COUNTRY PROFILE Rwanda Burundi This Country Profile is a reference tool, which provides analysis of historical political, infrastructural and economic trends. It is revised and updated annually. The EIU’s quarterly Country Reports analyse current trends and provide a two-year forecast The full publishing schedule for Country Profiles is now available on our web site at http://www.eiu.com/schedule. 1999-2000 The Economist Intelligence Unit 15 Regent St, London SW1Y 4LR United Kingdom The Economist Intelligence Unit The Economist Intelligence Unit is a specialist publisher serving companies establishing and managing operations across national borders. For over 50 years it has been a source of information on business developments, economic and political trends, government regulations and corporate practice worldwide. 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ISSN 1352-0873 Symbols for tables “n/a” means not available; “–” means not applicable Printed and distributed by Redhouse Press Ltd, Unit 151, Dartford Trade Park, Dartford, Kent DA1 1QB, UK Comparative economic indicators, 1998 EIU Country Profile 1999-2000 © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 1999 1 July 19th 1999 Contents 4 Rwanda 4 Basic data 5 Political background 5 Historical background 11 Constitution and institutions 12 Political forces 15 International relations and defence 17 Resources 17 Population 18 Health 18 Education 19 Natural resources and the environment 19 Transport and communications 20 Energy provision 21 The economy 21 Economic structure 22 Economic policy 24 Economic performance 26 Regional trends 26 Economic sectors 26 Agriculture, forestry and fishing 28 Mining 28 Manufacturing 29 Financial services 29 Other services 30 The external sector 30 Trade in goods 32 Invisibles and the current account 32 Capital flows and foreign debt 33 Foreign reserves and the exchange rate 34 Appendices 34 Regional organisations 34 Sources of information 36 Reference tables 36 Population 36 Population breakdown by age 36 Labour force 36 National energy statistics 37 Government finances © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 1999 EIU Country Profile 1999-2000 2 37 Money supply 37 Gross domestic product 37 Gross domestic product by expenditure 38 Gross domestic product by sector 38 Consumer prices 38 Food crop production 38 Agricultural production for export 39 Minerals production 39 Manufacturing production 39 Exports 40 Imports 40 Main trading partners 41 Balance of payments, IMF estimates 41 External debt, World Bank estimates 42 Net official development assistance 42 Foreign reserves 42 Exchange rates 43 Burundi 43 Basic data 44 Political background 44 Historical background 49 Constitution and institutions 49 Political forces 52 International relations and defence 53 Resources 53 Population 54 Health 54 Education 55 Natural resources and the environment 55 Transport and communications 56 Energy provision 57 The economy 57 Economic structure 58 Economic policy 60 Economic performance 61 Regional trends 62 Economic sectors 62 Agriculture, forestry and fishing 64 Mining and semi-processing 64 Manufacturing 65 Financial services 65 Other services EIU Country Profile 1999-2000 © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 1999 3 66 The external sector 66 Trade in goods 67 Invisibles and the current account 68 Capital flows and foreign debt 69 Foreign reserves and the exchange rate 70 Appendices 70 Regional organisations 73 Sources of information 74 Reference tables 74 Population 75 Civil service labour force 75 Transport statistics 75 National energy statistics 76 Government finances 76 Money supply 76 Interest rates 77 Gross domestic product 77 Gross domestic product by expenditure 77 Gross domestic product by sector 77 Prices and wages 78 Food and cash crop production 78 Selected manufacturing production 78 Exports 79 Imports 79 Main trading partners 80 Balance of payments, IMF estimates 80 Balance of payments, national estimates 81 External debt, World Bank estimates 81 Public-sector debt 82 Net official development assistance 82 Foreign reserves 83 Exchange rates © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 1999 EIU Country Profile 1999-2000 4 Rwanda Rwanda Basic data Land area 26,338 sq km Population 8.08m (1998 EIU estimate) Main town Kigali (capital) 500,000 (1997 estimate) Climate Tropical, moderated by altitude Weather in Kigali Average annual temperature 19°C, average monthly rainfall 85 mm Languages English, French and Kinyarwanda Measures Metric system Currency Rwandan franc (Rwfr)=100 centimes. Average exchange rate in 1998, Rwfr312.3:$1; exchange rate on July 8th 1999 Rwfr336.5:$1 Time 2 hours ahead of GMT EIU Country Profile 1999-2000 © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 1999 Rwanda 5 Political background Historical background The region’s pre-history Rwanda and Burundi’s human history began with the Twa, who inhabited the country’s rainforests for thousands of years, living as hunter-gatherers. Between the fourth and seventh centuries AD, a group of Bantu clans settled in the region, clearing much of the forest, cultivating the land, and bartering skins and meat for salt and iron goods. The region’s Tutsis are held by some historians to have developed from this group as a cattle-owning class; certainly cattle ownership enabled many Tutsis to act as patrons in a network of complex relationships with Hutus. However, historians who attribute a distinct ethnicity to Tutsis say that they arrived as pastoralists into a predominantly agricultural Hutu society, probably in the 11th and 12th centuries AD. The theory that Tutsis are Hamitic and originate from Ethiopia—popular with the colonial authorities and some ideologues today—has been discredited. Pre-20th century Rwandan A Tutsi mwami (king), Ruganza Barimba, began amalgamating Tutsi monarchy chieftaincies under his rule in the 15th century. There followed a lengthy period of steady expansion for the monarchy. Kigeri Rwabugiri, who died in 1895, brought the last of the Tutsi chieftaincies under royal control. However, neither he nor his predecessors made much impact on the Hutu chieftaincies of the north, which retained independence. The colonial period Germany began its colonisation in 1903, and predominantly French and Belgian Roman Catholic missionaries called the White Fathers began proselytising around the same time. Having started by subduing the mwami kingdom, Germany eventually also brought the Hutu chieftaincies under its imperial control. Germany ruled Rwanda and Burundi until its defeat in the first world war, when Belgium assumed power over the territory, named Rwanda-Urundi. In the 1920s and 1930s colonial authorities oversaw extensive coffee planting and enforced tax collection in cash, not kind, to enforce coffee’s cultivation and draw Rwandans into the monetary economy. The authorities also streamlined local government. In 1926 they merged the traditionally separate land, cattle and army chiefdoms on each “hill” (Rwanda’s socio-economic unit) into one centrally appointed post, which almost invariably went to a Tutsi, greatly increasing Tutsi political control and Hutu resentment at local level. Political polarisation on Belgium experimented tentatively with limited democratic reforms in the early the eve of independence 1950s. Displeased by slow progress and mistrustful of Belgian intentions, the UN sent a mission in 1957 which accelerated the pace of political change in Rwanda. A Hutu Catholic catechist named Gregoire Kayibanda wrote a manifesto to coincide with the visit, demanding elections