tiny land-locked country in the last two decades.
Rwanda has a land mass of over 26,000
square kilometers and is home to over 10
million people. Rwanda’s GDP is estimated to
be around $10 billion and as per the country’s
National Statistical Institute (NSIR), it has
registered a growth of over 10.6 percent in the
fi rst quarter of 2018.
The first paragraph of the India-Rwanda
Strategic Partnership Declaration clearly sets
out the basis for this elevated relationship. It
talks about mutual respect for each other and a
common goal of rapid economic development,
global peace and elimination of cross-border
terrorism among other things.
As per the declaration, India and Rwanda
agreed to: hold high-level exchanges with
increased periodicity; double the bilateral trade
in fi ve years; cooperate to promote investments
in mutually benefi cial projects; collaborate
closely on counter-terrorism cooperation
including blocking financing of terrorist
activities, removing safe havens for terrorists
and preventing money laundering; support each
other at the United Nations, WTO and other
multilateral fora on matters of mutual interest;
and promote people to people exchanges
especially in movement of professionals in
areas like information technology, teaching,
science and technology, engineering and
mathematics.
The language and wordings of the joint
declaration also refl ect the personal chemistry
between the top leadership of both the countries
as well as convergence and understanding on
important regional and global issues.
Rwanda has also recognised India’s
important role in the Indo-Pacifi c region and
it also shares India’s worldview that cross-
border terrorism is the biggest challenge before
humanity.
Rwanda also supports India’s stand on the
need to reform the United Nation’s Security
Council to refl ect the realities of a modern
world.
Former diplomat VB Soni, who has served
as head of Indian missions in several European
and African countries including Senegal and
Jamaica, says that Rwanda is one of the select
African countries that play an important part in
the scheme of things for India.
Rwanda is a
low-income
small country
but it has shown
immense potential
and created a
business-friendly
environment in
recent times. It has
one of the lowest
crime rates among
African countries
and the business
environment is also
corruption free.
He said: “It was devastated in the fratricidal
tribal wars of the early 1990s but it never
allowed the tortured part of history to come in
the way of moving forward in a positive manner
since then.”
“As a fast-growing economy, Rwanda is
going to be a powerhouse in future. Now is
the time to cultivate it for future political,
strategic, economic and commercial gains,”
adds Ambassador Soni who has closely tracked
India’s engagement with Africa.
Rwanda is a low-income small country but
it has shown immense potential and created a
business-friendly environment in recent times. It
has one of the lowest crime rates among African
countries and the business environment is also
corruption free. It ranks at the 41st place among
190 economies as per the latest Ease of Doing
Business ranking released by the World Bank.
Rwanda is also an agrarian economy like
India, with 70 percent of its population engaged
in the farming activity for their livelihood.
Keeping this in mind, India extended two lines
of credit in the agriculture sector worth $120
million to Rwanda in 2013.
In the joint declaration issued by the two
countries on 10 January 2017, Prime Minister
Modi and President Kagame had expressed
confidence that the development of export
targeted irrigated agriculture project and its
expansion under India’s lines of credit of $120
million would bring irrigation facilities to
more than 41 thousand hectares of cultivable
land and they also agreed to fast-track its
implementation.
However, as per the latest information
available on India’s EXIM Bank (the nodal
agency for implementing lines of credit
extended by India to foreign countries), these
two lines of credit remain grossly under-
utilised and total disbursal stands at only $5
million as against the sanctioned amount of
$120 million.
Talking about India’s lines of credit in the
fi eld of agriculture, Ambassador Soni says that
sharing of India’s experience in the agriculture
sector and farm technologies should be
promoted with an eye on Food Security. Indian
agro-pr ocessing fi rms should be encouraged to
invest in Africa and transfer Indian experience
in the fi eld.
2018 • RWANDA • 11