Rwanda Cabinet has approved the second National Strategy for Transformation (NST2), a comprehensive five-year plan designed to accelerate the country’s socio-economic progress from 2024 to 2029. The strategy, announced on Friday by the Office of the Prime Minister, aims to tackle key areas critical to Rwanda’s future growth.
The NST2 focuses on five main priorities: job creation, export promotion, quality education, reducing stunting and malnutrition, and improving public service delivery. The plan sets a target of achieving over 6 percent annual growth in the agricultural sector, with productivity expected to increase by more than 50 percent. This will be facilitated through an 85 percent expansion in irrigated land, better access to fertilisers and seeds, enhanced animal breeds, and a boost in domestic animal feed production.
To combat unemployment and promote inclusive growth, the Rwandan government plans to generate 1.25 million productive and decent jobs over the next five years, creating 250,000 new jobs annually. The strategy also aims to significantly improve early childhood education, increasing pre-primary enrolment from 35 percent to 65 percent by 2029.
In addition, the strategy sets ambitious targets for infrastructure development, aiming for universal access to clean water, sanitation, hygiene services, and reliable electricity for every household, school, and health facility by 2029.
A key component of the NST2 is the introduction of a single digital identification document system, which will simplify access to government services and improve efficiency. The strategy envisions that all government services will be fully digitised by the end of the plan, enhancing both service delivery and accountability.
The plan also emphasises the role of the Rwandan diaspora in contributing to national development and maintaining peace and security to foster a stable environment for continued progress.
Aligned with Rwanda’s Vision 2050, the NST2 is a crucial step toward achieving the country’s long-term goals of reaching upper-middle-income status by 2035 and becoming a high-income nation with improved living standards by 2050.
