Clean bill of health after 2008 challenges

The transition to 2009 comes with many triumphs, especially on the economic front, which were registered in 2008 despite the global tragedies like the food crisis, the surging financial crisis; and locally the most recent, withdrawal of aid by some so called Western democracies over a baseless ‘UN Experts’ report. Rwanda, unlike other regional countries, survived both the food and the financial crisis, which were feared would have a negative impact on Rwanda by for instance, reducing the flow of remittances into the country and decrease the number of tourists. Here, instead the opposite has happened because remittances have steadily increased while the number of tourists increased by over 30 percent with the Tourism Office, making projections of an increase in tourism -- notwithstanding the crisis. The government has also showcased its ability to stand its ground by not kneeling to beg for mercy, like any other developing country would do, after the announcement that both Sweden and The Netherlands were withdrawing their aid.