23 February 2011
President Kagame on Tuesday evening was a special guest at the Harvard Business School’s competitive course taught by Professor Michael Porter, world renowned expert on management and competitiveness.
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 see continued growth.
Suggestions included increasing productivity in the agriculture and business sectors, infrastructure for trade, capacity building and education for development.
Addressing the class, President Kagame 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. 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.”
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. President 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.
He urged the students to continue to share their ideas on Rwanda’s continuing development.
END