Who we are
Emerging out of the horrific 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, Rwanda has demonstrated a new national cohesion coupled with note-worthy economic performance. The country has also become a regional leader in sustainability and a global leader in women’s representation in government. Frequently referenced statistics indicate substantial improvements in the standard of living for all Rwandans.
Attaining Vision 2050 will require further unprecedented growth, into the double digits annually. This incredibly ambitious push is necessary–we cannot afford to be ambivalent or reserved about progress. The cost of not attaining this goal could mean yet another generation left behind in realizing the benefits of a middle-income status Rwanda.
The call for a more engaged USRCA in Rwanda's development is timely. And, we must think and act big for the sake of future generations. We also need to be strategic in our approach. Technological advances, like the internet and artificial intelligence (AI), and the open source movement are tools to be leveraged to this end.
USRCA’s network is rich in potential to improve educational and health outcomes, boost agricultural productivity, cultivate innovation, increase knowledge-based exports, and develop an attractive investment landscape in Rwanda. The UN Sustainable Development Goals are more than just goals, they are a means to support the sustained resilience of Rwanda.
The transformative potential of sustainable development as a global priority in the context of Rwanda creates opportunities to demonstrate how an African country can lead to important global matters. What remains to be done is to empower our USRCA to grasp this timely opportunity, and work collaboratively with high-capacity institutions to develop the needed infrastructure and human capital to actualize a better future for all Rwandans.
2019-2021 Vision.
The USRCA 2019-2021 Strategic Plan relentlessly pursues a big vision. It seeks to capitalize on this momentous opportunity by empowering Rwandans abroad and developing youth and institutions in Rwanda.
To fully tap these intercontinental potentials, strong links between Rwanda and high-capacity institutions need to be established. There will also be a special focus on integrating youth engagement, women empowerment, and climate change resilience across the following activities:
- Advocacy and Empowerment
- Advocacy will play a large role in the effective implementation of the
- USRCA Strategic Plan.
Effective change makers will be empowered and showcased to allow them to gain wide legitimacy, bridge diverse stakeholders, and compel others to action. These individuals will demonstrate how we each can become the technological, political, and economic engines powering Rwanda to its most glorious years
yet.
Building and sustaining long-term relationships.
The USRCA will encourage long-term and long-distance linkages to problem solve and advance Rwanda’s agenda. This will result in Rwanda’s increased competitiveness in the region and create jobs.
Diverse sector development
Rwanda’s prosperity to-date has been created through deliberate action. And continued global competitiveness heavily depends on the capacity to innovate and upgrade. This Plan will target capacity-building and innovation in the following sectors:
- Banking, finance, and investment
- STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) and the environment
- Entrepreneurship and innovation
- Biomedicine, pharmacy, and cosmetic industry
- Governance, diplomacy, human right
- Philanthropy, social enterprise
Goals
- Short-term goals are:
- To professionalize all commissions of the USRCA for sustained impact across term-limits.
- To create partnerships between Rwanda and Academia, Business and key Industry leaders.
- Medium-term goals include:
- To attract investments in Rwanda
- To introduce innovative technologies and practices into the country via partnerships.
- To advance capacity-building and sustainable development projects in Rwanda
Long-term goals include:
- To build a highly skilled workforce in Rwanda
- To develop robust entrepreneurship and research culture
- To advance Rwanda as a leader in the region offering opportunity, knowledge, technology, and innovation for all of Africa.
Youth
Developing and empowering youth is of paramount importance to progress. The USRCA sees a tremendous
opportunity to create long term links between youth of both continents. We recognize the fact that youth make
up the majority of the Rwandan population, but often lack the same kinds of infrastructure, opportunities, and
resources of the U.S. The USRCA calls for timely robust investments in youth programming. The demographic
dividend lens offers a strategic basis for focusing and prioritizing investments for sustainable development,
inclusive economic growth, and to build a lasting, integrated, prosperous Rwanda.
The youth is an integral part of Rwanda’s ambitious development plan. Investing in youth today will yield
enormous economic and social dividends for Rwanda. To support Rwanda’s efforts, the USRCA will empower
youth and link them to robust youth development programs taking place in Rwanda. These programs should
be designed in ways that create strong platforms that encourage youth creativity, and then harness it for robust
entrepreneurship ventures.
In the recent past a large number of former presidential scholars and others working for various companies in
the United States and Canada have reached out to our USRCA Executive Team and we recently worked
diligently with them to develop the Rwanda Young Professionals Network whose aim is to enable these young
professionals start discussing their role in Nation Building. We anticipate to hold annually a Rwanda Young
Professionals Conference to support and create a plat form where young Rwandan Professionals can
deliberate and build projects that will be of paramount importance in contributing towards Rwanda
Development Goals of 2050.
Gender
Rwanda is a global leader on gender equality. Gender empowerment plays is a key component of Rwanda’s
social economic transformation, proving the integral value of women to sustainable progress. It is our aim to
ensure that the USRCA community adequately reflects and highlights Rwanda’s successes in women
empowerment. The aim is to educate and inspire progress on equality for women across the globe, expanding
the positive influence of Rwandan women and their enabling platform.
Knowledge & Skill Transfer
The objective of the 2019-2021 Strategic Plan is to tap into diaspora potentials by creating (i) important
institutional linkages in the short-term and (ii) sustainable economic and knowledge development pipelines in
the long-run. Primary activities specifically promote diaspora venture capital and impact investing in Rwanda,
social remittances (mentorship, skills transfer, social network development), and the transfer of technology 8 (books, scientific equipment) via strategic institutional partnerships. As global production becomes more
knowledge-based, advantages such as a developed research infrastructure, a highly qualified workforce, and an innovative culture are becoming more important to trade than natural resources. The mission of this initiative is to deliberately create an environment for innovative individuals and companies within the global
community of Rwandans. The vision is to transform Rwanda into a hub for knowledge creation rather than simply a recipient of knowledge from abroad.
This initiative is a systematic and purposeful strategy for capturing critical knowledge from key personnel and institutions (mostly in the U.S.) to further develop within the USRCA institution and the country of Rwanda for
maximum efficiency. This initiative taps into the unique resources within diaspora networks and facilitates
remittances, knowledge sharing, and technology transfer into Rwanda for sustainable development.
Diaspora members can make valuable contributions to the development efforts to Rwanda. Diaspora-for-
development projects like MIDA and TOKEN provide some good building blocks for strategic approaches to
directing and engaging the diaspora in knowledge transfer. Sharing of human and financial capital through
temporary and virtual return and technology reverse brain drain and build critical capacity. MIDA-like projects
facilitate the transfer of expertise, knowledge, and skills diaspora members have acquired abroad and are
willing to share with their communities of origin.
Despite being important development agents, directly involving diaspora members in development efforts must
be complemented by other strategies. For example, we can also tap into diaspora networks abroad in order to
leverage the USRCA capacity to contribute to Rwanda. This approach will be crucial in knowledge transfer: it
reduces resource burdens and maximizes the reach for knowledge acquisition of the highest caliber. Alma
mater universities, employers, professional and business networks of the diaspora will have a key role to play
in this regard. We seek to develop long-term partnerships high-capacity universities, focusing on specific
sector to contribute to the creation of a pool of knowledge and skills among those who provide vision and
leadership in government, academic circles, business, and civil society.