CEO, Cabinet Member, Lawyer
Rwanda

Clare Akamanzi is an international trade and investment lawyer, CEO of the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and Member of the Cabinet of Rwanda. Prior to these roles, she served as Head of Strategy and Policy for President Paul Kagame and for over 7 years as COO of the RDB.

During her time working for the Rwandan government, and RDB in particular, there has been a surge in foreign investment and tourism. In addition, Rwanda’s ranking in the World Bank’s ease of doing business report reached a global top 40. She has led a team that has consequently generated 100,000 jobs for young Rwandans since 2017.

Clare has also previously served as Rwanda’s commercial diplomat in London and a trade negotiator in Geneva at the World Trade Organization.

Clare is a Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) MPA alum, where she was the recipient of the Lucius N. Littaeur Fellows Award, the Raymond & Josephine Vernon Award and the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Excellence in Public Service. She also holds an LLM in International Trade and Investment with distinction from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and LLM (Hons) from Makerere University, Uganda.

Her numerous accolades include being named as a Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum in 2012 and one of Africa’s Top 20 leading women in economic development by Forbes in 2013.