Author: admin_poj

Some leaders talk about transformation. Others explain how it actually happens. When I sat down with Hortense Mudenge, CEO of Kigali IFC, on the eve of the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, I heard a perspective that cut through much of the noise surrounding growth, investment and development. Her argument was simple: capital follows trust, and trust is built through institutions. 

Conditions that create confidence

Our conversation explored how Kigali IFC has helped rewrite the way investment flows into and within Rwanda. It has been a multi-pronged effort: changing perceptions of the country, embedding visionary leadership, strengthening institutions, and focusing relentlessly on the foundations required for long-term transformation. In many ways, Kigali IFC’s story is not just about attracting capital. It is about creating the conditions that give investors the confidence to deploy it. 

The key, it argues, will be “…private sector investment to enhance productivity growth, raise incomes, and provide the financing to address infrastructure shortfalls.”

Rwanda has set the bar high. It aspires to become a Middle-Income Country by 2035 and a High-Income Country by 2050. There are barriers to overcome. The World Bank laid it on the line stating: “High levels of public debt (projected to rise to over 77% of GDP by end-2026), vulnerability to climate change, and increasing pressure on natural resources will make it difficult to achieve the country’s targets…” The key, it argues, will be “…private sector investment to enhance productivity growth, raise incomes, and provide the financing to address infrastructure shortfalls.”

Ambassadorial role

This is where Kigali IFC has come in since its creation in 2020. As Hortense explains: “…our role is basically to coordinate the whole ecosystem to ensure that Rwanda is a competitive, financial jurisdiction for investors looking to more efficiently deploy capital not just in Rwanda but across the continent”.

This has involved a huge ambassadorial push – especially as Nairobi has been dominant in the region for decades. Some of the work has been countering negative – and lazy – tropes that have dogged Rwanda, and indeed the whole continent, for centuries. Hortense explains that simply getting investors to come to Kigali is often enough to change this. The country has worked to create infrastructure and institutions, including Kigali IFC, which will support growth. This has meant looking at what the barriers are to investing and working to eliminate them; ensuring that regulation is in place to bolster confidence and that there is ease from start to finish. With all of this in place, you can attract and foster innovation and investment. 

“Leadership is the relentless pursuit of truth and ceaseless creation of trust.”

Kigali, in this respect, has become a “proof of concept hub” – a city in which the leadership created a blueprint for the future and then pushed hard to make it happen. It is now a city where investors can do the same – come and test their plans before they deploy across the continent. 

Trust, accountability and shared ownership have been absolutely central to this. As Jack Welch, former CEO of GE, is quoted as saying: “Leadership is the relentless pursuit of truth and ceaseless creation of trust.” Hortense explains that Kigali IFC will monitor annually, bi-annually and quarterly to ensure that everyone and everything is contributing towards the national strategy for transformation. 

She adds that this goes from the very top of government down into every level of every institution.  She told me: “…when it comes to an institutional level, then we build the processes and systems that ensures this. You are aligned with what the policies say, but also internally [you ensure] that there are clear values that you integrate to be able to execute on.”

Shared ownership

This is also when shared ownership kicks in. Everyone is on the same page, which makes it easy to sell this vision to investors. This is especially important in times of rapid iteration. Hortense talked to me about the nation’s Fintech ambitions but also how technology is key to every area of growth, including the green asset classes that have been a feature of Rwanda’s plans for decades. 

And there are also constant geopolitical shifts to understand and react to. Rwanda, like all nations, needs to build its resilience to withstand the storm that is still rumbling. Pan-Africanism was presented as life boat at the Africa CEO Forum and moves to make it happen in a meaningful way have dominated my newsfeed since my return. 

Rwanda, like all nations, needs to build its resilience to withstand the storm that is still rumbling.

A connected, continental financial services industry will be central to this. Rwanda, and specifically the Kigali IFC, will play a pivotal role in facilitating this. As Hortense told me, the country is not growing in isolation – the ambition for African institutional capital to be able to move seamlessly across the continent is key to the Kigali IFC’s vision. However, every nation in Africa must play a part and many have huge hurdles to overcome – perception of their failings – being just one. Rwanda’s trajectory delivers hope, not least as testament to what can happen if a nation gets behind a national agenda. 

There are some conversations that cut through the noise. Talking to Hortense Mudenge, CEO of Kigali International Financial Centre, was a chance to delve into what a transformation really looks like. From encouraging shared ownership to changing perceptions, it is a complex process that can push a leader but, as Hortense shared with me, there are also simple tenets to build upon that will see you through.

Is Africa rising? Or has it iterated rapidly and then stalled because the infrastructure and institutions aren’t good enough to sustain growth? The list of abandoned or mis-managed infrastructure projects is huge – and this has resulted in an understandable pessimism whenever a new project is announced. 

Widespread Pessimism

The comments under a post announcing the Abidjan–Lagos Corridor Highway Project moving into operational phase was a perfect example. Concerns about checkpoints, corruption and security dominate alongside snarky comments about how delayed the project has been and questions about why it isn’t a railroad instead of a motorway. People are simply not optimistic that the project will deliver any improvements to their lives. 

This road will pass through five nations – Cote D’Ivoire; Ghana; Togo; Benin and Nigeria. If drivers have to wait for hours (or even days) at each country border, they won’t use the road. Even at the Africa CEO Forum, where the people at the very top of Governments and private institutions from across the Continent were gathered, there were grumbles about visa issues. 

The Importance of Infrastructure

And here lies the issue. You can’t deliver life-changing infrastructure projects if the underlying infrastructure – whether financing through to policy – is not in place. As Diane Karusisi, CEO of the Bank of Kigali told me emphatically, one assumption she disagrees with is that Africa can bypass the old path for development and leapfrog using new technologies. 

“I don’t think there’s a shortcut to transformation. And I think the risk for us would be that we have access to these emerging technologies, but it doesn’t result into broad based prosperity.” Diane Karusisi, CEO of Bank of Kigali

She shares: “They argue that probably we won’t need or we could be able to avoid massive investments in infrastructure. But I don’t think it’s possible. I don’t think there’s a shortcut to transformation. And I think the risk for us would be that we have access to these emerging technologies, but it doesn’t result into broad based prosperity.”

The Rwandan Model

If we hone in on Rwanda, the infrastructure spend has been strategic and impactful for years. The United Nations Development Fund analysed the 2025-26 budget and described it as “a bold and expansionary fiscal stance” (PDF). The 21% increase from the previous fiscal year “…is more than just a numerical adjustment; it sends a strong policy signal of the government’s commitment to accelerating economic transformation while strengthening resilience against both persistent and emerging socio-economic shocks,” it writes. 

The money is being spent on everything from expansion of irrigation schemes to tax incentives to bolster the Made-In-Rwanda policy. All projects, though, are focused on women and youth-led initiatives; “expanding social protection schemes, investing in rural and hard-to-reach areas, and mainstreaming gender and climate responsiveness across all programmes.” 

“I hope…that if some of the institutional issues get solved or at least partially addressed, we will see an increasing numbers of countries in Africa climbing up that ladder and starting to grow both their income per capita and their living standards.” Professor Antonio Fatas, INSEAD

This is Rwanda doing the work – putting in place the groundworks – education, energy infrastructure, and climate resilience among them – that they can then build upon. As Professor Antonio Fatas from INSEAD told me earlier this year: “If you look at the growth rate of GDPs in Africa last year, it was decent. That’s what I see as a business leader. I see a market that is growing, and it’s going to continue going forward. I hope, though I’m not sure if I can bet on this – that if some of the institutional issues get solved or at least partially addressed, we will see an increasing numbers of countries in Africa climbing up that ladder and starting to grow both their income per capita and their living standards.”

Capability Building at the Core

Transformation, though, starts with people – and specifically, capability building. In our recent chat in Kigali, Diane talked specifically about literacy and how this has been a focus. After all, as she said: “I don’t think you can leapfrog your way to prosperity with people who are not literate”. Then there’s digital literacy as a layer on top of this. Educated and engaged citizens who feel they have some kind of shared ownership in what their country is trying to build are the ones driving growth in Rwanda. It is something the government continues to invest in. 

“I don’t think you can leapfrog your way to prosperity with people who are not literate”. Diane Karusisi, CEO of Bank of Kigali

This is a lesson to every country and business. An education system, like all of the foundations of a society, requires strategic thinking, investment and innovation. That takes time. We hold Rwanda up as an example but we mustn’t ignore the decades of work that have gone in. Rwanda hasn’t leapfrogged, it has worked and worked, and not without set-backs and mistakes. This is why its growth has been sustained and remains sustainable even as geopolitics, climate change and war shakes our world.