Category: Opinion

This ambition isn’t new. Rwanda’s Vision 2050 and the National Strategy for Transformation 2017–2024 have long set the stage for the country to emerge as a hub for financial services in Africa. As part of this broader vision, the Kigali International Financial Centre was established to transform the investment landscape across the country and to attract global capital and funds.

But why Rwanda? In a continent where Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa dominate fintech conversations, what makes Rwanda stand out? Despite facing significant challenges, Rwanda presents a compelling case study on how a focused national strategy and investment in technology can transform a country’s financial landscape.

Rwanda’s ability to innovate and adapt, coupled with its commitment to digital inclusion and progressive policies, has positioned it as a rising fintech hub that shouldn’t be overlooked.

Peace Aimee Niyibizi, World Bank Country Economist for Rwanda stated that, “Rwanda’s economy showcased resilience and adaptability, achieving a robust growth rate in 2023, amidst a series of challenging external and domestic factors”.

Last year the country’s GDP was 8.2% – significantly higher than other countries including Nigeria (2.74%); Kenya (5%) and South Africa (0.6%). The growth can be attributed to agricultural modernization, industrial expansion, service sector growth, pro-business government policies, digital innovation and the rise of fintech.

Lily Umutesi Ngarambe, Yellow Card’s Country Manager for Rwanda, expresses her excitement about how fintechs are revolutionising the financial sector. “Fintechs are blurring the boundaries of traditional financial firms and the financial sector.

This presents a paradigm shift that has various policy implications such as fostering beneficial innovation and competition, while managing the risks. In addition, it supports reviewing regulatory, supervisory, and oversight frameworks to ensure they remain fit for purpose and enable the authorities to foster a safe, efficient, and inclusive financial system.”

Rwanda’s transformation into a fintech powerhouse is the result of a deliberate and sustained effort to leverage technology for economic growth. From the Vision 2020 plan which aimed to transition the country into a knowledge-based economy, to the 2001 ICT Policy that laid the groundwork for digital innovation, Rwanda has been building the infrastructure necessary for a thriving fintech sector.

The government’s commitment is further exemplified by initiatives like the One Laptop Per Child program and the establishment of numerous tech hubs and innovation centres across Kigali.

In the broader context, fintechs like Yellow Card with innovative products like the Payments API and its on and off ramp Widget have been instrumental in opening up greater business financial opportunities to companies looking to do business in Africa.

So, while the big players in African fintech might be drawing the most attention, don’t lose sight of Rwanda. This small but mighty nation is poised to make significant strides in the fintech space—strides that could reshape not just its own economy, but the entire African continent’s financial landscape.

The author of this opinion is a Rwandan Senior Brand Communications Manager based in South Africa

China’s GDP in 2023 stood at 17.9 trillion USD, 223 times more than that of 1952. In a span of 70 years, our average annual growth rate of GDP has been 7.9%. Our GDP per capita in 2023 reached 12,700 USD, almost catching up with the world average while it was 194 USD in 1980, only accounting for one thirteenth of the world average.

Long being the world’s top country in terms of trade, manufacturing, commodity consumption and others, China has played an indispensable role as a robust engine for world economy. It has contributed more than 30% annually to world economic growth in the past decade.

Over the past 75 years, the lives of the Chinese people have undergone tremendous changes. About 100 million of Chinese population was lifted out of poverty in the past decade. Absolute poverty has been eradicated in China.

The average life expectancy increased from 35 years in 1949 to 78.6 years in 2023. With the world’s largest social security system in place, the Chinese people are enjoying a great sense of gain, happiness, and security.

Why does China’s development matter to Rwanda?

On one hand, China is a force for peace and development. Since its founding, the People’s Republic of China has consistently pursued an independent foreign policy of peace, and adhered to the path of peaceful development. The Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative, which are part of China’s efforts to build a community with a shared future for mankind, speak for themselves.

China will not follow the old path of some countries to achieve modernization through such means as war, colonization and plunder. China’s history of development testifies that peaceful development is a fully accessible path to modernization.

On the other hand, China and Rwanda enjoy a profound bond of brotherhood for 53 years.

The ruling parties, highly consistent in the concept of governing for the people, frequently exchange experiences on state governance. Our economic and trade cooperation are booming, with bilateral trade volume reaching US$550 million in 2023, and China’s import from Rwanda increased by 86.2% year-on-year.

Our collaboration in agriculture, ICT, infrastructure, health and many other fields is playing a crucial role in economic and social transformation of Rwanda. The Juncao program, which has trained 35,000 Rwanda farmers, is becoming a shining example of South-South cooperation.

Our people-to-people friendship is cemented. This year, the City of Jinhua of Zhejiang Province, and the City of Musanze of Northern Province, became sister cities, the first ever pair of sister cities between our two countries. Not long ago, in this year’s Chinese Bridge Competition, a Rwandan student ranked global top 30. In the 9th African Vocational Skills Challenge, a Rwandan student who is studying in China, won the laurel.

A big year for China-Rwanda relations

In July this year, the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of CPC was held. At the session, the resolution to further deepen reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization was made. The session proposed more than 300 important reform measures, the target time of which coincides with Rwanda’s NST II. That provides a good opportunity for the synergy of the development strategies of our two countries.

From September 4th to 6th, the Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) was successfully convened in Beijing. At the summit, H.E. President Xi Jinping called on the leaders to jointly advance modernization that is just and equitable, that is open and win-win, that puts the people first, that features diversity and inclusiveness, that is eco-friendly, and that is underpinned by peace and security.

Furthermore, President Xi Jinping launched the “Ten Partnership Actions”, responding to the urgent needs of Africa’s economic and social development. Just name one among the many good proposals, China has decided to voluntarily and unilaterally open its market wider, giving Rwanda zero-tariff treatment for 100 percent tariff lines, which will help turn China’s big market into Rwanda’s big opportunity.

H.E. President Paul Kagame attended the Summit, and co-chaired the high-level meeting on state governance. Leaders of our two countries met and officially elevated our bilateral relations to comprehensive strategic partnership. Both China and Rwanda regard each other as long-term, trustworthy and reliable good friends and partners, an important milestone in our relations.

The two countries issued the Joint Statement on the Implementation of the Three Global Initiatives. We emphasized mutual support on issues of core interests and major concern, a cornerstone of China-Rwanda relations. It serves as a good example for political mutual trust and strong commitments.

Among others, China firmly supports Rwanda in safeguarding national unity and fighting the spread of genocide ideology and hate speech in all their forms. Rwandan firmly adheres to the one-China principle, and supports all efforts by the Chinese government to achieve national reunification. Both sides are committed to jointly upholding highest human values of embracing diversity.

The two sides signed memorandums of understanding on implementation of Global Development Initiative, on ICT, etc., paving the way for practical cooperation in various fields.

China-Rwanda relations are now at their best in history. H.E. President Xi Jinping said, “roll up our sleeves and work hard”. At his inauguration ceremony, H.E.President Kagame said, this new mandate means the beginning of even more hard work.

Let’s work together to implement the important consensus reached by leaders of the two countries.

Let’s work together to advance our cooperation in various fields, and inject new momentum into the comprehensive strategic partnership.

Let’s be a force for mutual support, for win-win cooperation, for mutual learning, and for peace.

Let’s join hands to create more benefits for the two peoples, and inject more stability and certainty into the world.

China and Rwanda enjoy a friendship higher than mountains. Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, an occasion for reunion of family members, brothers and sisters. At this joyful moment, I’d like to extend my seasonal regards and best wishes to all Chinese, and Rwandan brothers and sisters who dedicate themselves to the long-standing friendship and cooperation, unity and prosperity between our two countries and two peoples.

The author, Wang Xuekun is the Chinese Ambassador to the Republic of Rwanda.

Everything is accommodation now; Artists are compromising their experiences, rawness, honesty and humanity to accommodate endlessly with a system that puts a value to their creation and shapeshifts it into a product because things only have value if there is a price to them.

To survive is to sell your results, and when the results are the thing on the market, then your process does not matter. It does not matter how you got there, as long as the value of the ‘product’ that got there is deemed worthy.

So we use AI, a new efficient tool that makes everything a hundred times easier, faster, better and perfect. What used to take hours to imagine, can be generated in seconds, the steps of creating anything have been reduced to three steps.

Having an idea, having the right words to express that idea, having the right taste to edit whatever is given to make it even better. It is the ultimate ‘thinker’ and you are just a mere artist trying to communicate ‘great art’, so AI becomes your go to.

It helps you gain your confidence in making even your smallest ideas, big, it gives you alternatives, it grades your work, guides you, makes it for you, anything you want, you get. It is a pretty good deal.

And in order to live a more functional prosperous life, you can be a capitalist creator, someone who sees what could sell more in the eyes of the public, jump on trends and get inside the loop. It is a comfortable life.

Here I am not talking about making money as an artist. I am talking about making great art that speaks to you as the person who created it. I am talking about growing as an artist.
You don’t need AI to make better art, you need to become a better artist

When I started working and writing different copies and documents for a living, I was new at noticing what corporate words to use, or what the right wording of ads was, so I used AI a lot. I mean a lot. There is plenty of AI tools to help me with almost anything.

At first, it was schooling me, teaching me this and that, correcting me when I made things sound too light for a company’s voice. I was learning, and growing in a short time. It was great. Then I started surrendering, I would have a short time to work on something, and let AI do everything for me, and edit it out to make it sound a bit less uptight and more human.

I may have created writings but I wasn’t a writer anymore. I was just good at giving it the right information for the right output. Like a puppet master, I was getting good at pulling the strings to make great things.

But I was not growing, I stayed where I was, I had also started losing sight on who the puppet in that performance was. So, I took a step back, and got back to why I started writing in the first place.
I loved challenging my mind, and working out how this amazing thing that I can only see inside myself can turn out as good outside. I loved the process.

Hayao Miyazaki, a Japanese animator, filmmaker, and manga artist, when shown how AI can transform the animation industry in ways humans cannot fathom, he responded in a reasonable way considering he is one of the greatest and most skilled artists to ever exist.

He said he was ‘utterly disgusted’, that it was an insult to life itself and that, “We humans are losing faith in ourselves.” Believing that you don’t have enough time, skill and knowledge to do something is a lie.

Making art is supposed to be hard, it is supposed to take time, because being human is complex, life itself is complex, and using a machine to understand yourself and life will confine us in a small box of who we already are, in a way that we will never discover everything we could be.

The lack of genuine emotions and connections in creations now is because people never cared about other people’s creations unless it benefited them. Businesses will accept mediocrity as long as it makes profit. No one will care about your art the same way you do. It is all up to you, the artist.

In a Youtube Video by Drew Gooden titled ‘AI is ruining the internet’, Drew Gooden said, “How are you ever gonna do something for ten years if you won’t even do it for one day?”

If you want to become a filmmaker, prompting AI to make you a script will not teach you anything about becoming a good filmmaker. Movies will start to look all the same. We already have those. We already have great films, what we need is YOUR film.

I am telling everyone to stop being so in love with the results just because the outside world will reward you for it. There are so many more things to create and understand in ourselves. We urgently need to stop allowing something we created, re-create us and define who we are.

If you are an artist who likes to use AI, try to create one thing a week without using any. Try it for a month, then three, try it for forever. If you don’t have time, make time for it.

Whatever your age is, rushing your growth for the sake of being paid for it is scamming yourself. We are lying to ourselves, tools are only ever useful to help us while we grow, not erase our journeys. The more we use AI to express things, the more we erase our footprints and redefine ourselves through the eyes of something that does not exist.

Becoming fluent in creating art is an intellectual pursuit. All well-known art forms like painting, music, dance, literature, fashion, sculpture, filmmaking, photography, and emerging mediums like digital art, have always been about their processes and their artists being passionate enough to go through it all.
Passion is beautifully human, and cultivating it is what will keep us from straying from ourselves.

The author of this opinion is a digital strategist, creative entrepreneur and a very passionate mental health advocate

This raises an important question: Can we trust the media to remain impartial in such crucial moments, or are we witnessing a subtle yet dangerous manipulation of public opinion?

The Role of Moderators: bias or balanced?

One of the main points of contention from Tuesday’s debate was the role of the moderators. Many neutral commentators observed a stark difference in how Kamala and Trump were treated throughout the night.

Tough follow-up questions were repeatedly directed at Trump, while Kamala was spared from the same level of scrutiny. Even when she made statements that could have been debated or required clarification, the moderators simply moved on, leaving her unchallenged.

In contrast, Trump was subjected to live fact-checking during the debate, which, although important for maintaining truth and transparency, raises the question:

Why wasn’t the same treatment extended to Kamala? Fairness in a debate requires that both candidates are held to the same standard. The lack of follow-up questions for Kamala and the leniency shown toward her statements suggest an unbalanced approach, one that leaves audiences questioning whether the moderators were fulfilling their roles as neutral facilitators.

Did Kamala have an advantage?

Adding fuel to the fire are reports suggesting that Kamala had been given the debate questions in advance. Allegedly, she had practised with these questions for an entire week, and there are even rumours that the moderators helped her in her preparation.

If these claims hold any truth, it would explain her smooth, rehearsed responses, which came off more like PR sound bites than genuine debate answers.

Of course, candidates often prepare for debates, but having access to the actual questions in advance is a serious advantage, one that Trump evidently did not enjoy.

This creates an uneven playing field, one where Kamala was more polished because she knew what was coming, while Trump was left to react in real-time to a barrage of tough, often negative questions.

Is the “Media bias” real?

Beyond the debate itself, the aftermath has been equally telling. Rumours have circulated that major media outlets, including The Washington Post, The New York Times, and CNN, had already prepared articles celebrating Kamala’s victory days before the debate even took place.

This suggests not only media bias but a predetermined narrative that completely disregards the actual performance of both candidates.

It’s no secret that many media houses have taken sides in the political arena, but the implications of this bias are profound. When media outlets align themselves so visibly with one candidate, they cease to be objective reporters of facts and instead become tools for influencing public opinion.

This leaves the public with a distorted version of reality, where the “victory” of one candidate is decided before the debate even begins.

One of the reasons cited for this bias is the involvement of powerful financial interests. Companies like Vanguard and BlackRock, which hold significant shares in these media houses, are said to oppose Trump, largely because he is not seen as a puppet they can control.

Unlike Biden, and potentially Kamala, Trump is viewed as a wildcard, someone who doesn’t follow the conventional political playbook. This creates tension with powerful interests that prefer predictability and control in the political sphere.

If media bias is driven by these financial influences, it paints a concerning picture of the role money plays in shaping political discourse. What we witness on our screens may not be a fair representation of events but rather a carefully crafted narrative designed to benefit certain political and financial players.

Manipulating public opinion

As if these issues weren’t enough, there is also a brewing scandal about manipulated polls. Recent polling data, which seemed to indicate a surge in Kamala’s popularity, is now being questioned.

Some allege that these polls were rigged to artificially boost her standing in the race, creating the illusion of widespread support. This would not be the first time polls have been used as tools to shape public perception rather than reflect reality.

Polling data can be a powerful psychological tool. When people believe that a candidate is more popular or more likely to win, they may feel inclined to support that candidate, whether or not they truly align with their policies.

This phenomenon, known as the bandwagon effect, is one of the many ways in which public opinion can be manipulated. If these allegations of rigged polls are true, it raises serious ethical questions about the integrity of the democratic process.

The Consequences of Media Bias

So, what are the broader implications of this media bias? For one, it undermines the very foundation of democracy, which relies on informed voters making decisions based on accurate and unbiased information.

When the media fails to provide that, or worse, when they intentionally distort the narrative to favour one candidate, it erodes public trust in both the media and the political process.

Moreover, this bias creates a polarizing effect, where supporters of the disadvantaged candidate (in this case, Trump) feel increasingly alienated and disenfranchised. This deepens divisions within society and contributes to the growing mistrust between the public and the institutions that are supposed to serve them.

The media’s role in political debates should be to inform, not to influence. Tuesday’s debate raises serious questions about whether the media is fulfilling this role or if they are now more interested in shaping the outcome of elections than in holding candidates accountable.

Voters deserve a level playing field, where each candidate is given the same opportunity to present their ideas and policies, free from bias and manipulation. Until we address these issues, we risk allowing powerful financial interests to decide the future of our democracy, rather than the people it is supposed to serve.