Kagame’s Singapore In Deep Economic Trouble

Paul Kagame

President Kagame’s Singapore needs urgent help from donors. As indicated in my book Kagame’s Economic Mirage, the already tiny export base has shrunk, tax base not expanding, foreign reserves almost depleted, and donor-dependency not declining — against massive imports.

Here is how the Kagame regime itself describes the crisis, in a letter to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) dated May 25, 2016:

As a result of this crisis, the IMF approved US$204 Million Stand-by Credit Facility for Rwanda —of which the first disbursement (about US$102 million) was made “available immediately” as of June 8, 2016.

So what will the US$204 million IMF credit achieve? According to the IMF, its credit to the Kagame regime “will help bolster reserves.” More importantly — says the IMF — the Rwandan authorities will accelerate “policies to diversify and promote higher value exports, which should help strengthen the country’s medium-term growth prospects and its resilience to future shocks.”

Will these these things happen in the Singapore of Africa? Dream on!

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David Himbara