In a conversation with Daniel Bernard, co-founder of Ride For Unity, she shared how her personal journey mirrors Rwanda's own recoveryâ€"rooted in unity, visionary leadership, and accountability.
Ride For Unity is a global movement using cycling to build bridges, empower communities, and create lasting social impact.
Mukazayire's life story is inseparable from Rwanda's own. Born and raised in the country, she studied economics at the University of Rwanda and went on to earn a master's degree.
A lifelong athlete, she played basketball in secondary school, at university, and briefly for the national team. Even today, she remains active through CrossFit and weightlifting. 'Sport has always been part of my day-to-day,' she shared.
Her journey, however, is not just one of personal achievement but a reflection of Rwanda's resilience. 'As a Rwandan, it's difficult to dissociate one's journey from the country's,' she noted. Emerging from the devastation of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, Rwanda faced a complex reality: survivors, returning refugees, fractured families, and a destroyed economy.
Mukazayire's own family history mirrors this complexity, with some members as survivors and others, including her mother, involved in the genocide. 'I had voices telling me you cannot make it,' she admitted. Yet, Rwanda's visionary leadership provided a platform for her and countless others to rebuild their lives.
'This leadership,' she emphasized, 'instilled hope and equal opportunity. The vision of the leadership that picked up all the pieces set a path for me and so many others to be where we are.' Through unity, forgiveness, and reconciliation, Rwanda created an ecosystem where merit and hard work could thrive.
She acknowledges that her rise would not have been possible without the post-1994 transformation.
'We all, including me, got an opportunity to live again, to see hope, or see a belief that there can be a future because of a leadership that had a vision,' she said.
That vision, she added, was rooted in unity, reconciliation, and rebuildingâ€"a national foundation that created equal opportunities and allowed merit to drive progress.
Mukazayire credits her achievements to both the environment Rwanda has created and personal discipline.
'Confidence is realizing the unique talent in you… Competence means putting in the work… Consistency equals discipline,' she explained. For her, these values are as essential in life as they are in sport.
Mukazayire believes Rwanda's success lies in its ability to 'live what you say.' Governance, she noted, is anchored in accountability through systems like the National Dialogueâ€"where citizens and leaders evaluate the nation's progressâ€"citizen outreach visits where ministers answer directly to the public, and performance contracts that hold leaders to their promises.
'We've understood that Rwanda is what we've got. There's no us without Rwanda,' she said.
While Rwanda has made remarkable economic progressâ€"from a GDP collapse in 1994 to over $1,000 per capita â€"the challenges ahead are significant.
'Without economic transformation, without alleviating poverty, you'll still be struggling,' she cautioned. The country's ambitions are bold, targeting $4,000 GDP per capita by 2035 and $12,000 by 2050. Achieving this, she said, will require strategic investment, import substitution, job creation, and harnessing the energy of the nation's youthful population.
On sport's role in this vision, Mukazayire considers it as a key driver of transformation. She cited studies showing that every dollar invested in sport can generate $124 through its ripple effect on other sectors.
'Our leadership has been clear that this is a sector where you have to invest before you attract,' she said.
Mukazayire also spoke of sport as an engine for national transformation, underpinned by her three guiding principles: confidence, competence, and consistency.
She highlighted Rwanda's 'invest before you attract' approach, exemplified by facilities like BK Arena builtn in just six months, alongside ongoing efforts in talent development and the growth of a vibrant sports-business ecosystem.
Women empowerment
Mukazayire is particularly proud of the country's progress in empowering women in sport. Female referees, coaches, and technical staff are now common.
Through the 'Isonga' program, schools must field both boys' and girls' teams in multiple disciplines. Yet she stresses that quotas alone, such as the constitutional requirement for at least 30 percent female representation in decision-making positions, are not enough.
'Are we building ourselves to take up those opportunities and being bold enough to know we can do it… Are they confident enough to seize opportunities they have, to build their skills and their abilities and knowledge to take up the 30%? That's the biggest challenge,' she said.
For Mukazayire, serving as Minister of Sports is about harnessing the unifying power of sport to inspire, transform lives, and position Rwanda as a beacon of possibility for Africa and beyond.
Théophile Niyitegeka
