President Paul Kagame Interview on Reinventing Rwanda: ‘Nothing is Impossible to Achieve’

KNOWLEDGE@WHARTON ARCHIVES: Rwandan President Paul Kagame is widely credited with guiding the nation’s economic and social transformation following the devastating 1994 genocide. Rwanda has defied expectations and emerged as one of the fastest growing economies in the world, overcoming the many obstacles involved with being a small, land-locked nation in the middle of Sub-Saharan Africa.

The economy has grown by an average of nearly 8% a year since President Kagame was elected to office in 2000. By 2015, per capita income in Rwanda had more than tripled during the 14 years prior; more than one million people have moved out of poverty; infant mortality rates have been cut by two-thirds; and Rwanda has achieved nearly universal access to primary and secondary education.

Wharton management professor Katherine Klein, interviewed President Kagame in front of a large audience when he recently visited the University of Pennsylvania campus.

Klein, who also is the Vice Dean of the Wharton Social Impact Initiative, asked Kagame about Rwanda’s difficult and complex transformation since the 1994 genocide. Kagame reviewed his vision for the future, discussed policy priorities, responded to criticism that his administration has repressed free speech and political dissent, and explored how Rwanda became a global leader in gender equality.

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More on this interview: https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/a...
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