A powerful and compelling national vision inspires action of all sorts, it pulls in the necessary creative ideas, people and resources and creates the necessary energy and momentum towards its own achievement. Great leaders inspire their followers and also create excitement and commitment to the creation of an imagined future. In such a case, you cannot stop progress.

If we agree that there is a need to galvanise citizens into positive action, we shall need a radical economic structural transformation agenda which puts people at the centre. An inclusive collaborative economy can indeed be created but only when all citizens are involved and the national vision is based on shared values and behaviours. A new exciting vision which brings together diverse skills and ideas to create a new economy in which everyone has a part to play and also benefits is indeed possible.

Such a new vision needs to talk about fundamental transformation of both social and economic conditions of citizens in an inclusive manner and the emergence of a new developmental economy. It must talk about structural transformation which results in higher standards of living. It needs to talk about a new nation rising through the utilisation of its endowments in both human and natural resources. It must be political, clear, universal and simple to understand.

Shared values must be a bedrock of any national vision as they provide an ethical compass to guide all citizens towards the achievement of agreed national objectives. Values identify the principles which define and drive behaviours. Shared values bring citizens together, even during hard times and they ultimately define who we are as a people. Integrity, accountability, transparency, fairness and delivery are the cornerstones upon which any nation which seeks to progress must rely.

It is upon this backdrop that we must evaluate Rwanda’s Vision 2050 whose primary objectives include;

1. Economic Growth and Prosperity.

2. High Quality and Standards of Life for Rwandans.

High economic growth numbers have been recorded in Rwanda, in fact it has been one of the fastest growing economies in Africa. However, economic growth alone without positive social transformation is a danger. The source of that economic growth and its income and wealth redistributive impact becomes very important. We have seen jobless growth in many African countries where, even though the economy is growing, the concentration of incomes and wealth results in the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer while there is failure to eradicate poverty.

For any economic growth to be meaningful, it must result in the high quality and standards of life for the majority of Rwandans. In my opinion, high quality and standards of life for the majority of Rwandans should be the primary focus. This can indeed be achievable by building strong institutions at district level as is the case. Devolution of economic power to districts is critical to ensure inclusive prosperity. All districts must be fully capacitated with the requisite skills and resources so that they can achieve their developmental objectives.

Rwanda’s Vision 2050 is based on five pillars which include;

·Human capital development

·Competitiveness and Integration

·Agriculture for Wealth Creation

·Urbanization and Agglomeration

·Accountable and Capable State Institutions

Human capital development must be at the centre of everything we do and refers to processes that relate to training, education and other human capacity building initiatives in order to increase the levels of knowledge, skills, abilities, values, and social assets of the citizens of any country. A highly developed human capital base will be the source of competitive advantage in the 21^st century digital global economy. Building a knowledge economy in Rwanda is therefore critical for global competitiveness.

Regional integration is well overdue and a competitive manufacturing sector anchored to a regional logistics hub will create high income jobs. Rwanda is targeting to belong to the top 10 countries in doing business in 2035 and maintain the status and also aspires to rank among the top 20 economies in competitiveness by 2035 and top 10 in 2050.

Agriculture productivity and growth is the trigger for fundamental economic transformation as the majority of citizens are employed in this sector. Added to that, agriculture output feeds into the agro-processing industry through value addition thus creating decent jobs and wealth. The multiplier effect of a vibrant, market driven agriculture sector with secure land tenure and access to long term capital underpinned by research and the use of technologies to limit the negative impact of climate change can only benefit the Rwandan economy.

More than half of the World’s population now lives in urban areas and this shift from a primarily rural to an urban population is projected to continue for the next couple of decades. It is estimated that more than 80 per cent of global GDP is generated in cities and urbanization. In the case of Africa, urbanization is progressing rapidly. The continent’s rate of urbanization soared from 15 percent in 1960 to 40 percent in 2010, and is projected to reach 60 percent in 2050. It is expected that urban populations in Africa will triple in the next 50 years. Rwanda seeks to have 70% of the population living in urban areas by 2050.

Governance and effective institutions constitute a key pillar of socioeconomic transformation of Rwanda. These are fundamental prerequisites to achieve the national transformation agenda in all sectors. The specific objectives under this pillar include; ensuring efficient and accountable institutions for socioeconomic transformation, deepening decentralization to bring services closer to the citizens and ensuring rule of law and justice for all.

To achieve the above, it will be necessary to create the conditions and an environment for success, these are articulated in the vision as follows:

·Macroeconomic stability;

·Positive values which support social transformation; and

·A rigorous and effective monitoring and implementation framework.

According to vision 2050:

Rwanda aims to reach upper middle-income status in 2035 and high-income status in 2050. To reach these targets, the needed GDP growth rates (annual average) are at least 12% during 2018-2035 and 10% from 2036 to 2050. To achieve this aspiration, Rwanda will need to attract and sustain high private investment, increase domestic savings and capital inflows, promote higher public investment and improve human capital through education.

On the issue of shared values, Rwanda recognizes the importance of her culture and values in providing a platform for sustained socioeconomic transformation and prosperity. These values include: Self-determination, including self-sufficiency as a Nation (Kwigira), Solidarity and Dignity (Agaciro); Unity and reconciliation and the Rwandan Identity/culture; Equity (including gender), and Inclusiveness; Citizen-centred governance and Rwanda’s Home-grown Solutions.

In many a country, the implementation of national visions and policies fails due to lack of effective, periodic and honest evaluation and monitoring. This is fully acknowledged and accordingly, the vision document states that:

• Vision 2050 encompasses two distinct time periods, 2020-2035 and 2036-2050, with a mid-period review point during each phase to allow for readjusting plans and targets as necessary.

• A mechanism for regular assessment of progress achieved and alignment of the Vision to take into account Rwanda’s changing development context will be implemented.

• The implementation of Vision 2050 will be done through medium-term development strategies starting from the first National Strategy for Transformation (NST 1) which serves to bridge the Vision 2020 and Vision 2050.

• Vision 2050 planning and execution will be driven by existing development planning and implementation frameworks at the national, sector, and district level, respectively.

In my opinion, the achievement of Rwanda’s Vision 2050 will require leadership at all levels of society both in the public and private sectors. Leadership capacity and skills development must be at the centre so that we can create a self-driven momentum towards what we all hope will be a leading nation in Africa.

Vince Musewe is an economist at Resource Africa Limited Kigali and you may contact him on vtmusewe@gmail.com