World coins chat: Rwanda

Rwanda is a landlocked country south of Burundi, east of Congo and west of Tanzania. It was part of German East Africa until the Belgians occupied Rwanda-Urundi in 1916. In 1961 Rwanda became independent. In 1994 it was the scene of the horrific Rwandan genocide that cost the lives of 700,000, mostly Tutsi's but also moderate Hutu's.

Coins with legend Rwanda-Urundi exist from 1952, but these were Belgian Congolese Francs and should be catalogued as such. In 1961 a 1 Franc coin was issued for both Rwanda and Burundi by the Banque d'Émission de Rwanda et Burundi (B.E.R.B.). From 1964 Rwanda issued its own Franc. The exchange rate went from around 50/$ in 1964 to 250/$ in 1995 and 650/$ in 2015. For African standards it is a relatively stable currency

https://en.numista.com/catalogue/rwanda-1.html

Rwanda has an interesting history - unlike most other African nations, Rwanda existed (as a kingdom) before the Europeans showed up and started drawing lines on maps, so it is unusually small and centralized. Because of this, Rwanda really has only one native language - Kinyarwanda. Again, this situation is almost completely unique in Africa, where most countries are divided between two or more major ethnolinguistic groups. But Rwandans are still divided into two main groups, the Hutu (who are a majority) and the Tutsi (who traditionally ruled the kingdom). The exact division between the two ethnicities, considering that they speak the exact same language, is really hard to explain and can partly be blamed on the Belgian colonizers using a classic "divide and rule" strategy by inventing an ethnic division where there used to be only a class division. This is exactly the kind of situation that makes ethnicity one of the 21st century's most bizarre and complicated topics.


The first coins from independent Rwanda show the face of (Hutu) President Grégoire Kayibanda, independence leader and then (as is all too common for independence leaders) President-for-life. In 1973, he was overthrown by his defense minister (also Hutu) Juvénal Habyarimana and ended up "mysteriously" dead.


Juvénal had the good sense to avoid putting his own face on the coins, and he was rewarded by winning no less than three elections with more than 99.97% of the vote each time - he must have been very popular! In 1990, Tutsi-led groups began to fight for greater power in the government, and Juvénal's plane was shot down in 1994. At the time, he was riding with the President of Burundi and all of his ministers, so this act managed to wipe out the governments of two countries with one shot. It seemed likely that the plane had been shot down by Tutsi militants, which triggered the the subsequent Rwandan genocide, in which vengeful Hutu death squads roamed the countryside with their machetes searching for Tutsi to hack to death.


The genocide was ended when an organized Tutsi militia marched in and took the capital - even though they are a minority group, they are apparently better at fighting than the Hutu are, or maybe the Hutu militants had gotten too used to killing unarmed civilians to stand up to an actual military opponent. In today's Rwanda, the Tutsi are back in charge, and genocide-era symbols have been erased: the national flag (famous for featuring a big letter "R" on it and breaking the biggest rule of design: show, don't tell!) and coat of arms have both been modified since 1994. This difference is apparent on the coins - notice the new national seal on these issues.


Between 2003 and 2007, the name of the National Bank of Rwanda was changed slightly and the compositions of the coins were also changed slightly, leading to new coin types.


Rwanda has one coinage claim to fame - the country uses the world's only copper/copper-nickel bimetallic coin. Every collector of bimetallic coins needs one of these because of its unique composition.

Today, Rwanda is a top tourist destination, because it's one of only two countries where you can see the famous mountain gorillas in their natural habitat.

This 100RWF is really interesting as really original. And as I said in the Burundi section, RWF is one of the 3 actual African currencies not linked in history to FRF but to BEF.

There are two varieties of 100 RWF  coin, which are not listed in  KM  and   any other   Book.

First, most common type, with   smaller  "100" and shield, and date,with small  but bold  "BANKI NKURU...."  and  " AMAFARANGA...."  lettering,
 and second,  which is more scarce -   large "100", large shield and date. Long but  fine lettering  "BANKI NKURU...."  and  " AMAFARANGA...."

My friend David Rivera  gave me this information, and I bought immediately the second  type






Yours,
David

 

Quote: nalaberongRwanda has an interesting history - unlike most other African nations, Rwanda existed (as a kingdom) before the Europeans showed up and started drawing lines on maps, so it is unusually small and centralized. Because of this, Rwanda really has only one native language - Kinyarwanda. Again, this situation is almost completely unique in Africa, where most countries are divided between two or more major ethnolinguistic groups. But Rwandans are still divided into two main groups, the Hutu (who are a majority) and the Tutsi (who traditionally ruled the kingdom). The exact division between the two ethnicities, considering that they speak the exact same language, is really hard to explain and can partly be blamed on the Belgian colonizers using a classic "divide and rule" strategy by inventing an ethnic division where there used to be only a class division. This is exactly the kind of situation that makes ethnicity one of the 21st century's most bizarre and complicated topics.

If former Belgian Congo was an asset, Rwanda and Burundi have rather been a liability to the former Belgian colonial administration.  They have not invented nor exploited any ethnic division:  a mere superficial obervation, even to European eyes, easily tells apart the tall Tutsi from the short Hutu (a Bantu type). The 'class divide' was that Tutsi used to have a herd of animals to provide their living, while Hutu traditionally have been farmers.  While the population density is low and there's plenty of arable land left, the herds of the Tutsi graze on the open space, fertilizing it for future agricultural use.  As the population density grew, arable land became scarce and the herds of the Tutsi were increasingly eating the crops the Hutu depended on for their living.

If you like to blame the former colonial administration, it should be for introducing democracy at the transition to independence:  it very seldom works out well in an African country, where  political parties are delineated according to ethnic tribes. Democracy brought about a Hutu majority government in Rwanda. Ethnic tensions have been suppressed for over 30 years, but an increasing number of Tutsi (traditionally following their herds) migrated.  Rebels imposed themselves as representatives of the Rwandese Tutsi living abroad.

Imo you correctly describe the further tragic events leading to the 1994 genocide.

Just a simple question:

1 Rwanda Franc is equal to 1 Amafaranga?
There are subdivisions?

I see the Numista catalog do not have a separate listing for the new currency name as usually do.

Ifaranga means Franc, with Amafaranga being the plural form. Amafaranga also means money.

So it's not a new currency. It's just a change of language use from French to Rwandan.

Quote: "jokinen"​Ifaranga means Franc, with Amafaranga being the plural form. Amafaranga also means money.
​
​So it's not a new currency. It's just a change of language use from French to Rwandan.

​Thank you very much!

I've been living in Kigali for two years.
Unforgettable, I think one of the best places where I went in my life… People were really kind for the most i met and overall the landscapes and flora and wildlife are fantastic!

Imagine u wake up and u see that in front of your window:

And the lizards,... well they're nice too :

(not my photos)

If u have the opportunity to go to Rwanda, don't hesitate !