Rwanda has launched an ambitious and comprehensive approach to development in the next five years.

This was realised at the closure of the 2007 Government of Rwanda and Development Partners’ Meeting (DPM) on November 27 at Serena Hotel in Kigali.

The DPM is an annual event where business investors and entrepreneurs in the country meet to discuss how partners in development can assist in implementing the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS) to eradicate poverty.

President Paul Kagame, who opened the DPM with a keynote speech, emphasized the importance of a strong private sector in reducing poverty in Rwanda.

"There has been a lot of talk about income inequalities. However, the biggest problem is that there has been no income,” said President Kagame.

"Economic growth, as well as broad based poverty reduction must be our primary focus in the coming years.” He also stressed the importance of improving the business environment and creating employment opportunities.

"Our country’s prospects cannot be separated from agriculture,” he added. "Raising agricultural productivity in addition to food security and adequate investment in the agribusiness industry is much needed.”

Kagame also stressed the importance of improving the business environment and creating employment opportunities, explaining that this will act as an avenue to reduce poverty in the homesteads.

During this year’s meeting, the government and development partners agreed to empower the agricultural sector to achieve a long and sustainable growth. Majority of people in Africa depend on agriculture as their source of livelihood.

According to the EDPRS programme, the government plans to increase investments in agriculture by at least 27 percent in 2008.

This will be done through integrated projects and programmes for sustainable development, decentralised implementation of agricultural policies and prioritizing technology transfer.

During the dialogue, the stakeholders reaffirmed their commitment to making a transition from subsistence farming to agribusiness with the aim of exporting their produce.

The EDPRS was presented to senior officials from the government of Rwanda and to representatives of development partners, including multilateral institutions, civil society and the private sector.

Ordinarily, EDPRS sets out a number of key priorities which are vital for developing economies.

These include moving towards a knowledge-based economy, transforming the agricultural sector, investing in infrastructure to create a business-friendly environment and improving people’s quality of life by monitoring population growth or enhancing rural health services among others.

This year’s theme for the DPM was ‘Stimulating Growth and Poverty Reduction Through Strong Partnerships and Sound Economic Governance.’

Rwanda’s strategy contains three cross-cutting focus areas, jobs and exports growth, Vision 2020 Umurenge, and good governance.

These are designed to ensure that the implementation of the policy is completed in an efficient and transparent manner that promotes economic development while ensuring that the benefits are felt by all Rwandans, regardless of social or economic status.

Commitment by African leaders to improve the country’s infrastructures is indeed highly needed. Well developed infrastructure plays a key role and illustrates the country’s significant progress.

There is no doubt, improved infrastructures promote economic growth.

The level at which the socio-economic development in Africa is targeted cannot take place without the necessary modern physical infrastructure like roads, general utilities, social infrastructure, telecommunications and communication infrastructure.

On the Global map, Rwanda appears to be the only African country cited twice in its success story; in women’s representation and malaria control. Another example of progress is in MDG-2 on literacy levels among 15 – 24 year olds which rose from 57.4 % in 2000 to 76.8 % in 2006.
Also completion rate in primary schools has increased from 22 % to 51.7 % in 2006. Like the President said, developing any country’s infrastructure in all sectors will spur development at all levels among African countries.

To overcome poverty, Africa must therefore get committed to the rapid development, improvement and deployment of the necessary infrastructure in all key areas.

In this regard, the development of a reputable infrastructure will prove an important asset to support the development of the physical infrastructure.

Promoting and facilitating modern physical infrastructure development, expansion and upgrade in areas like roads and general utilities; social infrastructure;
telecommunications and communication infrastructure ought to feature among top priorities of the country.

Having a proper road network in Africa that facilitates farmers in marketing their products is a priority. Currently, in many developing states, the cost of transport, energy and communications is high yet there is a limited access to basic infrastructure for the majority of the population.

Reduction of these costs as well as increasing access to infrastructure is a key driver to economic development and can have a direct impact on poverty reduction.

Moustapha Soumaré, the resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Rwanda, made a remark on the economic growth hinge of modern infrastructures.

He praised the Government of Rwanda on behalf of development partners for the level of inclusiveness involved in the elaboration of the EDPRS.

"A year-long consultative process brought together stakeholders from different corners of Rwandan society, to ensure an even greater degree of ownership on the part of the Rwandan citizens,” said Soumaré.

He highlighted some sectors where progress had been made like education, health and agriculture. ‘The health sector is registering progress and is beginning to benefit from a Sector-Wide Approach.

The number of people who access health care services has doubled during the last five years.

Decentralized services ensure greater equity across the population.”  Mr. Soumaré said.

Leaders in Rwanda have already taken great strides to promote the emergence of the country’s modern infrastructures as a catalyst for growth in other sectors.

At the two-day meeting, government leaders reiterated their commitment to improve communication facilities and diversify the means of access through utilization of appropriate and standard infrastructures.

There was a preview of the 2007 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) report, produced by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR).

This indicated the progress toward reaching the UN-set eight goals for global development by the year 2015. The MDGs Report provides an excellent snapshot of Rwanda’s development.

The 2007 DPM concluded with sessions dedicated to specific areas recognised by the partners as challenges to development.

The key EDPRS priority sectors included HIV/Aids regional integration, governance and justice.

Partners agreed that the driving force of economic growth should be entrepreneurship, and recognised that challenges like energy, human capital, infrastructure, financial sector, the high cost of doing business; innovation and value addition are all constraining development in the area.

Participants also recognised that infrastructure is a prerequisite for economic development, and therefore there is need to further strengthen the planning, prioritisation and sequencing of large infrastructure projects.

This was followed by the applaud to Rwanda on its accession to the East African Community to which a number of development partners pledged to continue offering support to the country in maximising the benefits as well as anticipating and mitigating the challenges posed by the accession.

The DPM was a timely event that all partners acknowledged the importance of openness and inclusive dialogue between the government of Rwanda and all its Development Partners.

Ends