all state-owned companies. The largest privatization projects in 2005 included the Rwandan telephone company Rwandatel, the state cultivation and processing of tea, and majority stakes in the commercial banks BACAR and BCR. According to the government’s privatization plan, this is 35 of the former 70 companies, including the energy monopoly EESC (formerly Electrogaz).
Foreign development efforts
Budget funding in Rwanda is donor-dependent. The Rwandan government works very closely with the multilateral institutions IMF, World Bank and related agencies and banks (IDA, AfDB). With regard to ” Aid Effectiveness “, the state is clearly making efforts to implement the requirements, even if this leads to socio-political problems.
The most visible measures were the tightening of the budget, the reform of the territorial structure, the reduction in the number of civil servants, but also the cut in public expenditure for management costs (e.g. sale of almost the entire public vehicle fleet in 2005).
The IMF and the budget support donors oriented towards it honor this. Rwanda reached the HIPC “completion point” in April 2005, the IMF again awarded a so-called Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) and the share of budget support in total development aid rose.
Other important multilateral donors are the EU and the UN programs, including the UNDP and the World Food Program (WFP).
At the bilateral level, the most important donor countries are the USA, Great Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. Numerous NGOs are also present in Rwanda with a wide variety of projects.
