The Future of Rwanda: A Preview

Published July 31, 2009 @ 06:48AM PT

Earlier this month, Innocent Mushenyi - an ORI scholar studying law at the Université Libre de Kigali - defended his undergraduate dissertation. Innocent not only defended his dissertation successfully but he also received the highest dissertation grade in ORI history; he is now the fifth ORI scholar to graduate from university. This is great news at any time, but I could not help connecting Innocent's achievement with the incredible speech about Africa's future that President Obama gave on July 11 in Accra, the capital of Ghana.

In the speech, President Obama talked about how the United States is fully behind Africa's continuing growth but that, ultimately, the future of Africa is up to Africans themselves. There were many noteworthy passages, but these stood out for me:

[We] must first recognize a fundamental truth that you have given life to in Ghana: development depends upon good governance. That is the ingredient which has been missing in far too many places, for far too long. That is the change that can unlock Africa's potential. And that is a responsibility that can only be met by Africans.

Make no mistake: history is on the side of these brave Africans and not with those who use coups or change Constitutions to stay in power. Africa doesn't need strongmen, it needs strong institutions.

And I am particularly speaking to the young people. In places like Ghana, you make up over half of the population. Here is what you must know: the world will be what you make of it.

Opportunity won't come from any other place, though - it must come from the decisions that you make, the things that you do, and the hope that you hold in your hearts.

When reading the speech, I wished that all of our students could have been in Accra to hear it. The following are some of the comments I received from our students after I sent them the speech:

Africa is rich in all aspects of life! We Africans just need to stand up and do our best and use the resources at our disposal! We have the potential/caliber and what most of the Africans lack is "self-esteem"! We, the youth, I believe have a big role to play in getting Africa to a better rhythm! All the power is in our hands as future leaders to make Africa a better place for everyone! We have got to rise and shine and keep our heads up for we have "HOPE" for Africa! "YES WE CAN"AND "WE WILL"! (Honoline, Kigali Institute of Management)

My thought about Obama's speech is that the youth can build or destroy the world (Alice, School of Finance and Banking)

Yes it will take time and effort, but it's possible and YES WE CAN! (Jackson, Université Libre de Kigali)

I have been excited to read President Obama's speech. It was really encouraging and it made me think again about my role in the society. As a young African, I felt encouraged to be the best I can and to contribute to development by making the world better than it is. (Darius, Kigali Institute of Education)

So is Africa ready to accept President Obama's challenge to "build upon freedom's foundation," as he put it in his speech, and promote the development of a new era of prosperity? That's a challenging question, but what I do know is this: bright and motivated ORI students like Innocent can't wait to give their best effort as they work to prove that, yes, they can.