“25 years ago, the country came to its knees. It was total devastation; there was no private sector, no government services, just blood flowing across the country,” said Kagame.
“Everything was a priority and the biggest challenge was where you start from. We started from scratch, we started by putting pieces together, bringing people back together, reconciliation, justice, security, rebuilding schools, hospitals, and different public services,” he added.
In a period of 12 years, Rwanda created a traditional justice system through Gacaca court where over one million suspects were tried.
“25 years on we look back and find things have come together in a way that even ourselves are very much surprised. We have reconciled people of our country, national unity has been holding, justice has taken place, there has been forgiving,” observed Kagame.
President Kagame explained that it was challenging because the country experienced a situation where people killed neighbors and family members. “ We had situations where people would kill their family members. For example, a man or a husband at home kills children who don’t look like him, looking like a mother who is from a different identity. So you have a society in this kind of situation. It is really not only troubling but also extremely difficult to try and think of how to move the country forward.”
He explained that women have been empowered with 61.25% in parliament and 50% in the cabinet.
In the 2019 World Bank Doing Business report, Rwanda is the 2nd in Africa in easing doing business and 29th in the World.
President Kagame told NBA board of governors and executives that “Africa is open to doing business with the world, they have a lot to offer but Africa has a lot to offer as well. This is the moment to invest in Africa.”
“You don’t have to wait, invest now and grow with Africa. What we have understood is to create trust among people and trust with their leaders. Trust doesn’t just come about, you have to invest in it. Trust is the single point that binds things together. You have to figure out how you bring things together and people must feel they are relevant,” he added.
In partnership with International Basketball Federation (FIBA); NBA expanded to Africa launching Basketball Africa League (BAL) where it will provide financial, technical support and building infrastructures for the league.
It is expected that nine countries including Angola, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sénégal, South Africa and Tunisia will begin the tournament in January 2020.
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