Yes, we made it! 10 years into the journey of self-reliance as a country, a project that was started by Rwandans themselves. There is no surprise, however, because as they say, culture defines a people, and while many hats define Rwandans, self-reliance must be one of the most important. Before the major-cultural shift that happened after colonists came to our country to “civilize” us, what some Rwandans like to refer to as ‘mbere y’umwaduko w’abazungu’, some virtues were taken more seriously than now. Take independence for example, and not just as a country, but as a person, a family or a community. Traditionally, begging for food was frowned upon. One had to put in the work to earn it. If you need something you don’t have, at least you offer services or other items in return. Make no mistake though, because Rwandans supported one another as a community, but for the greater goal to have solutions within themselves. Some of the culturally-embedded activities that explain this include ‘Ubudehe’, where many people would till the land together to support a person who was not capable to do so by themselves because of old age or sickness, so that they don’t miss out on a planting season. If a family didn’t cultivate for a season, they wouldn’t have what to eat for half a year. They would have to beg for food or starve, despite having energetic neighbours. But through Ubudehe, they would be like any other family, and their children wouldn’t be malnourished. While the exact origin of this practice is not known, Ubudehe is believed to have been in practice for centuries but was discouraged by the introduction of the franc by the colonialists. Rwandans then resorted to paying labourers rather than seeking help from the Ubudehe. Research shows that however, in some parts of the country, Ubudehe was still practiced until the late 1980s. While the most support through the community work was tilling the land, sometimes it involved building houses. Another similar cultural practice is ‘Umuganda’, which loosely translates to ‘communal work’. Members of the community would call upon family members, friends and neighbours to help them complete a difficult task, such as building a new house or rehabilitation, and working in a farm. Both Ubudehe and Umuganda had a similar goal; to achieve a collective good using home-grown approaches, without having to rely on anyone from outside a community set up. Both practices have also been re-modelled and reintroduced by the government of Rwanda, to respond to ever-evolving needs in the community. If we managed to uphold these cultural values, even modernized them, why couldn’t we nationalise others which are equally important to us? If the government is indeed for the people, why throw it to the rest of the world to depend on when in return, we as a people benefit from it? This in a nutshell led to the creation of Agaciro Development Fund which has evolved to become a sovereign wealth fund. It was first mooted at Umushyikirano, another practice drawn from our tradition, where the leaders meet the people to discuss pertinent challenges and collectively come up with solutions. This was in 2011, and Rwandans decided to come up with an idea of voluntarily contributing – depending on one’s capacity – towards a fund that would cushion the country against the unpredictable behaviors of our development partners. Rwandans of all ages, genders, and social status, willfully gave their hard earned money to build their country, and 10 years later, one can only appreciate how seriously they have taken it. Now we can say there is hope for self-reliance. It doesn’t necessarily have to be in the short-term, but the first steps are usually the hardest. Now, Agaciro, which means ‘dignity’ gives hope that we can finally live a dignified life of self-reliance as a country. With only three but tough objectives- building up public savings to achieve self-reliance, maintaining stability in times of shocks to the national economy, and accelerating Rwanda’s socio-economic development goals, things look hopeful, there is hope. In 10 years, Agaciro has a total fund size of almost Rwf300 Billion in different productive sectors. It has invested in different companies which have not only increased returns on investment, but have also created jobs for hundreds of thousands of Rwandans. The same investments have also responded to different challenges faced in communities. The managers of the fund have now given themselves a task; to grow the fund to $1 billion in the next ten years and looking at the journey travelled, this is an achievable feat. The best news is that this is OUR money. Full Rwandan-ness cannot be achieved without being self-reliant as a country, and Agaciro is the ticket to achieving that. The writer is a journalist
