Author: Samson Iradukunda

Organized by Kaizene, an organization based in Abidjan, Ivory Cost and London, the two days conference will bring together experts in civil engineering, economy, transport and other aspects of life who will convene at Kigali Convention Center to discuss governance policies, the public-private partnerships to boost green housing, Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) development and smart and resilient cities.

Kaizene defines itself as a catalyst enabling public and private companies to improve their services and their quality approach and, above all, to use the potential of their human capital with the mission to ensure the full success of companies by effectively training their staff.

International Organizations such as the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PDIA) developed by the African Union Commission (AUC), the NEPAD Agency, the African Development Bank (AFDB), and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), all agree that infrastructure is Africa’s top priority.

Programs and projects of its agencies are expected to lead to an integrated continent, foster international trade, job creation, and sustainable economic growth.

The PDIA is a solution by and for Africans that was endorsed by the Heads of State and Government at their 18th Summit in January 2012 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Kaizene believes that industrial development induced by infrastructure and construction will enable Africa to solve its major economic and socio-political problems, but also to reduce the global poverty that fuels violence, terrorism, massive migration of unskilled labor and unemployment.

According to the African Development Bank, to alleviate its concerns, Africa will need nearly $100billion a year, while less than half of this amount is available to date hence the imperative needs of investing in Infrastructures.

According to the organizers, Rwanda was chosen to host the conference because it “leads by example.

“To lay the foundations for sustainable development, Rwanda has managed to rise to the challenge of national reconciliation and territorial reconstruction and to this day benefits from very modern infrastructures, good governance, and cleanliness superior to several European cities and has a road network more than 90% asphalted and maintained,” Kaizene says.

Rwanda is the first place in terms of Human Development Progress over the last 20 years, according to the latest report (14th December 2015) of the UN and 7th best-managed country globally according to the World Economic Forum, in its latest report on global good governance released in January 2016.

Several innovative solutions piloted over the last 10 years, providing concrete use cases for understanding the barriers ahead for developing competitive and tailored infrastructures.

He said it is necessary to design and implement programs to ensure food security, adequate access to clean water supply, sanitation and hygiene.

Dr. Ngirente made the remarks in his note address at the Global Event on “Accelerating the End of Hunger and Malnutrition at Bangkok, Thailand on 28th November this year.

The three-day conference was organized by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in partnership with World Food Programme (FAO).

According to the 2018 report on the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, the number of hungry people in the world increased to 821 million in the year 2017.

In Africa, Dr. Ngirente said, “the same report indicates that the prevalence of undernourishment affects more than 256 million people, equivalent to 21% of the population,” adding that “These findings are not different from the 2017 FAO report that shows that about 27.4% of Africans were considered severely food insecure, which is considerably higher compared to other regions of the world.”

Currently, stunting and malnutrition rates at 35% among children as Dr. Ngirente highlighted.
Dr. Edouard Ngirente shared some initiatives that Rwanda has put in place as he spoke of Rwanda’s experience in its commitment towards ending hunger and under-nutrition by 2025, and all forms of malnutrition by 2030.

Among them, the Crop Intensification Program has helped Rwanda attain a growing trend in food crop production at 8% annual average in 2017, accounting for 20% share of total agriculture sector contribution to GDP.

Dr. Ngirente also said that more than one million hectares of land has been consolidated and agriculture inputs subsidized to increase affordability and uptake while “today, over 900,000 hectares of progressive terraces and more than 100,000 hectares of radical terraces were developed.”

Strategies

Strategies Rwanda has adopted to tackle malnutrition, as Prime Minister Ngirente said include a joint venture between the Government of Rwanda and Africa Improved Foods Ltd (AIF), in producing baby nutritional foods babies between six and 24 months as well as pregnant and lactating mothers from poor households.

“These Fortified Blended Foods are currently supplied over 14,000 women and more than 100,000 children in vulnerable categories,” he said.

Over 58,000 voluntary community health workers were deployed in all villages to closely follow-up malnutrition cases and conduct awareness campaigns on improved maternal, infant and young child feeding practices.

Since 2006, Rwanda established and supported One Cow per Poor Family Program known as Gira Inka Munyarwanda which has seen more than 300,000 cows distributed to poor families with the target being to ensure every poor household owns a cow to produce milk for home consumption, generate family revenues for extra milk sold and produce manure that supports food production for the family.

Besides, Rwanda’s Government introduced One Cup of Milk Program in which so far, over 70,000 school children in poor areas are enrolled. “Milk supply in school has not only improved the nutritional status but also increased school attendance,” Ngirente said.

“To completely eliminate hunger and food insecurity, in Africa Agenda 2063, our continent committed to make nutrition a priority. This will be achieved by consolidating the modernization of our agriculture and agro-business through scaled-up value addition and productivity.” Prime Minister Ngirente said.

He is Alexandre Sebagisha. He is 73. He has been using one arm to fend for himself and his family for almost fifty years.

He lost his right arm at eighteen, in a battle as they tried to return to his home country.

A resident of Musaza Cell in Musaza Sector of Kirehe District, Sebagisha lives alone after becoming a widower a year ago when his wife passed away as the first woman he married lives in Tanzania.

How Sebagisha lost his arm

Born in 1945, he was 14 years old in 1959 when Tutsis were chased away from Rwanda as some were massacred, with their houses burnt to ashes and their property confiscated. He and his family fled to Tanzania in 1960 from where, he with other men, used to attack Rwanda in small battles known as ‘Inyenzi’ battles.

“I lost my arm when I was 18 as we tried to get back to Rwanda. We had been forced out of our motherland because we were born Tutsi. My right arm was shot in 1963 in a battle and it was lost like that,” Sebagisha recounts pointing a finger at his right shoulder.

He started putting his remaining left arm to all works including digging. The land to where they sought refuge was fertile and he could not just sit there in elegiac lamentation.

“I used my single arm to take care of my family. I grew crops and I got a lot of yields. I later married,” he says.

After the Rwanda Patriotic Army stopped the genocide in 1994 and liberated the country, Sebagisha repatriated to Rwanda like many other Rwandans who had fled to foreign countries.

Back to Rwanda, Sebagisha kept his farming work using one arm. Today, he has aged and frail, grouped in Ubudehe Group Category 2 though he wishes to be grouped in the first category as to receive the Vision Umurenge Program (VUP) funds reserved for poor old people.

“I request local leaders to put me in the category that would help me receive the VUP funds because it can help me in my daily life. I am now becoming old and I am no longer strong to do farm work My body is becoming weak due to an advanced age,” Sebagisha says with a tinge of sadness flashing over his gray-beard laden chin.

He refused a prosthesis

Sebagisha says he was recommended the arm prosthesis by medics but he refused it as he thought it could serve him nothing.

“I ask the doctors if the prosthesis would help me do farming with a hoe to which they replied no. They told me it was just for helping me wear a suit and look well dressed. I recalled the 50 years spent farming with a single arm with no arm replacement and I took their proposal for a joke,” he says.

With his single arm, oldie Sebagisha only does subsistence agriculture which gets him only food. He can’t produce crops to the market to be able to buy other stuff he needs in his daily life.

As he now lives alone, Sebagisha says it gets difficult for him to get his clothes washed. All those he asks to do it for him ask for money from him.

The call was made by the Minister of Sports and Culture, Espérance Nyirasafari as she launched Kigali Audiovisual Forum, a three-day conference that has brought members of the cinema industry including film players and producers, investors and all other stakeholders in the audiovisual technology industry including media practitioners.

The forum that kicked off yesterday to end on November 23rd this year focuses on Africa’s ability to use technology in storytelling, the development, and professionalization of audio-visual structures and industries as well as the development of professional skills in production and distribution.

Minister Nyirasafari said that the audiovisual industry is fast growing and provides a lot of jobs mostly among the youth which makes the need for its enhanced professionalism urgent in the era when Rwanda aspires to become a knowledge-based economy.

“We not only want Rwanda to become a must-visit destination in Africa but also an audiovisual opportunity country,” she said.

Organized by Rwanda Development Board (RDB), the first ever annual Kigali Audiovisual Forum was sponsored by Germany International Development Agency (GIZ) and the European among other partners.

The Head of the European Union Delegation to Rwanda, Ambassador, Mr. Nicola Bellomo said: “We consider art and culture in the creative industry not only as a tool for dialogue but as a driver for social and economic development.”

“Culture has always been an important element in the partnership between the EU and Africa. We have 80 films that have been produced in the continent thanks to the support of the European Union,” Ambassador Bellomo added revealing that the audiovisual sector the third biggest employing industry in Europe.

The Germany Ambassador to Rwanda, Dr. Peter Woeste said there is a huge market for the audiovisual industry worldwide and “it is difficult to imagine how big it is.”

He said in Europe are people with technical skills that can be used in Africa’s audiovisual long-term investments for the job creation as Africa’s modern audiovisual industry also has potential.

Ambassador Woeste said Rwanda is a small and landlocked but a beautiful nation which attracts investment opportunities in its audiovisual sector that will grow as time comes.

“We are not bringing Hollywood here because Africa has to build its own audiovisual industry. Creativity is only what is needed. Be realistic and don’t expect to become Hollywood in one day. Professionalism will be enhanced through experience,” Dr. Peter Woeste said as he advised Rwandan members of the audiovisual sector.

In a video posted on his official Twitter account following the Global Conference on Primary Health Care held in Astana, Kazakhstan on October 25-26 this year, he says; “the results in Rwanda show how a strong primary healthcare programme can reap to improve healthcare outcomes.”

The conference had as a theme “to renew a commitment to primary health care to achieve universal health coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals.’’

“Rwanda’s health system has become a model for other nations to follow. The country’s example should inspire all leaders to renew their commitments to primary health care,’’ Bill Gates said in a tweet.

According to Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s video reserved for the Global Conference on Primary Health Care, in 1994, there were only 96 doctors to serve a population of six million, meaning one doctor for every 63,000 people.’’

As the country emerged from the genocide, the Rwandan Government prioritized rebuilding its health system and after two decades since, it made remarkable progress.
Between 1995 and 2005, the number of community health workers increased from 12,000 to 45,000 in 2015.

Official numbers as per 2017 show that between 2010 and 2017, there were 45,516 community health workers who can treat 80% of sicknesses and treated over 900,000 sick people from 2010 2017.

In 2018, three community health workers including one dedicated to maternal health provide medical in every Rwandan village. These workers also provide database used at the national level to identify emerging problems, develop policies and ensure funds are used effectively.

Rwanda reduced its under 5 mortality rate from 195/1000 live births in 2000 to 39 /1000 in 2016 and 98% of children are receiving their basic vaccinations and every child is diagnosed and provided with vaccinations for pneumonia and malaria.

In 2015, Rwanda achieved the fifth among the Millennium Development Goals (MDG 5) which had two targets; to reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio and to achieve, by 2015, universal access to reproductive health.

Rwanda is one of only nine countries to have achieved this goal of reducing their maternal mortality rates by at least 75% by 2015.

Bill Gates supports different health services programmes in Rwanda through his Foundation ‘Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’.

Organized by These Numbers Have Faces (TNHF), a US nonprofit organization, the ‘Accelerate Academy’ saw 150 entrepreneurs receive training and coaching in business management, access to capital funds and other larger financial investments to qualified entrepreneurs who want to take their businesses to the next level.

The Accelerate Summit 2018 attracted entrepreneurs with businesses in agriculture, retail, construction, energy/power generation, financial services, logistics, healthcare, information and communication among other sectors.

Through the 4th summit, the young entrepreneurs met US and Rwandan business experts who mentored them on entrepreneurship personality, creativity, innovation, and some basic management techniques.

After the three days of the summit, the young entrepreneurs were given certificates of appreciation and 50 finalists who pitched best projects were announced.

Out of the 50 finalists, 30 entrepreneurs will be selected to be part of the Accelerate Academy program and they will have opportunities to receive some capital from TNHF and next June they will have an opportunity to pitch their organizations and ideas to receive an investment loan.

The Executive Director of These Numbers Have Faces, Jim Pressnell said that during the summit, “We gave the youth some mentoring about social impact and social innovation.”
“Everyone’s ideas were really powerful, everything from juice making business, to foundations wanting to work with teenage mothers to piggeries and all kinds of opportunities,” he said.

“We talked with young entrepreneurs about making sure that their ideas are sustainable as we talked about different ways to raise and manage the capital and seek investment,” added Jim Presnell.

Celestin Mpagazekubwayo, 26, is the founder and CEO of Z Group Company Ltd, a company that transforms tomatoes into the sauce. He said, “From this meeting, I learned how to improve and market my product but the most important benefit is the network. I met different people I didn’t know and whose businesses are as the same as mine. We interacted and mutually shared the experiences and advice.

Ange Umutoni, a young entrepreneur who is among the 50 finalists said people should get away out of the comfort zone and think out of the box.

On the capital problem that some youth say impedes them from starting own businesses, Umutoni said that ‘’there are opportunities outside. Most people are willing to invest in new companies and businesses, it is up for young entrepreneurs with good business ideas to go look for those people, pitch them their ideas. The capital is no longer the problem because even the government is helping young entrepreneurs.”

These Numbers Have Faces is a nonprofit organization with a vision to build and develop good community leaders by investing in education and entrepreneurs impacting over 10000 people annually.