Rwanda Is Not Over Needing Aid, But

It Is The Population Which Decides When It's Time For A Leader To Leave, Not Foreign Powers.

Rwanda Is A Very Open And Free Country. Key To Our Recovery As A Nation Has A Range Of Grassroots, Citizen-centered Polices We Call "homegrown Solutions." The Idea That Rwanda Is Highly Controlled From The Center Belies The Reality, Which Is That Citizens In Every Village Have A Powerful Say In How Things Get Done. We Prize Accountability And Rwandans Are Quickly Adapting Themselves To The Possibilities Of A Digital Economy.

The West Has Institutions That Can Punish The Misconduct Of Individuals. What Drove Rwanda And Africa Into Decline Was The Fact That Certain People Weren't Held Accountable. When We Move To Make Corrupt Mayors Or Officers Answer To The Courts, People Always Immediately Say That We Are Repressive. But Should We Allow These People To Continue To Get Away With It?

In Rwanda, We Have A Society That Has Experienced A Very Serious Rupture And You Can't Expect All Of A Sudden That Things Will Be Perfect. Even So: You Cannot Find Any More Areas Where Any Segment Of The Population Would Be Afraid To Go, Like We Used To Have Before. But There Is Always A Lot More To Do.

Infrastructure Is Key, But Also How It's Used, And That's Political.