# Rwanda (1994): a new system that brought prosperity

> Rwanda (1994) built a system with no predecessor and became prosperous by riding a wave the world already backed.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/lessons/rwanda/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

- **The wave:** world support and donor money after the genocide; the global push for business reform.
- **What was new:** "Home Grown Solutions": monthly community work (Umuganda), signed performance contracts for officials (Imihigo), community courts (Gacaca), and an annual national dialogue.
- **How it united people:** one national identity over ethnic identity, carried by Rwandan traditions.
- **Result:** GDP per person (PPP) went from $416 in 1994 to about $4,100 in 2025.

- [Wikipedia: Economy of Rwanda](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Rwanda)
- [Rwanda Governance Board: Home Grown Solutions](https://www.rgb.rw/1/home-grown-solutions)


## How it stood up government on day one

Rwanda rebuilt from genocide with home-grown institutions: community courts, performance contracts for officials, and a new tax authority. Growth has mostly run at 6 to 9% a year since 2006. [Economy of Rwanda](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Rwanda)

**Why it matters:** Rwanda rebuilt after mass violence with community courts, performance contracts for officials and data sent by phone.

- **Treasury:** the Rwanda Revenue Authority was created by law in 1997 and opened in 1998 with 200 staff. By 2017 it had 168,346 taxpayers and expected to collect over RWF 1 trillion (about $1.2 billion) for the first time. [RRA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwanda_Revenue_Authority)
- **Investment:** a one-stop investment centre and a new investment code in early 1998. Rwanda ranked 38th in the World Bank's Doing Business index in 2020, second in Africa.
- **Justice:** regular courts could not handle about 130,000 genocide suspects. Gacaca community courts were set up by law in 2001 and began trials in 2002. More than 12,103 courts, with nine-person panels of local judges, heard over 1.2 million cases. [Gacaca](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gacaca_court)
- **Criticism of gacaca from the source:** no right to a lawyer or presumption of innocence, unpaid judges with bribery claims, ruling-party crimes excluded from 2004, and risks to witnesses.
- **Performance contracts (imihigo):** from 2006, district mayors set targets with action plans and measures. Within a few years every level of government signed them. [Exemplars in Global Health](https://www.exemplars.health/topics/primary-health-care/rwanda/pathway-2-how-did-rwanda-foster-a-culture-of-accountability-and-information-use)
- **Health, with data:** paying clinics for results began as a pilot in 2002. Births in health facilities rose from 30% (2005) to 69% (2010). A single web-based health data system linked more than 700 facilities in 2012. Community health workers report by text message, with over 9.3 million messages by 2018.
- **Results:** income per person at purchasing-power parity rose from $416 in 1994 to $3,893 in 2024. Poverty fell from 57% to 45% between 2006 and 2011. [Economy of Rwanda](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Rwanda)

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