{"id":24703,"date":"2016-04-18T04:25:24","date_gmt":"2016-04-18T04:25:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/rwanda-finds-regional-integration-sweet-spot\/"},"modified":"2016-04-20T00:52:27","modified_gmt":"2016-04-20T00:52:27","slug":"rwanda-finds-regional-integration-sweet-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/rwanda-finds-regional-integration-sweet-spot\/","title":{"rendered":"Rwanda finds regional integration sweet spot, beats drums for the ‘developmental state’"},"content":{"rendered":"

{Rwanda says it has found opening up its borders to other Africans \u201cextremely beneficial\u201d, with fears of being swamped by foreign nationals having been overblown.}<\/p>\n

The country in 2011 notably scrapped work permit restrictions for Kenyans and Ugandans wishing to work in there, amid fears that the former would take all consultancy jobs, and Ugandans overrun its small business and unskilled sector jobs, its foreign affairs minister Louise Mushikiwabo said, a fear many other African countries tend to harbour.<\/p>\n

But the actual experience had stripped away those fears, she said at a public speech at Ethiopia\u2019s Bahir Dar University on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe benefits have been enormous, including bringing competition and skills,\u201d she said, adding that Rwanda was a \u201cstrong believer in regional integration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of that is necessity. As a landlocked nation opening up itself allows more access to the wider East African market, growing from its 12 million people to over 150 million people, she said, while it also lowered the costs of trade, for which transport takes up to a third.<\/p>\n

The \u201cdevelopmental state\u201d
\nBut it is also borne out of historical experience, where confining its grievances within a small space had been detrimental to its growth, Mushikiwabo said in her lecture titled \u201cThe Developmental State in Africa: The Rwandan Experience\u201d.<\/p>\n

For Rwanda, the developmental state was about the government taking a strong role in meeting the people\u2019s basic needs, she said, with the observation that development and democracy were complementary.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Rwanda, politically we have decided to govern by consensus. Our idea of democracy is Rwanda is providing for the people and giving them a say and a voice,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

To achieve their economic goals, African countries must be bold and take chances with their decisions, including making those that many would see as impossible, the minister said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe in Rwanda that there is not an inherent link between Africa and poverty.\u201d<\/p>\n

The country\u2019s Vision 2020 growth plan launched in 2000 aims to transform the country into a knowledge-based middle income country, in the process providing inclusive growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve done pretty well when measured against our ambitions,\u201d Mushikiwabo said at the event that took place on the sidelines of a high-profile meeting called to take stock of Africa\u2019s security challenges. <\/p>\n

The annual Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa is chaired by former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo. This year it is exploring ways of extricating the continent from what it says are externally-driven solutions to its security challenges.<\/p>\n

Mushikiwabo said African countries should look to transpose indigenous solutions with dominant western-led security paradigms, alluding to the country\u2019s much-documented Gacaca courts that aimed at reconciling Rwandans following the genocide using traditional approaches.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter 11 years it has given us extraordinary results in a very difficult situation,\u201d she said, even as she conceded it had not been \u201cperfect\u201d. \u201cReconciliation is a long, long journey, and sometimes it is personal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c[But] If Rwanda made it, anyone can make it,\u201d she said, terming the country\u2019s journey back from the genocide as one of \u201cextraordinary choices\u201d and sometimes \u201cimpossible solutions\u201d.<\/p>\n

The country\u2019s media, which was in the wake of the genocide cited for its role, had also much improved, even if \u201cnow and then there will be a fight [with government], as long as it does not become a chronic issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

African countries should also take ownership of external aid partnerships she said, to counter a situation where they did not fit in with a country\u2019s interests, leaving donors in the driving seat.<\/p>\n

The country of 12 million is still faced infrastructural and ethnic challenges, she said.<\/p>\n

Former Mozambique president Joaquim Chissano said the continent should look to treat its diversity\u2014ethnic, environmental or cultural\u2014as wealth and build on this towards the African Union\u2019s Agenda 2063 goals.<\/p>\n

\"Rwanda<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

{Rwanda says it has found opening up its borders to other Africans \u201cextremely beneficial\u201d, with fears of being swamped by foreign nationals having been overblown.} The country in 2011 notably scrapped work permit restrictions for Kenyans and Ugandans wishing to work in there, amid fears that the former would take all consultancy jobs, and Ugandans […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[75],"byline":[2595],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-24703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics-48","tag-homenews","byline-mailguardian-africa"],"bylines":[{"id":2595,"name":"Mail&Guardian Africa","slug":"mailguardian-africa","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"contributors":[{"id":2595,"name":"Mail&Guardian Africa","slug":"mailguardian-africa","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24703\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24703"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=24703"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=24703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}