By David Himbara
The World Bank ranks Kagame’s Rwanda the 29th out of 190 countries on the ease of doing business—ahead of such economies as the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Japan.
The Kagame government bombastically responds by proclaiming to be attracting billions of dollars annually in foreign investment direct investment (FDI).
The government claims to have attracted US$1.6 billion in 2017. But the World Bank will have none of it — it says Rwanda attracted a mere US$293 million in 2017.
Then the World Bank gives Kagame the red card by categorically stating that Rwanda’s performance is dismal, despite its excellent ease of doing business ranking.
As the World Bank explains, in Rwanda, ”continued weak private sector response to the improved investment climate remains a key risk.” United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) gives Kagame another red card. According to UNCTAD, the total FDI stock in Rwanda rose from US$55 million in 2000 to US$1.7 billion in 2017.
In other words, the amount of FDI Rwanda claims to have attracted in a single year is, in reality, FDI Rwanda accumulated in 20 years. Clearly, Kagame and his administration are serial liars.
Not even the red cards from the World Bank and UNCTAD will cure the disease otherwise known as statistical manipulation.
