The World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting on Africa is coming to Rwanda this May. That is the good news from the annual WEF meeting that has just ended in Davos. It is a just reward for Rwanda’s focus on solutions to problems, innovation and on the future. It has been called a gathering of the world’s richest people. That is only partially true because even the not-so-rich, or the poor if you will, regularly attend. President Paul Kagame and the country he leads cannot be described as among the richest in the world. But he and others like him are rich in another sense – in ideas, in the willingness to try new things and seek answers to questions of our common future. The WEF is actually a unique gathering that brings together the world’s top leaders from diverse backgrounds as no other organization does. They come from government, business, industry, technology, the media, civil society and philanthropy. In this sense it is a departure from meetings we are used to such as the G8, G20 or G77. These are meetings of blocs often intent on advancing their particular interests – whether it is ordering the world economy in their image as the most industrialised countries tend to do, or seeking a place at the table as the developing countries are always trying to do. It is also different from United Nations or African Union meetings we are also familiar with, where pontificating, grandstanding and making headline-grabbing utterances are as much part of the event as the discussions and resolutions at the end of the meetings. The WEF is unique in another sense. It is solution-oriented as it seeks to answer the question: what can be done to deliver economic growth that is sustainable and inclusive. And so the focus is on solutions, innovation, on what actually works. In keeping with this approach, this year’s theme was on technology, on the fourth industrial revolution, precisely on how to ensure that we take full advantage of it. There is no doubting the impact of the earlier revolutions on transforming the world. From the steam engine to the digital age, human civilisation has been profoundly affected by new inventions. Future revolutions will have similar impact. Revolutions are by nature disruptive. The earlier ones caused massive disruptions before their benefits could be felt. The new ones will do the same if we are not prepared to take them and direct them rather than waiting to be directed, for then it becomes a game of catch-up. Revolutions too, are about the future, although they impact the present. And some of the things being talked about today sound futuristic and exciting, like the possibility of using robots to treat Ebola or to clean up nuclear waste. Others are equally futuristic but scary, like intelligent machines rendering human beings redundant and perhaps useless in the end. But in our fast-moving world, nothing is futuristic anymore. Before you know it, they are the stuff of everyday existence. And as has happened in the past, those that embrace them will advance, while those who resist or are slow to take them on board will be left behind. It is as simple as that. We have already experienced this revolution. Digitalisation is creating a borderless world in communication, knowledge and business transactions. Pilotless drones have changed the way modern wars are fought. Rwanda intends to use drones in a different way – for life-saving purposes. The prospect of getting nearly every service online has been causing great excitement on social media in Rwanda. Tweeps couldn’t hide their joy at paperless and cashless transactions. This excitement was captured by the tweet # bye-bye borodero (borderaux). There has been a false belief that African countries are backward and should not be thinking of getting the latest technology. Rather they should first catch up with existing technology. This is actually backward thinking that entrenches backwardness. Evidence shows that adopting the latest technology has the effect of raising countries out of that backwardness much faster. Again Rwanda is a good example. There were misgivings about the drive towards computers and internet in schools, in government and even business a few years ago. As the tweets showed last week, no one would want to reverse that. In any case there is no contradiction between trying to catch up and using the latest innovations at the same time. Results would certainly be better. Of course, there will always be people uncomfortable with “new-fangled” ideas simply because they are unfamiliar. When that air of unfamiliarity has been removed, they become the most ardent users of new things. Innovation is the thing. Applying it to find solutions to existing and future challenges, and raise the quality of life is what makes it revolutionary. The choice in today’s world is simple: innovate and prosper or stagnate and shrink. jorwagatare@yahoo.co.uk
