In 2015, the population of Rwanda was estimated to be around 11.8 million people. The economy of Rwanda was a rapidly developing market economy, and it had strong ties with other African countries as well as United States and China. It had a high level of foreign investments which contributed to its economic growth. Politically, Rwanda was a unitary semi-presidential republic, where both the president and prime minister held executive powers. In 2015, Paul Kagame served as President while Anastase Murekezi served as Prime Minister. The Rwandan Parliament was composed of two chambers: Chamber of Deputies and Senate. In terms of defence, Rwanda had strong military ties with the African Union which it joined in 2009 as part of its post-Cold War security policy. Rwanda also maintained strong diplomatic relations with its neighboring countries in the Great Lakes region as well as other countries around the world. See ehealthfacts for Rwanda in the year of 2005.
Yearbook 2015
Rwanda. In Rwanda, President Paul Kagame and the ruling party Rwanda’s Patriotic Front (RPF) maintained their strong grip on power. A proposal to amend the Constitution to allow Kagame to stand for a third term created debate.
Economy
| Inflation rate | 4.80% |
| Unemployment rate | 2.7% |
| Gross domestic product (GDP) | $ 24,680,000,000 |
| GDP growth rate | 6.10% |
| GDP per capita | $ 2,100 |
| GDP by sector | |
| Agriculture | 30.90% |
| Industry | 17.60% |
| Service | 51.50% |
| State budget | |
| Revenue | 682.4 million |
| Expenditure | 714.6 million |
| Proportion of the population below the national poverty line | 44.9% |
| Distribution of household income | |
| Top 10% | 43.2 |
| Lower 10% | 2.1 |
| Industrial production growth rate | 6.90% |
| Investment volume | 19.7% of GDP |
| National debt | 40.50% of GDP |
| Foreign exchange reserves | $ 1,026,000,000 |
| Tourism | 2014 |
| Number of visitors | 926,000 |
| Revenue | 304,000,000 USD |
Agriculture is very poor and occupies 91% of the active population. Subsistence crops (cassava, yam, sorghum) prevail. The main programmatic objective of the government of the Rwanda consists in achieving food self-sufficiency. To this end, investments and assistance are earmarked, as well as greater use of fertilizers and selected seeds. The only agricultural products destined for export are coffee (which accounted for 60.2% of total exports in 1991), tea and pyrethrum. Little exploited are woods and forests, which cover 21% of the territorial surface; timber production is around 5.8 million m 3 per year. The zootechnical patrimony is remarkable: cattle (610.000 heads in 1992) and goats (1.100.000) prevail, mainly used for milk.
The mining activity is limited to the exploitation of tin, tungsten and natural gas deposits, although reserves of colombite, tantalite and gold are established. The industry is still at an early stage: in addition to the transformation of agricultural products, it is present in the textile and chemical sectors. It employs about 3% of the active population (1989) and provides for 22.6% of the gross domestic product (1988).
The main commercial partners are Kenya, Belgium, Luxembourg and other countries of the European Union, Japan and the United States.
According to COUNTRYAAH, Kigali is the capital of Rwanda which is located in Eastern Africa. Rwanda’s strong economic growth has benefited Kagame, but human rights groups and the opposition criticize his government for not tolerating criticism and limiting freedom of expression.
- Also see AbbreviationFinder.org for Rwanda country abbreviations, including geography, history, economy and politics.
A call that was reported to be signed by just over 3.7 million voters started the formal process of extending Kagame’s term in office. The proposal was then accepted by the RPF party congress in June, after which Parliament began to address the issue. The small opposition party, the Democratic Greens, who are not in Parliament tried in vain to get the Supreme Court to stop the process.
At the end of October, the House of Commons approved by a large majority to shorten the term of office of future presidents from seven to five years and that the president should only be allowed to sit for two periods. But an exception was introduced for Kagame, who would be allowed to stand for another seven-year period from 2017 and then two five-year periods.
The Senate unanimously approved the changes in November and in December the change was confirmed in a referendum where 98% of voters supported the proposal.
Kagame, 58, has not said whether he will run again after 2017, but several countries, including the US and the UK, have criticized the changes. It also scored false when Kagame criticized neighboring Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza’s decision earlier in the year to run a contentious election for a third term. Rwanda also took in thousands of refugees who fled the violence in neighboring countries.
The United Nations War Criminal Court (ICTR) in Arusha held its last negotiations during the year. Since 1995, it has examined 93 individual cases linked to the 1994 genocide.
In Stockholm district court, a trial was launched in September against a 60-year-old Rwandan-born man for genocide. The trial is the second of its kind in Sweden.
In June, the head of Rwanda security service Karenzi Karake was arrested in London at the request of Spanish authorities who accused him of crimes during and after the genocide. A British court rejected an extradition request in August, but Rwanda criticized the British severely.
Rwanda’s relations with Britain were previously strained since the BBC aired a controversial documentary on the 1994 genocide, which led to Rwanda banning the BBC from broadcasting programs over the country’s FM networks.