Today, on November 27th, 2025, a new sun rises over the hills of a thousand dreams. Welcome to The Dawn, Rwanda’s newest weekly newspaper, but more than that, a platform for our collective voice. The narrative of our nation, henceforth, will be told by us, filtered through lenses that capture the nuances of our lived experience. It is our turn, It is our responsibility, It is our promise.
This is not just another publication, This is a commitment. A commitment to telling our story, the Rwandan way, by Rwandans, for Rwandans, and to the world. And believe me, our story is one worth telling. It is a story of resilience, of a people who stared into the abyss of unimaginable darkness and chose to walk towards the light.
Our own authors
Let us be honest with each other. The world once knew us for one thing: the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. And that is a truth we can never, and must never, forget. It is a part of our history, a deep scar that reminds us of the fragility of peace and the monstrous power of hate. The world remembers the horror, and rightly so. But today, the world no longer looks at Rwanda solely as a survivor. Instead, it sees an African icon that personifies hope and resilience.
It sees a nation that chose to mend its broken heart, piece by piece, not with vengeance, but with a fierce and unyielding commitment to unity. It’s a story of what came next the rebuilding, the reconciliation, the sheer audacity of a people who chose to walk towards the light. This is where The Dawn comes in. We will not shy away from the past, but we will illuminate the present and look forward to the future. Our commitment is to share the new Rwandan story a story not just of national transformation, but of individual lives reborn.
We will tell the big economic story: the cranes rising over Kigali, the technological leaps, and the strategic investments that are making us a hub for the continent. But we will also go deeper. We will introduce you to the mother in Mukarange, Kayonza, whose life was transformed by the Girinka program. We’ll show you how access to a cow, and the milk and fertilizer it provides, has rebirthed her health and dignity. We’ will take you to the Bugesera Mega Airport, a symbol of our ambition and our gateway to the world. And from there, we’ll travel to the misty hills of Kinigi to meet a former game poacher, who has since been rehabilitated to become a nature defender and investor, protecting the very wildlife he once hunted. These are the stories we are committed to sharing with the world. These are the human faces of Rwanda’s transformation, and they are the heart of what The Dawn is all about.
The ingenuity of our leadership
We will delve into the genius of our leadership under president Paul Kagame. Look around you. The clean streets of Kigali, the flourishing tech sector, the universal health insurance. These are not accidents. They are the result of visionary, sometimes unorthodox, leadership. A leadership that understood that for Rwanda to rise from the ashes, it had to think differently. It had to be disciplined, strategic, and focused on collective progress. Consider the case of “Vision 2020,” a national development programme that aimed to transform Rwanda into a middle income, knowledge-based economy. When it was launched, many outside observers were skeptical. “How can a country with no natural resources, still reeling from a genocide, achieve such a feat?” they asked. But we did not listen. We built fibre optic networks across our hills. We prioritised education and healthcare. We created an environment where innovation could thrive. We promised accountability and we delivered it. And while Vision 2020 has now evolved into Vision 2050, the foundation it laid is undeniable.
T he growth, the stability, the sense of national pride these are the fruits of that ingenuity. Thank you, Paul Kagame. But let us be clear: this story is not just about the government or a single leader. It is about all of us. It is about the farmer who embraced new agricultural techniques to feed his family and his community. It’s about the young woman who started a tech startup to solve a local problem. It’s about the teacher who goes to work every day, instilling in our children the values of unity and critical thinking.
Come with us
So, to you, the corporate sector, we say: work with us. Help us build this platform. Your advertisements are not just a transaction; they are an investment in a national conversation. Your support allows us to hire the best journalists, to conduct deep, on-the-ground investigations, to bring you and the world a fuller picture of Rwanda’s reality. To you, the government, we say: walk with us. We will hold you accountable, because that is our duty. We will ask the tough questions, because that is what a healthy society requires. But we will do it with the understanding that we are all on the same team, working towards a common goal: a better Rwanda for all. We trust that you understand that a free and fair press is not an enemy, but an essential partner in governance. To you, the civil society, we say: guide with us. You are the heartbeat of our nation’s conscience. Your work in human rights, reconciliation, and development is the bedrock of our progress.
Help us amplify the voices of those who need to be heard. Give us the insights we need to report on the issues that truly matter. And to you, the esteemed reader, we say: step in with us in this long walk. Trust us. Support us. This is your paper. It is a promise of depth, authenticity, and facts. We will not give you just a news bite; we will give you a full, nutritious meal of insights and understanding. We will offer a variety of perspectives, a platform for every Rwandan voice, because our story is not a monolith. It is a tapestry of millions of individual threads, each one unique, each one essential to the whole. This is The Dawn. And with every issue, we will remind the world, and ourselves, that our unique story is a testament to the human spirit’s extraordinary capacity for hope and renewal. Welcome to our story.
