Kagame’s State of The Nation and End of Year Address

Parliament, 16 December 2013We meet today so that we present to Rwandans, friends of Rwanda and our development partners the state of our nation over the past year. It is also an opportunity to convey best wishes for the New Year we are about to start.First of all, we can take satisfaction that security and stability in our country continue to prevail. Rwandans are safe and secure wherever they are; go about their work freely throughout the country at any time of the day. Visitors both tourists and investors to Rwanda also recognise and appreciate the level of security in the country.This is the same stability and security we wish for other countries as well. Rwanda’s stability gives us the ability to continue to work on building our nation and develop our economy, as this year’s figures indicate. The first two quarters of this year show an economic growth of 6.6% and this figure is projected to increase. This rate is by all accounts high compared to other countries on the continent and even globally. As you all know, we faced big challenges in 2012. Rwanda’s ability to achieve continuous growth despite these challenges is commendable and a sign of the strong economic foundation that is able to withstand challenges. There is ample evidence for this. To begin with, by the end of November, export revenues grew to 489 million dollars – a 27.2% increase over last year. Moreover, most of the exports are from agriculture, a sector in which the majority of Rwandans are involved.We are also pleased that the East African Commodities Exchange was launched this year, which will benefit farmers by providing a permanent market for their products.Our mining sector continues to grow. In the first six months of this year, we registered 30 million dollars in mining revenue compared to 39 million dollars for the whole of 2012. Given this performance, we expect this year’s mining receipts will double.Rwanda continues to attract significant investments. The World Bank Doing Business report ranked Rwanda second in Africa and 32nd globally, up from 52nd in 2012. As you know, from our Eurobond offer, we received 400 million dollars, which was oversubscribed 8.2 times. This is proof of the trust Rwanda enjoys in global financial capital markets. Investment in the first six months of this year stood at 456 million dollars, compared to 538 million dollars for the whole of last year.Tourism continues to be our top foreign exchange earner. Between January and October this year, Rwanda received over 714 visitors who brought in 217 million dollars into our economy marking 4% increase over 2012.This year also saw growth in financial services by banks, SACCOs as well as other financial institutions. Between September 2012 and September 2013, bank deposits grew by almost 20% and loans granted increased by 13%.The insurance industry expanded this year with new institutions entering the Rwandan market, resulting in a 22% increase in their assets. Agriculture is projected to grow by 5.4% and remains a significant factor in economic growth. The quality of Rwandan tea and coffee continue to be recognised globally.It is critical that we continue to increase agricultural productivity in the coming years and enhance value addition. We must also further develop the practice of rain harvesting to mitigate the effects of the dry seasons.The Girinka programme continues to change the lives of many Rwandans. One hundred eighty four thousand cows have been distributed so far helping Rwandans lift themselves out of poverty and improving their nutritional needs.The national electrification and water distribution programmes are progressing. However, the pace of these projects remains unsatisfactory. We have to intensify our efforts to ensure that all Rwandans have access to water and electricity. Construction of new roads and rehabilitation of old ones that will boost local and regional trade is underway. It is on this note that we welcome cooperation between EAC nations to fastrack energy, infrastructure and related projects. In education, we are encouraged by the increase in the number of students. This year, enrolment increased by 7% in Nursery and Primary schools and 6% in secondary schools.At university level, the number of students increased from 76,629 last year, to 84,448 this year, equivalent to a 10% increase. The Government continues to put a lot of emphasis on vocational training and the budget for vocational training went from 10.5 billion Rwf. to 30.5 Billion Rwf. In the past year, the number of students attending vocational schools increased by 15% at secondary school level and 47% at tertiary level. It is also worth noting that this year all public universities were merged to create one University of Rwanda. This is aimed at improving the quality of education, pooling and utilising university resources better and streamlining the planning of university education. The Government of Rwanda will continue to focus on education because we recognise that education is one of the pillars that will help us attain the development that we want. In the health sector, we are happy that the number of hospitals and health centres, as well as doctors and nurses working in them increased this year. Examples include Ruhango, Kinihira and Bushenge, which are already operational. High level health centres started operating this year in Kanyinya, Mageragere, Remera and Gatenga.In terms of capacity building for doctors, the Rwanda Government has entered into a seven-year agreement with several American universities to teach and train Rwandan doctors. In addition to this, 50 doctors have gone for further training in various countries abroad, while 150 others are undertaking their training in Rwanda. The number of women giving birth in hospitals has increased to 86% this year and the rate of women dying while giving birth has decreased significantly. Ninety five percent of children are immunised at least 12 diseases and child mortality for children under five continues to decrease. We must continue our efforts to ensure continued progress. Due to Government efforts, in collaboration with concerned agencies, diseases that had become endemic such as malaria, tuberculosis and others have reduced significantly. For instance, deaths caused by malaria have reduced by 5.5%. Our aim is complete eradication of malaria so that no Rwandan should die from the disease. Statistics show that 81% of Rwandans have access to health care. We must double our efforts to ensure universal access to health care for every Rwandan. The justice sector in Rwanda continues to make steady progress. That is why the International community has shown confidence with the extradition of Rwandans who are suspected of committing crimes here so that they can be tried in our own courts. In addition, the European Court of Human Rights declared that the justice system in Rwanda is working well and meets international standards.I am also pleased to say that an association of professional court bailiffs has been formed. There is no doubt that this is another important step in the development of our judicial system, and this association will be highly beneficial to all Rwandans. We must continue to increase our efforts to expedite court proceedings and maintain the progress we have made.We cannot fail to mention that overall the state of Governance has improved in our country. Electing leaders at every level of leadership has now become part of our culture.I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the Rwandans for their high level of participation during the last parliamentary elections. The number of female Members of Parliament elected shows that women are taking an important part in the leadership and development of our country. As the future and the present of our nation, youth have also continued to be empowered.We have to put more efforts into providing better services at all levels, with particular emphasis on the local level because that is where the population needs it most. Although we may be doing well compared to others, we should strive to do better. What we have achieved shows that we have the potential. I cannot end this address without reminding you all about two things:The first is a reminder of our participation in different regional and international organisations. These partnerships will bring us great benefits on our path to development. The second thing is that for us to be able to contribute to those international bodies as well as get some benefits ourselves, we as Rwandans always have to give ourselves value. That is the main purpose of the new initiative Ndi Umunyarwanda. Our support to this initiative remains important. It is the right path towards the development we seek to achieve. Next year, we will be commemorating the Genocide for the 20th time and we will also celebrate our Liberation. They should both be remembered because they make us who we are and will give us the strength to accomplish even more. In that respect, I would like to sincerely thank all Rwandans, as well as all our partners, for what we have achieved together in building our country. Together we have faced many difficult challenges and we overcame most of them. There is no doubt that with increased collaboration, unity and collective strength, we will reach many more of our goals in the coming years.As I said at the beginning, I would like to wish all of you who are here, all Rwandans in general, as well as all of those who live in Rwanda, a happy new year 2014 and a happy end of 2013.May it be a prosperous and fruitful year for you and your families. Thank you, have a good evening and may God bless you.

National

Kagame’s State of The Nation and End of Year Address