"The Rwandans, rallying around their national pride, have built predictable systems that reward enterprise and hard work, and created an exceptional blueprint for other developing countries.”
- Former President Bill Clinton
Shelly is the director of a local touring company. She first came to Rwanda in 2006, after learning about the country from her son's 5th grade research project. Soon she met her husband here and made the move from Seattle to be with him.
Alex, originally from Boston, is just completing his Master's in International Development. His thesis focuses on the ever-growing model of Rwanda. He currently resides in Kigali and manages social media for a local NGO.
Daniel heads a renewable energy company. After successfully growing his business in Israel, he began to expand into Africa. His latest expedition was divided between Uganda and Rwanda, as he develops strategic partnerships with local corporations.
Claude grew up in Rwanda but has lived throughout much of East Africa. He has been involved in a number of social service organizations and currently manages an NGO for Child Support.
These are just a few of the personalities I've encountered at my favorite cafe, Bourbon Coffee. From its website: "Bourbon Coffee first opened its doors in Kigali, Rwanda in 2007, and has expanded to eight different locations across Rwanda and the United States. We are an international brand of specialty coffee, and the first retail brand to originate from Africa. Our stores are built around the philosophy of producing coffee from 'crop to cup' – while sharing our coffee with the world, we are also promoting sustainable practices, economic development, cultural unity, and helping to reshape the global image of Rwanda and its economic development and culture....Bourbon Coffee’s vision is to stand as a symbol of [a] new era in African economic development, one in which African nations rise to participate directly in the global marketplace."
Aside from brewing arguably the best coffee on this side of the equator, Bourbon has become a hub for business-people of every variety and nationality. But what makes this boutique coffee shop different from your local Starbucks is this: the executives and entrepreneurs who converge here are interested not only in making a buck, but in actively rebuilding and reshaping the nation. Profit is merely the method; development is the goal.
This has been the case for every individual (including, but far from limited to, Shelly, Alex, Daniel, and Claude) I've had the privilege of meeting at Bourbon. And in many ways it highlights a growing attitude toward international development, one focused on attracting private business and investment rather than foreign aid.
This approach, of course, shouldn't be a novelty to anyone with even a cursory understanding of basic economics. It is the backbone of Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, and has since been referred to simply as The Invisible Hand (though Smith himself only used the phrase a handful of times). In short, the theory states that by maximizing one's individual profits, society as a whole becomes better off. Not only does the competition between buyers and sellers produce improved products at lower costs, but the process ensures that the right products, services, and infrastructure are being created. If, say, one can profit by selling shaving cream, that is because society needs more shaving cream. Socially desirable ends, then, are the result of selfish means, not benevolent policies. Free markets, many times, become better equipped at dealing with social problems than government agencies.
This is not to say that selfless motives should be looked down upon. On the contrary, the world could use more well-intentioned people. But this theory does provide us with a way of identifying societal needs: finding opportunities for profit. Indeed, the developed world became what it is through the promotion and advancement of industry. My Global Economics professor at NYU constantly emphasized that lower-class workers in America today have a better standard of living than kings did in the Middle Ages. What worked for the developed world, it seems, could and should also work for the developing world. A friend of mine even goes so far as to suggest that the international community stop all foreign aid to Africa. Yes, it will hurt at first. Will people suffer? Probably. But the long term benefits of such a hard-lined approach could be unparalleled. Teaching a man to fish goes infinitely further than feeding him a fish.
This brings us back to Rwanda, which has invested heavily in the private sector to accomplish the goals of Vision 2020, an all encompassing program designed to transform the country into a technology-based, middle-income economy. In the late 90's, current President Paul Kagame met with leaders and visionaries from around the world to actively plan a trajectory for national development. What emerged was a method focused on business rather than aid. Vision 2020 outlines a number of key principles, including good governance, an efficient state, skilled human capital (education, health, IT, etc.), world-class infrastructure, and a vibrant private sector.
Indeed, history also plays a role in Rwanda's reluctance to rely on foreign aid. The genocide in '94 is a very controversial subject, but one thing seems to be agreed upon unanimously: the nation felt abandoned by the international community. The world powers knew of the growing tensions in Rwanda. They knew about the planned decimation of an entire people. Romeo Dallaire, the UN Force Commander tasked with restraining the escalating conflict, even believed he could keep the peace with a mere 5,000 troops. In classic UN style, his request for support and resources was denied. Because of the many recent failures elsewhere in Africa (most notably the U.S.'s debacle in Somalia a few months earlier), the UN and world powers consciously decided to keep their distance. As someone born into an environment of "Never Again," I am pained by the "failure of humanity in Rwanda" (Dallaire's term).
Can Rwanda, then, be expected to rely on outside assistance to meet its most basic needs? The current administration refuses to be at the mercy of foreign governments who can at any moment withdraw their support. Rwandans are now tasked with controlling their own destiny. They are building their nation from the ground up, and quite frankly a Rwandan's resolve is rather difficult to break.
How much of Rwanda's development agenda can be attributed to economic ideology and how much is the result of historical processes is up for debate. What is certain, though, is that this new approach works. The country isn't only surviving, it is flourishing. In the past 10 years alone, 12% of the population (over a million people) has risen out of poverty. The current administration has reduced child mortality by 70%, and malaria related deaths have decreased by 85% between 2005 and 2011. The last 20 years have also seen the life expectancy rise by 20 years. And to top things off, the economy has grown by an average of 8% annually over the past five years.
Such previously unimaginable progress, coupled with Rwanda's favorable business environment, has attracted the best and brightest from all around the world. Freelancers, entrepreneurs, merchants, and executives are flocking to this small, landlocked country smaller than the state of Maryland. And for good reason. Unlike futile aid efforts in places like Haiti and Nepal, Rwanda shows how foreign capital can be put to good use. [For those interested in more information on Rwanda's economic progress, I highly recommend Rwanda, Inc.: How a Devastated Nation Became an Economic Model for the Developing World, by Patricia Crisafulli and Andrea Redmond.]
So as I sit at Bourbon Coffee savoring my Iced Caramel Macchiato and wondering who I will meet next, I can't help but marvel at this nation. They have overcome tremendous hardships and are now beginning to make Rwanda famous for something besides unthinkable catastrophe: a potential model for overcoming world poverty.
Bourbon itself has illustrated this through its global expansion. It is not uncommon for an American corporation to expand into developing countries, but name me one African company that has operations in the United States. If you asked me to do the same a few months ago, I would have been dumbfounded. Bourbon opened its doors for the first time in 2007 and now has locations in New York, D.C., and Boston. The New York City location, in fact, is on 14th Street in downtown Manhattan, just a few blocks away from where I lived for almost a decade of my life. I can only hope that my experience there upon my return is as inspiring as that in Kigali.
If a tourist asks me what to see in Rwanda, how to get a feel for the country, I would tell him/her to just sit for a few hours in a place that won't be mentioned in any guide book: Bourbon Coffee.
