When my husband Earl and I first visited Rwanda in February, we were struck by the country’s breathtaking beauty, peacefulness, and deep sense of national purpose. On our second trip in April, we saw even more clearly what makes Rwanda such an extraordinary place: not just its clean streets, lush hillsides, or innovative public policies, but its people — resilient, resourceful, and quietly building something remarkable.

As an African-American financial educator who’s taught personal finance for over 20 years, I view Rwanda through both a visitor’s eyes and a wealth-building lens. And I believe one of the most powerful, yet underappreciated, tools Rwanda has for reaching its ambitious Vision 2050 goals is this: a nationwide culture of financial wellness.

We often think of financial wellness as the result of an individual pursuit: things like budgeting better, saving consistently, or avoiding excessive debt.

But in Rwanda, I saw something more holistic — a shared responsibility model that ties money to community, discipline to dignity, and savings to social cohesion.

Empowering people, strengthening systems

In the "Land of a Thousand Hills,” financial wellness is about empowering people and strengthening systems.

Consider Umuganda, Rwanda’s monthly day of national service. At first glance, it’s a civic clean-up program. But it’s also a deeply embedded financial wellness tool. After the cleaning is done, many neighborhoods gather to solve problems collectively: resolving disputes, coordinating savings groups, and making decisions that impact their local economy. This is community-based planning and governance in action.

Or take car-free days, which encourage physical activity and community health. They may seem like public health initiatives, but they also represent long-term financial savings: reduced healthcare costs, better mental health, and more productive citizens.

Even the act of basket weaving or cooking at community centers like the Nyamirambo Women’s Center isn’t just about preserving cultural heritage. It’s economic empowerment in real time. I had the privilege of learning from a skilled artisan named Claudine, who showed me the care, precision, and pride embedded in the painstaking work of weaving.

Watching Claudine deftly make earrings from plant fibers, I realized that this was financial wellness in action – not just an individual activity, but a community endeavor literally woven into Rwanda’s national fabric. Others at the NWC were equally industrious, doing everything from hairdressing and tour guiding to embroidery and seamstress work.

Mary Nyangoma, one of the 18 founders of the Nyamirambo Women’s Center, told me: "We are always thinking of new ways to develop income streams.” The activities that the women engage in earn them a fair wage and support the center's broader gender equality efforts: fostering entrepreneurship, developing job skills, and strengthening microenterprises for women.

From savings to sustainable tourism

And then there’s Rwanda’s remarkable savings groups. One young woman, Shadia, told me how her mother encouraged her to join a savings cooperative. Shadia now saves regularly for her future wedding. That’s financial planning, accountability, and long-term thinking all rolled into one simple practice — and it’s happening at scale.

In many African nations (and throughout the Caribbean as well), these rotating savings and lending groups are known by many names: "susus,” "esusu,” "tontines.” What they have in common is trust. In a world where access to formal credit may be limited, these systems provide structure, reliability, and real financial outcomes.

Tourism, too, contributes powerfully to the nation’s social and financial ecosystems.

In 2024 alone, Rwanda earned $647 million in tourism revenue, with more than $200 million from gorilla-related activities, per the Rwanda Development Board’s 2024 Annual Report.

My own visits to the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund and the Gorilla Guardians Village helped me understand why conservation is tied so closely to financial wellness. There, reformed poachers now serve as educators and stewards of the land, helping preserve biodiversity and create sustainable livelihoods.

I also visited Akagera National Park, where I was guided by Amour — another reformed poacher turned conservationist. As we explored Rwanda’s only savanna park in an open 4x4, Amour shared not only his deep wildlife knowledge but also a powerful story of personal transformation.

"We killed more than half of the animal population in this park,” he admitted. "Now my life is really connected with this national park, these animals and nature.”

Amour explained that his journey began when he was just 15 years old. "In my village, nearly everyone was hunting illegally,” he said. After the 1994 genocide, economic necessity drove many to poaching.

"We were a poor family,” he told me, noting that bush meat became a significant market with exports even reaching neighboring DRC and Burundi. Fortunately, what started as survival has now transformed into stewardship, with Amour beginning official work at Akagera in 2014.

So, what does this have to do with Vision 2050?

Everything.

If Rwanda wants to become a high-income country, as its national plan envisions, financial wellness planning must be treated as core infrastructure. Just like roads, power grids, tourism, and internet connectivity, financial capability and economic participation must be built, maintained, and expanded.

But here’s the opportunity: Rwanda already has the cultural foundations in place. From community savings cooperatives to grassroots entrepreneurship, Rwanda’s people are already practicing financial wellness in their everyday lives.

Challenges that remain

Despite Rwanda’s remarkable progress, several challenges to nationwide financial wellness persist: