Singapore is a country located in Asia and known for fast grown economy in the world. Rwanda is another country in Africa characterized by fast growing economy. These two countries seems to have similar economy growth, hence Rwanda called African Singapore.
In recent years, Rwanda has been making remarkable strides toward its ambitious vision of becoming the Singapore of Africa. Rwanda has come a long way since the devastating genocide against Tutsi in 1994.
With Singapore as idol, Rwanda aims to distinct itself into a regional hub for business with financial, and innovation. Rwanda seeks to attract foreign investments and develop a strong economy, by promoting a business-friendly environment, entrepreneurship, and investing in infrastructure.
*Is it possible for Rwanda to become African Singapore?*
Meanwhile, 89% of families in Singapore own their own homes whereas 30% of families in Kigali own their own homes.
Why does numerous population in Kigali don’t own their homes? It may be results of low income interest to employees, unemployment, or high requirements to own a house. For Rwanda to march toward its dream to become the Singapore of Africa has to deal all of these.
Another reason may be the large number of teens found in the city, Rwanda to handle this has to care the youth and has started to do so through different programs including Youth Empowerment Programmes aims to promote entrepreneurship and innovation among youth.
11% of people in Singapore owns cars and to own a car in Singapore, you must get a certificate that costs around $100k and this certificate lasts only 10 years. This is done in order to control the number of cars in the small densely populated country, while the average age of cars on Kigali streets is 15 to 20 years old and most of these cars don’t have catalytic converters. Kigali has 26,000 internal combustion engine motorcycles which pollute the air to breathe, according to Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA) report.
This signals Rwanda that needs to care the environment to provide good health of the citizens through avoiding use of materials which pollute the air.
Rwanda has cared this too, the government is encouraging the citizens to use electrical motorcycles, and electrical cars instead of fuel-usable vehicles. In addition, Rwandans are encouraged to use public transport rather than owning cars.
From these points, it’s possible for Rwanda to become the future Singapore.
In his opinion, Rwandan Real Estate investor Egide MURISA wrote on X formerly twitter that in such a densely populated and growing city, just like Singapore, vehicle ownership should be limited, with exceptions to fully electric vehicles.
“When car ownership becomes more expensive, more people will instead choose to buy their own homes,” he added. For this to work, like Singapore, heavy investments in public transportation will be needed, in his vision.
Rwanda’s journey to becoming African Singapore is a testimony of its determined resilience and active vision for its own future. The country is doing everything in its power to achieve its desired dreams by prioritizing economic growth, infrastructure development, and technological innovation.
Kigali lights at night
Electric buses in Kigali