Rwanda's Economic Analysis

Rwanda’s economic analysis

Rwanda’s economy has struggled to escape poverty since the existence of the country. The agricultural sector of the country is the main source of income. Coffee, tea and minerals are the main export crops and make up 80% of Rwanda’s foreign exchange. The genocide of 1994 further dampened any economic hopes of the country prospering out of poverty. Over one million civilians were killed and about 30% of the population was displaced.

The prevention of the genocide in Rwanda is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the countries name. One of the main reasons Rwanda was neglected during the crisis was due to the fact that most countries didn’t have any ties to the country and would not benefit or gain anything from helping Rwanda. Three of the United Nations five permanent members (U.S., China and France) did not have any need to help with the genocide. In fact, of the big three, China and France actually funded the Rwanda government with arms so in retrospect the two countries actually fueled the genocide instead of preventing it. Although France and China helped engage the genocide, the United States is far from innocent in this matter. The U.S., being the hegemony that it is, could have disrupted the genocide with even the smallest interference but the super power had no economic interest in Rwanda and actually prevented other countries from helping Rwanda. After Rwanda’s independence in 1962, the international community failed to recognize that the country was set up for failure and the possibility of genocide was very high. It is hard to believe that the United States could have possibly prevented the genocide from taking place by simply making equipment available to the United Nations. The U.S. was the only country at the time that was able to block or jam radio waves to prevent the spread of hate propaganda in Rwanda. As the