Good morning, Mwaramutse Neza.
Welcome to the 2026 National Bank of Rwanda–International Growth Centre Research Conference.
We are honored to bring together distinguished researchers, policymakers, development practitioners, and private sector leaders from Rwanda and around the world.
Your presence reflects a shared commitment to advancing knowledge and strengthening policy dialogue for practical solutions for the economic challenges and opportunities facing our region.
The National Bank of Rwanda and the International Growth Centre have had a long-standing partnership. Over the years, this collaboration has become an important bridge between research and policymaking, and today's gathering is its clearest expression.
Dear Colleagues and Partners:
This morning, the research papers which will be presented, and the panel discussion will focus on one complex theme; "From Vulnerability to Resilience: Fiscal, Monetary, and Structural Policy Priorities for Sub-Saharan African Economies”.
We reckon that Resilience is the defining policy challenge of this decade. How well we define it, grasp its multi-faceted nature, will determine whether Rwanda’s and Africa’s development gains of the past twenty-five years endure or erode.
Around the world, economies are operating in a more complex and uncertain environment. Geopolitical tensions, supply chain disruptions, climate-related shocks, debt vulnerabilities, and rapid technological change are reshaping the global landscape, and challenging policymakers to do something harder than managing a crisis: building systems that bend without breaking.
For Sub-Saharan Africa, this challenge is especially acute. Our economies must pursue ambitious development goals while absorbing shocks that are often beyond our control.
Resilience, therefore, is not only about responding to crises; it is about building the structural conditions for sustained, inclusive, and sustainable growth. That is a fundamentally different, and more demanding, standard.
For Rwanda, resilience has been central to our development journey. Statistics speak for themselves:
a) Rwanda's GDP has grown at an average of about 8 percent every year over the past 20 years.
b) GDP per capita has risen from roughly USD 260 in 2000 to USD 1,200 in 2025.
c) Poverty has declined from 58.9 percent in 2000 to 27.4 percent in 2024. These numbers tell a story of compounding institutional discipline.
The question is: can we accelerate the pace to realize the ambitious Vison 2050 agenda? I look forward to the discussions ahead to point to answers and pathways to navigate the increasingly volatile global and regional context with tailored fiscal, monetary and structural policies. This is what we need to future-proof not only our economy but the entire continent’s economic outlook.
Answering these questions requires rigorous analysis, credible evidence, and close collaboration between researchers and policymakers. In that sense, the NBR-IGC Research Day is not a supplement to policy, it is part of the policy infrastructure itself.
The insights generated here will not only contribute to academic knowledge, but they will also shape better policies that improve the lives and livelihoods of our citizens.
I will end on this note: the National Bank of Rwanda remains firmly committed to promoting research and evidence-based policymaking. We see research not as an academic exercise, but as a practical tool for strengthening institutions, improving policy effectiveness, and supporting sustainable development.
On behalf of the Central Bank, I thank you all for being part of this journey.
Murakoze Cyane