22-11-2011 Nieuw bericht uit Rwanda!

So week 3 in Rwanda already, time is flying. My days in Kigali are long but productive, going from meeting to meeting, motortaxi to motortaxi, phone call to phone call..

A friend who is doing his PhD research here in Kigali told me that he lost his wallet over the weekend, including all the business cards he has collected over the last month, arguably a researcher’s most prized possessions. A horrific fate I can only pray I will be spared from. Kigali is a great city though, and I am getting increasingly better at finding my way around, haggling with my moto-driver, and finding places to buy decent bread. I have even learnt to somewhat appreciate the average 1-hour waiting time it takes for food to arrive, and the impossibility of getting a waiter’s attention. Ok, I admit, only somewhat. 

The government structure here is quite interesting. I had a meeting today at the President’s Office with a senior analyst of the Strategic Policy Unit. The SPU is a small unit whose policy analysts works directly under President Kagame, and more or less above the Cabinet. They have a supervising role and are to ensure that all different policy areas are aligned with each other. They also follow up on the implementation of proposed policies, which is a significant problem in many (developing) countries. It is supposedly a highly effective institution.

The person I spoke to was able to give me great insight, and it is interesting to see the extent of donor involvement in Rwanda’s mining sector throughout its history. One high-placed official at the Ministry of Natural Resources told me that in the 1980s mining exploration in Rwanda was largely funded by the UNDP, and in the 1990s the EU supported a small program on Rwanda’s high-potential mineral areas. I hope to learn more about this and especially current donor involvement in my remaining 10 days here in Kigali!

I hope you have been enjoying the pictures and updates on Facebook, and of course any feedback or questions are more than welcome!