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. 1996 Index
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Rwanda Economy 1996
Rwanda is a poor African nation suffering bitterly from ethnic-based civil
war. Almost 50% of GDP comes from the agricultural sector; coffee and tea
make up 80%-90% of total exports. The amount of fertile land is limited,
however, and deforestation and soil erosion continue to create problems. The
industrial sector in Rwanda is small, contributing only 17% to GDP.
Manufacturing focuses mainly on the processing of agricultural products. The
Rwandan economy remains dependent on coffee/tea exports and foreign aid.
Weak international prices since 1986 have caused the economy to contract and
per capita GDP to decline. A structural adjustment program with the World
Bank began in October 1990. Ethnic-based insurgency since 1990 has
devastated wide areas, especially in the north, and displaced hundreds of
thousands of people. A peace accord in mid-1993 temporarily ended most of
the fighting, but massive resumption of civil warfare in April 1994 in the
capital city Kigali and elsewhere has been taking thousands of lives and
severely affecting short-term economic prospects. The economy suffers
massively from failure to maintain the infrastructure, looting, neglect of
important cash crops, and lack of health care facilities.
GDP - purchasing power parity - $7.9 billion (1993 est.)
-
National product real growth rate:
-
National product per capita:
-
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
$NA, including capital expenditures of $NA (1992 est.)
$44 million (f.o.b., 1993 est.)
coffee 63%, tea, cassiterite, wolframite, pyrethrum
Germany, Belgium, Italy, Uganda, UK, France, US
$250 million (f.o.b., 1993 est.)
textiles, foodstuffs, machines and equipment, capital goods, steel,
petroleum products, cement and construction material
US, Belgium, Germany, Kenya, Japan
growth rate -2.2% (1991); accounts for 17% of GDP
mining of cassiterite (tin ore) and wolframite (tungsten ore), tin, cement,
agricultural processing, small-scale beverage production, soap, furniture,
shoes, plastic goods, textiles, cigarettes
cash crops - coffee, tea, pyrethrum (insecticide made from chrysanthemums);
main food crops - bananas, beans, sorghum, potatoes; stock raising
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $128 million; Western (non-US)
countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $2 billion; OPEC
bilateral aid (1979-89), $45 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $58
million
in October 1990 Rwanda launched a Structural Adjustment Program with the
IMF; since September 1991, the EC has given $46 million and the US $25
million in support of this program (1993)
1 Rwandan franc (RF) = 100 centimes
Rwandan francs (RF) per US$1 - 144.3 (3rd quarter 1994), 144.25 (1993),
133.35 (1992), 125.14 (1991), 82.60 (1990)
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