Rwanda

As Rwanda takes bold steps into the future, Justin Hall investigates the threat of a deadly exploding lake and rumours of an Alcatraz style island where kidnapped kids are said to be imprisoned and brainwashed!

Rwanda has emerged from the carnage of a brutal genocidal war with an ambitious dream of becoming the Singapore of Africa…

Held together by the refusal to return to the past and an unflinching determination to make the most of the future it’s a bold plan not without its challenges.

The figures and statistics of this country our confusing. Although one of the fastest-growing economies, and a high performer on all the bench tests for corruption, access to health care and education, it’s still one of the poorest countries in Africa… with nearly 60 per cent of its people earning less than $2 a day! And yet against these odds, and punching above its weight, Rwanda has big bold dreams.

It is pleading its case of becoming Africa’s centre for commerce in every way it can. Preparing for the future knowing that, without natural resources, it is human resources that matter.

It’s building its argument for investment business by business…and ridding its streets of all signs of decay… plastic bags were the first to go, the street kids, drug users and way-would youth the current target.   From afar Rwanda’s hardline approach might seem harsh. But as expressed by those that I have met, failure is not an option. If the net result is positive, then any and all means can and will be justified. Rwanda, perhaps more than most countries has a unique history, it designed its own way of getting things done and it seems to be working.

This was a complex story with a number of challenges.