Why do states fail? Daron Acemogul states it is due to the existence of extractive institutions which are ones that permit the elite to rule over and exploit others, extracting wealth from those who are not in the elite. Nations with a history of extractive institutions have not prospered, they argue, because entrepreneurs and citizens have less incentive to invest and innovate.

Pre Genocide Rwanda was the example of an extractive institution, they like many African states embraced state centralised socialism where the "resources belongs to the people so the government will allocate the resources for the people". A literal contradiction as that would put the government in charge of the resources of the state as opposed to the people. This caused Rwanda to place ministers in every affair of the state to resources, to energy, to education and to even sports itself. What followed was a highly centralised state that was extremely vulnerable to corruption as the power was not in the hands of the people but rather "the elites who rule over and exploit others, extracting wealth from those who are not in the elite." The built up of poverty and racial tensions between the ethnic Hutus and Tutsi group eventually led to the beginning of the Rwandan genocide, where Paul Kagame and his Free Rwandan Army even fought back and took control of Rwanda from the genocidal Hutus.

As a ethnic Tutsi taking over a country which was devastated by genocide, economic strife and extreme racial divisions, Paul Kagame changed Rwanda's fate by first dismantling its extractive institutions. He begun a series of successful anti corruption campaigns which rooted out the elites who acted only for themselves as opposed to the welfare of the state. He begun promoting FDI by spending money on education, on infrastructure and even changing the national language from French to English in order to achieve that goal. Most importantly he begun the healing process between Hutus and Tutsis through a national campaign on Rwandan unity which has now significantly lowered tensions between those two groups.

Today it is said that Rwanda's capital is one of the cleanest cities in Africa, Rwanda's GDP has risen from 1.2 Billion in 1994 to almost 11 Billion today, and most importantly Rwanda is now one of the top 3 least corrupt countries in Africa, a ranking which beats even South Korea, Italy and China. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes had Paul Kagame transformed his country Rwanda, from the ashes of hatred came unity and from the shackles of extractive institutions came the inclusive institutions that Rwanda has today.

However Paul Kagame is not without criticism. He is a dictator who regularly violates human rights, press freedom and changing the states constitution to allow him to be in power for as long as he wish. He is a not a perfect man, but I would say the greatest mark of a hero is his flaw.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv2QQAzrsWo