Rwanda not Singapore of Africa

The Economist of March 25, 2012 dedicated a page on “Business in Rwanda – Africa’s Singapore? A country with a bloody history seeks prosperity by becoming business-friendly”This is an article that particularly picked my interest; not because I fancy The Economist’s style and quality of writing, but essentially because I was eager to learn what kind of judgment or insight an outsider would put forward on a country I hold in high esteem quite as much as I cherish my own life.I am of the impression that the article, altogether, is a state-of-the-art piece of work only stained with a couple deliberate and narcissistic miscounts.“Africa’s Singapore?”The underlying meaning of the question is rather ironic! First and foremost, Rwanda isn’t and will never by any means be the Singapore of Africa. Singapore is and will forever be the Singapore of Asia. Rwanda is and will only be the Rwanda of Africa. Singapore remains only a model that Rwanda, like any other ambitious economy, assiduously wishes to emulate in some specific but limited scope. The point here is crystal clear – Rwanda will not achieve an archetypal socioeconomic transformation by “copy-pasting” what was actualised in a whole different ambience. We will attain the development we need by primarily understanding, springing up, and optimising our obvious and immense potential. By the way, Rwanda, as a people, is exclusively endowed with a stupendous natural potential to change world most famous philosophies that have no truth in their spine. Secondly, we need to wisely draw bottom-line lessons, surely, from the Asian impressive success stories, but also from the great ideas that drove the West to their tour de force and their dreadful downfalls today.“Sham elections”A bit of hollow politics here! Needless to say, this statement is completely devoid of sense. The election exercise among other civic duties in Rwanda, since at least 2000, has all the way been through nothing but peaceable, conducive, free, and fair. The “sham” concept is imported; it is nowhere to be found in our post-genocide election records. In fact, Rwanda, as a nation, has never witnessed as well-ordered, as peaceful, and as inclusive elections as it has over the last decade. “Lack of critical thinking” The author of the article goes on to quote Legatum Institute: “Most domestically educated Rwandans have never learned how to think independently and critically …” This UK-based idealistic institute claims to be an independent non-partisan public policy organisation that aims at promoting free and prosperous societies. Yet, they dare, with their nose stuck up in the air, to publish subjective and unsubstantiated statements that throw a significant segment of a decent nation into the pothole of “ignorance”. What empirical research had they conducted on the Rwandans they have labeled as “domestically educated”? How many are they as compared to the rest of the Rwandan society? And how on earth do they happen to be devoid of “independent” and “critical thinking”? Truth be told, Rwandans do practice, genuinely enjoy critical thinking with very little fuss about. The problem with us isn’t that we lack critical thinking but simply that we generally tend to be more self-conscious when it comes to public matters. Plus, if critical thinking, to some, implies “hooliganism”, to Rwandans, it goes hand in hand with that sense of self-worth.Jumping to the conclusion that “domestically educated” Rwandans are lost for critical thinking is a crass misinterpretation of ignored facts.Overall, it would be more expedient, especially when it comes to “outsiders’ account”, to avoid any attempts to rewrite the history of a nation as decent as our self-redeemed Rwanda; to exclude condescending resonance; and to always reckon the worth and dignity of other people. Self-absorbed and non-representative sort of write-ups can’t fix a thing; neither can they push folks an inch forward in their highly spirited strive for self-reliance and full ownership of their destiny.The writer works with the Private Sector Federation.

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Rwanda not Singapore of Africa