Kigali, 23 August 2013
President Kagame has said that Rwandans must work hard if they have to overcome their immense challenges, cautioning that no one should expect a shortcut to success. President Kagame was today inaugurating the Kigali Agriculture Park located within the newly established Special Economic Zone. During his address, President Kagame said that Rwandans cannot afford slow progress when their circumstances demand that they move fast.
“Rather than be the recipients of aid, why can’t we strive to be the ones who provide assistance to others? I actually find it a blessing in disguise when donors give and take away aid as they please because this should normally act as a wakeup call to Rwandans. We know what we need to do to lift ourselves out of poverty…there is nothing to stop us.”
President Kagame said that the Private Sector should play a key role in lifting Rwandans out of poverty by investing more in Agricultural production. He urged Rwandans to use the resources they have to produce maximum yields by always aiming at improving their production and by employing modern means and working together in cooperatives.
The Agriculture Park is comprised of a modern storage facility, warehouses, grain seed processing plant, a power tiller assembly plant, as well as a fish collection, processing and distribution plant.
The modern storage facility includes a silo plant with a capacity of 20,000 metric tons that can store grain for a duration of 5 years. The grain seed processing plant has a capacity of 10,000 metric tons annually and is intended to meet the high demand for seed while developing a specialization in export of high altitude maize seeds.