Kagame’s Foreign Investment Statistics Are Cooked & Messy

By David Himbara

The Kagame regime’s latest foreign investment statics are cooked. They are also messy. Different sets of statistics contradict each other. This is a case of a compulsive liar who tells so many lies and then accidentally contradicts earlier falsehoods.

Take a look at the just published 2017 Foreign Private Capital in Rwanda. This report is cooked and messy. It is utterly embarrassing.

 

In one section of the 2017 Foreign Private Capital in Rwanda, the level of foreign investment is described as follows:

”Inflows registered an increase of 13.6 percent from $ 476.3 million in 2015 to $ 541.2 million in 2016.”

Now, look at Table 3.10 in the same document explaining foreign investment for the same years.

  • Whereas the text shows US$541.2 Million in foreign investment in 2016, the table indicates US$686.5 Million for the same year.
  • Whereas the text shows US$476.3 Million in foreign investment for 2015, the table indicates US$822.4 Million for the same year.

Believe it or not, the 2017 Foreign Private Capital in Rwanda is authored by four institutions — the National Bank of Rwanda, Rwanda Development Board, National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda, and Private Sector Federation.

Thankfully, we have a more credible source

World Bank: 2016 foreign investment in Rwanda.

 

The World Bank data shows foreign investment into Rwanda for 2016 and 2015 as follows:

  • 2016 — US$254.4 Million.
  • 2015 — US$233.3 Million.

How to deal with cooked and messy statistics in Kagame’s Rwanda

 

How can we defend ourselves against Kagame’s statistical manipulations? I have a few suggestions. Let no one become too trusting. Always look at Kagame’s statistics with a doze of skepticism. Question every number the regime publishes. We must always ask how the numbers were produced, and what do they really mean — or hide. The saying “let the buyer beware” must apply to the onslaught of Kagame’s propaganda masquerading as “statistics.”