Rwanda built its governance system around long-term planning, coordination between public institutions and annual performance contracts, an approach the government plans to strengthen as it implements its development priorities through 2029.
At the centre of the system is a chain of national, sector and local plans. Vision 2050 established the country’s long-term direction, while successive National Strategies for Transformation translated those ambitions into programmes to be implemented by ministries, public agencies and districts.
Annual budgets, institutional action plans and Imihigo performance contracts were introduced to specify what each institution was expected to deliver. This allowed national priorities to be broken down into measurable responsibilities at central and local government levels.
The system received international recognition in April 2026 when the Chandler Good Government Index ranked Rwanda second in Africa and 62nd globally, behind Mauritius.
The index assessed 133 governments using 35 indicators covering leadership, institutions, laws, public finances, the business environment, international standing and outcomes for citizens. Rwanda’s strongest performance was recorded in Leadership and Foresight, particularly in long-term vision and adaptability.
The 59th global position cited in the original social media post was Rwanda’s result in the 2025 edition. The official 2026 profile placed the country 62nd.
Commenting when the African assessment was published, Rwanda Governance Board Chief Executive Officer Dr Doris Uwicyeza Picard said coordination had become a regular feature of the country’s public administration.
“Cross-government coordination is a standing feature, not an ad hoc response,” she said.
Uwicyeza said Vision 2050 and the National Strategy for Transformation helped the government set priorities when resources were limited. She also identified Imihigo as one of the mechanisms used to hold public institutions and local leaders accountable for agreed results.
Under Imihigo, ministries, public boards, districts and the City of Kigali committed themselves to activities selected from their annual plans. Some commitments required several institutions to work together in areas including agriculture, energy, employment, exports, social protection and public service delivery.
The National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda assessed the commitments through document reviews, discussions with officials and beneficiaries, and visits to project sites.
During its latest evaluation, engineers inspected roads, classrooms, water systems, health facilities and public buildings to establish whether reported achievements matched the work completed. Evaluators also revisited older projects to determine whether markets remained operational and water systems continued serving communities.
The evaluation found the strongest joint performance in public service delivery, followed by energy and social protection. It also identified procurement delays, budget constraints, staffing shortages and cases in which unfinished projects had been reported as completed.
The African Development Bank had previously linked Rwanda’s public-sector reforms to stronger coordination between central and local government and the use of performance contracts to improve accountability.
Under NST2, which will run until 2029, the government plans to strengthen institutional coordination, real-time performance tracking and the use of data in decision-making.
Major targets will have designated reporting institutions, baselines, expected results and sources through which progress can be verified. Ministerial clusters, sector working groups and district-level forums will coordinate programmes involving several institutions.
A mid-term evaluation and a final assessment will measure NST2’s implementation. Results from Imihigo and sector evaluations will contribute to both reviews, connecting Rwanda’s long-term plans to work delivered by institutions and districts.
Elie GATETE
RADIOTV10