Rwanda: Landlocked But For Lake Kivu

Lake Kivu Safari Lodge

One thing is to face adversity another thing is turning the adversity to your best advantage. One thing is facing difficulty another thing creating an opportunity out of the difficulty.

Rwanda as a nation has gotten its own fair share of difficult times and challenges. If not even an unfair share.

To be revisiting the horrific scenario of the Rwanda genocide is to be reopening wounds. We may not be there physically as some equally horrific social media hawks will posit that before some one can report or assess or believe a story, he's got to be there.

A Barge party on
Lake Kivu

I wonder if they where there when the people of Israel crossed the red sea. Yet as Christians they claim to believe the story. What an egocentric hypocrisy.
But we have seen enough to agree with Bill Clinton that "never again" will such happen on Africa soil. Though were not physically present there in 1994, nor does Bill Clinton.

Equally was Rwanda's landlocked state, which put the nation at an economic disadvantage compared with others with warfs and seaports. Seaports that ease direct importation and exportation of goods and earn mega trillions in income.

A local architectural masterpiece
on the shores of Lake Kivu

But just as Rwanda under the leadership of Paul Kagame put the horrifying events of April 1994 and built a united nation with a united citizenry and first a class fast growing economy in Africa, Rwandans looked inward to find an alternative to the landlocked state of their nation for an alternative source of income and revenue discovered Lake Kivu.

Just by the borders of Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo lay this sprawling lake. And Rwanda government and people turned it to a near Disney world hub of tourism and hospitality. A place where tourists across the globe pay homage yearly, just as devouts do annually in Jerusalem and Judea in Isreal.

The one of Israel for religious reasons and spiritual rejuvenation cum personal revival; that of Kivu Lake lake in Rwanda, for loaded well packaged vacation and recreation to catch fun at it's fullest, unwind and be refreshed for another working year.

Of course, there is no gainsaying that what Rwanda government did not earn as revenues from seaports, they made many folds in Kivu lake.

One is not surprised then, that Rwanda decided to go for the kill by exploring the possibility of finding the black gold called crude oil in Kivu lake. Though they are threading with caution, having a perfect understanding of the cost implications of oil exploration.

       Soji Omole