Panorama 10 to 2

This is a panorama of almost all of Kigali. Filmed at the bar Panorama 10 to 2 in Nyamirambo, Kigali.

Freebird in Rwanda

A spontaneous music video by J. Filmed in the North of Rwanda somewhere between Gisenyi and Ruhengeri.

More demolition and expropriation

As an addendum to my previous post on the demolition of Poor Kiyovu, I should add that the Kigali City Council's remodelling of the central residential district, Kiyovu, also extends to small shop owners in the richer part of the quarter. Kiosks all over Kigali are a huge employment generator, a place for late-night shopping and also serve as informal bars. The New Times writes in its article, "Demolished kiosk owners drag KCC to court":

[One kiosk owner ] said that he bought the kiosk through KCC [Kigali City Council] during the reign of Theoneste Mutsindashyaka. He quoted ... the contract he has with city authorities which states that the kiosks should not be interfered with before a period of five years.

Needless to say the five year period has not yet elapsed.

[The shop owner] says that he recently received a letter from city authorities informing him that he had been relocated to an area which is far from the city.

The closing statement of the article is a disturbing insight into the mind of Kigali administrators. More evictions, more demolitions, until Kigali is the squeaky-clean showcase that the government wants it to be :

[The city council inspector] said the council is currently developing detailed plans to reduce slums in various areas in the city and that the new plan is designed to make the city a major commercial and service centre in the East African community, as well as making it environmentally friendly.

... and Kigali will be SO pretty!

Stephen keeps it real (video)

My friend and former work colleague, Stephen Forder, explaining global warming on the South African youth-oriented show, "Keeping it Real". Nicely done, Stephen.



The original post is on his website, cognition.co.za.

The problem with Africa's biggest solar power plant

I was at the inauguration of Africa’s biggest solar plant on the 6th July.

The work of the German companies Stadtwerke Mainz, Juwi and my friend Jutta in completing this plant is impressive. With 250kW it may be small compared to conventional power plants, but huge for solar power. This project broke new ground in Rwanda.


The press was unquestioningly positive.

Unfortunately, I think this project is misguided for a couple of reasons:

• This is a large grid-connected plant. The future of solar energy in Rwanda is small household systems. This project demonstrates how not to do solar projects in Rwanda. The 250kW contribution to the grid of about 50 000kW is minimal. If the 250kW had instead been installed as 2500 household systems, the impact would have been much larger.
• The plant was built entirely by German companies with German financing. The amount of technology and skills transfer is minimal.
• The plant is a donation that makes no commercial sense. It demonstrates the technical possibilities of solar power, but not its economic viability. It is the economic viability that will decide about the future of solar energy in Rwanda.
• Such non-commercial projects destroy local markets by suppressing prices to artificially low levels. Commercial energy projects in all sectors are being held back by unrealistically low cost expectations in the country.

I hope that future projects in Rwanda are better designed to develop the Rwandan private sector. Only if Rwandans themselves learn how to develop projects and commercial ventures can this country develop out of poverty.

Paul

This is quite a revealing interview with President Paul Kagame by the BBC. I only wish Kagame had made a clearer case on the involvement of the international community in the Rwandan genocide, which is indeed scandalous. But this is some welcome publicity for certain issues on both sides of the argument. Click here to watch the interview (RealPlayer file).

Lake Muhazi (video)

This clip is from a 2-day visit to lake Muhazi. A beautiful place, about 70km to the North-East of Kigali.

Ruhengeri and surroundings (video)

This is my first experiment with moving pictures. This is a clip from the road in Northern Rwanda in and around Ruhengeri. Music is by the Congolese group Franco et le TP OK Jazz. Enjoy.