How is it possible that Rwanda is developing at a faster rate than Nigeria?

I will be careful not to compare Rwanda and Nigeria. This is like comparing Singapore and the United States. How could you possibly compare the two?

Nigeria ( Red) is 35 times the size of Rwanda ( blue). 13 million people versus 180–200 million, depending on who is doing the stats. Both countries are different.

From what I gather from Nigerians, the issues of Nigeria are related to tribalism, change in leaderships, which fails to put together a cohesive vision for the country, and good governance ( zero tolerance to corruption, etc).

Rwanda is a small, landlocked country with a troubled past. Right now, they are fighting hard to get out of the poverty trap by branding their good governance to attract investments into their country.

On the other side, Nigeria is a very “rich” country. The issue of Nigeria is about allocation of resources to the common people. Having an efficient system to educate the masses, invest in healthcare to ensure a good quality of life for Nigerians, and investing in infrastructure to connect rural areas to the cities.

This is the whole concept of sharing the resources of their country among their people. Just look up how many billionaires and millionaires are based in Nigeria. You will be surprised.

Both countries are very different on any level you can think of. There are no lessons that Rwanda should be giving to Nigeria. Nigerian people are very smart. They have a very educated diaspora and can turn things around if they wanted to. They already know their problems and need nobody to lecture them about what they should do. Just see the examples below.

In Rwanda,

We have had one “ mighty” president for over 2 decades. Do you want Nigeria to have one president for 20 years? No Nigerian I know will agree to that.

We have one dominant party, which wins election by over 90% or more. Can this happen in Nigeria? I don’t think so in a million years.

Since the dominant party always wins election, their agenda and development plan never changes. Regardless of who is in the parliament, their agenda is always the same.

We have one language, one culture, and have kicked out tribalism due to our past. So, we are one people. This helps to communicate with one another, holding discussion about how to move our country forward, and making decision of how to get there.

We have the politics of cooperation and not antagonism. This is in part due to our past. We can disagree on ideas, but we try hard to stay civil about our differences. We don’t have time to fight over politics.

What are the results? This is a humble brag of course, but it is something.

2nd most competitive economy in Africa.

2nd Easiest place to do business in Africa.

#1 Safest and most secure country in Africa ( 9th, globally).

1st most transparent government in Africa ( 9th, globally).

1st best place to be a woman in Africa ( 5th, globally).

2nd country in ICT ( Information, communication, and technology) promotion globally.

After South Africa and Egypt, Rwanda ranks 3rd in hosting international conferences and assemblies in Africa.

The Rwanda today was prepared back in 2000–2003. The so called Vision 2020, which was designed to transformed from a low-income country to a middle income country. Since President Paul Kagame election in 2003, we have never looked back. We have been following the blueprint, checking each of the 44 measured goals, one by one. We are not where we want to be, but we are doing our best.

At the moment, we are already working on the new vision ( Vision 2050), which will upgrade Rwanda from a ( lower) middle-income country to an (upper) middle-income country. This will hopefully happen from 2025 to 2050. We are not worried because the agenda of the RPF will never change. They are not about to lose election anytime soon.

My answer to your question is that:

Nigerians do not need to replicate the model of Rwanda. I do not think that our model would work anywhere. Having one dominant party has been good for us given our past history of 1994. I don’t think it would work anywhere honestly.

The leaders of Nigeria in business, politics have all they need to form a model for Nigeria. Just see what Nigerian Artists, Musicians, Movie industry, and tech industry have done in less than 15 years? Naija has it all. There are a few missing screws to put the whole project together.

As a fellow African, I certainly wish them the best.

Didier Champion’s answer to Which country is the most developed, Rwanda, Kenya, Nigeria, or Angola