USA - President Kagame, on Tuesday evening, lectured students at the Harvard Business School, where he spoke about the country’s development process.

Kagame, was a special guest at the School’s competitive course taught by Professor Michael Porter - a world renowned expert on management and competitiveness.

Addressing the class, the President emphasized the involvement of all Rwandans in the development process, investing in human capital and the need to build appropriate infrastructure.

"Rwanda’s story is one of turning a country around, and creating things anew. If you look back 16 years ago, inheriting a totally devastated country, trying to make sense of things and move forward, certainly created unique difficulties,” the President said.

"But as we have discovered in today’s discussions, it is not just about problems, but also about opportunities. It is about being innovative in moving forward and finding a way to get to where we want to be,” he added.

During the questions and answer session with the President, students asked about the advantages of regional integration, privatization as a driving force and how homegrown solutions, such as Gacaca, worked for the reconciliation process.

Kagame said that all were important and beneficial to the development of Rwanda, and underscored the critical need of the right infrastructure to support these initiatives. 

The class of 80, discussed a case study on Rwanda’s economic transformation after which they presented recommendations to President Kagame on what the country and its people could do, to experience continued growth. 

Suggestions included increasing productivity in the agriculture and business sectors, infrastructure for trade, capacity building and education for development.

The President urged the students to keep sharing their ideas on Rwanda’s continuing development.

Ends