Rwana Economic Development Forum

The first event of the year for Transitional Trade was the Rwanda Development Economic Forum in Washington DC January 20-21, 2010.

The Forum was set up to bring industry leaders from various industries to provide input on ways in that Rwanda can grow to become the ICT leader of Africa. Among those present were Dr. Jendayi Fraser (former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs- in the picture), Ambassador Andrew Young (in the picture), Ambassador John Simon, Ambassador Kimonyo (Rwanda to the United States), Michael Fairbanks (SEVEN fund) and others.

I commend the Rwandan government and Carnegie Mellon University for the initiative. The prospect of Rwanda as the main ICT hub in Africa is essential for many reasons, including but not limited to the decrease of the digital divide, the promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship, a state of the art science and technology learning center to educate more Africans, the increase in highly skilled workers not only in ICT, but in the many supporting fields as well and the list goes on.

I also commend the participants for their honesty on what they saw as viable and not. Where there was a part for government to improve, the government representatives assured the group that the government will play its part to ensure that the Center of Excellence and Rwanda's goals are achieved. Even more than their thoughts, I commend the participants on their commitment to Rwanda and Africa's development at large.

For more news on the Forum, check out The New Times at US Varsity hosts Rwanda development forum.

2010 and the hope it brings

2009 was a great year in many respects. Transitional Trade finally got traction and continued over the year to fulfill its mission.

Awareness, awareness, awareness

A major goal for 2009 was awareness that post-conflict countries are viable investment destinations. The awareness campaign was done by means of conference speeches, publications and sponsorship of events. This is still an ongoing mission and we are working to find ways to increase the efficiency of what we are doing.

Mentoring

We have been able to mentor entrepreneurs from Sierra Leone, South Africa, the Congo and Uganda. This process was especially moving for me as an entrepreneur because I was able at many levels to connect with the entrepreneurs and the issues they were facing starting and growing their businesses. As we continue in 2010, I hope that their zeal and motivation to grow as entrepreneurs continues and that we can continue to motivate them.

Partnership

We established partnerships with several organizations such as the Rwanda Convention Association, Excel Scholars, Man Up, and become a charity on Leap Anywhere. We thank our partners for their continued support.

Our supporters

We are most appreciative of our supporters. Thank you for your suggestions, for your encouragement, support (financial and otherwise). Please keep it coming, we need it.

2010 - "The Year"

For 2010, we plan to continue doing what we are doing, but grow in all aspects of our work.