The Rwandan president has urged Korea to invest in his country as a gateway to Africa , and said he will take lessons from rapid development here . President Paul Kagame said in a speech in Seoul on Friday that his once civil war - torn nation had created an accommodating investment environment . Rwanda is rebuilding its economy following Africa ’ s worst genocide in modern times . The 1994 killing of an estimated 800 , 000 people and involvement in conflict in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo has haunted the East African nation still dependent on aid . But the country on Africa ’ s Albertine Rift has been hailed as the region ’ s beacon of hope less than twenty years after the mass slaughter spurred by conflict between the Tutsi and Hutu peoples . Rwanda has since become one of the most stable countries in the region under Kagame ’ s strong - handed government , which took power following the genocide in 1994 . The president spoke at the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan last week , before traveling with a Rwandan ministerial delegation to visit Korean companies including Samsung and Hyundai Motor . “ I have heard from the history of Korea that , even if you just look at the last 50 years , the transformation the country has gone through has a lot of lessons for my country and for Africa , ” Kagame told Korean politicians including former President Kim Young - sam at Friday ’ s meeting organized by the Far East Broadcasting Company . “ I can say what we saw was very instructive in the context of what transformation the country has gone through and what Rwanda and Africa need to pursue as well , ” Kagame said . “ There has to be a meeting of minds and collaboration between government and business leaders for many of these things to happen . In Rwanda we are supporting the private sector to be the leader of social and economic transformation . ” The president invited Korean businesses to take advantage of the “ huge opportunities ” for foreign investors in Rwandan industry including telecoms , mining , agriculture information technology and services . “ We are doing everything to make sure that this is a market that can work together with other parts of the world and most especially Korea , ” he said . “ You will find us good partners and with that partnership it will be even easier to spread in the rest of Africa and the rest of the continent . “ In Rwanda we have the ambition to move ourselves toward prosperity , something that Korea has already achieved , and I look forward to our close collaboration in order for us to move very fast toward this goal . ” Coffee and tea exports as well as expanding tourism have driven Rwanda ’ s economic growth , but poverty is still widespread for the almost 130 million people living in the small country at the heart of a tumultuous but resource - rich region . “ Despite the tragic history of civil war , the fact that Rwanda became a model of development it is truly remarkable . I believe that President Kagame ’ s leadership played a huge part in it , ” former Korean president Kim Young - sam said Friday . “ Korea was an aid receiving country in the past and is now an aid offering country . I have no doubt that Rwanda will become an economic center of Africa . ” By Kirsty Taylor ( kirsyt @ heraldm . com )