President Paul Kagame was yesterday presented with the ‘Most Innovative People Award for Economic Innovation’ during the Lebanon2020 Summit, organized by the Global Leadership Team.

The award was received on behalf of the President by Senate President Dr. Vincent Biruta in a function held in the Lebanese capital Beirut. 

Biruta expressed his honour in receiving the award on behalf of the Head of State and on behalf of the Rwandan people.

He highlighted Rwanda’s achievements, mainly through innovative solutions that have ushered in significant progress. He said the current economic reforms have also brought on board attractive packages for investors.

Biruta invited Lebanese businessmen to invest in Rwanda.
The Most Innovative People Award 2009 was organized by US based Global Leadership Team (GLT), a consultancy firm that introduces innovative mindsets for some of the most pressing issues facing the world today.

Sam Hamdan, Chairman and Chief Strategist of GLT, said that the award was presented to President Kagame in recognition for his enlightened leadership.

He said that despite the terrible 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, Kagame has managed to rebuild the country’s economy from ashes. Today, he said, the country is known for its zero tolerance to corruption.

Similarly, history was made at the Utah State University in the United States, as its leader Stan Albrecht, presented the first ever Presidential Merit Citation Award to President Paul Kagame.

Rwanda’s Special Envoy to the UN, Amb. Eugene Richard Gasana, received the award on behalf of the Head of State.

The award is in recognition of Kagame’s contribution to boosting education in Rwanda.

Ambassador Gasana told his audience that Rwanda was committed to provide its 2.2 million primary school children with laptops by 2012 through the One Laptop Per Child Programme.

He went on to explain the different transformations in the education sector that have taken place for the past 15 years.

"Most notably is the increase of students in higher learning institutions. In 1994, there were 2,500 students in post-secondary schools. To date, we have over 45,000 students, an increase of 1000 percent,” said Gasana

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