Notes From the Land of a Thousand Hills

Amy Dempsey

There is no such thing as a quick lunch in Kigali.

It usually goes something like this. You sit at a table. You wait a really long time for a menu. You ask for a menu. You wait again. A server brings a single menu for a table full of people, and then disappears for the next 20 minutes.

You hiss down the server. (Hissing is acceptable here). You order, finally. The drinks come a half hour later. The server then tells you that the meal you requested is unavailable. You order something else. Also unavailable. You order something you don’t really want. The server disappears.

You wait. And wait. You wonder if the cook has gone out to actually kill the goat to make your brochette, or plant the seed to grow the avocado tree to make your sandwich. The food comes, finally. You eat. You finish. You wait for the bill. You ask for the bill. You wait again. You get the bill. It’s written on seven different pieces of paper and it’s nearly impossible to understand.

The whole process can take 2 hours or more. Opting for a buffet restaurant is a safe way to avoid an all-day lunch, but it won’t let you escape the other elements of Rwanda’s notorious customer service.

On the days when service is particularly bad and I am particularly impatient, I zone out into an angry, crazed daze and daydream about picking up tables and chairs and throwing them across the room.

On the rare occasions when service is good or acceptable, I am tempted to leap out of my chair and kiss my waiter on the face.

I used to be a server. And I’m not too shy to say that I was a damn good one, so customer service is very important to me.

In Canada, I would without hesitation let the staff or management know that poor service is unacceptable. But here I feel uncomfortable complaining because I’m a foreigner.

I’m not the only one who is unimpressed by the customer service in Rwanda. The government has officially recognized it as a barrier to bolstering business and tourism in Rwanda, and made it a priority to promote better customer service practices in the country.

President Paul Kagame, addressing diplomats at Amahoro Stadium in February, had this comment on the service situation in his country: “We can no longer accept a culture of mediocrity either from Rwandan business and government institutions that give poor services, or Rwandan customers who quietly accept substandard customer care.”

In March the government formed a National Customer Care Task Force. Now there are a number of initiatives to improve customer service in Rwanda.

Which brings me to the radio piece I want to share with you.

The organizers of Rwanda’s 12th Annual International Trade Fair, which is taking place right now in Kigali, have made customer care improvement one of their objectives.

Find out how by listening to the story below, which I produced for Contact FM.

Entrance to the Trade Fair - Murakaza Neza means "you are welcome" in Kinyarwanda.

This seller came all the way from Egypt for the trade fair.

Aimabre Musaneza is one of the Rwandan sellers. His company, Socobico, sells paper products like tissue, serviettes and toilet paper.

[Please note: the vendors I interviewed for this story were kind enough to let me ask them questions even though they were concerned about their ability to communicate in English. I think it’s important to acknowledge that they could express themselves more effectively if I was able to interview them in Kinyarwanda or French.]