Kagame's Economic Mirage

Download or read book Kagame's Economic Mirage written by David Himbara and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-06-02 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In 2013, slightly past halfway through execution of his economic strategies, Kagame declared that his mission had been accomplished- he announced that he had already built an African economic lion. Then, in Februrary 2016, Kagame announced that Rwanda was a top global social and economic performer. This is a mirage. Kagame has delivered neither economic development nor democracy. His main achievement is attaining a self-made iconic status in the West by cunningly merchandizing himself as a visionary leader. Rwanda remains among the world's poorest countries, even poorer than countries considered to be failed states, such as Afghanistan and Haiti. With hardly any formal private sector to generate domestic revenue, foreign aid still finances half of Rwanda's budget. Beneath its masquerade as the "Singapore of Africa", Rwanda struggles with cronyism and grand corruption. This reality is concealed by a repressive totalitarian apparatus that controls almost all aspects of national life"--Main Argument, v-vi.