Let's start with a short quiz. Which African country is: the world's fastest developing country according the UN's Human Development Index - and has annual growth rates of about 8%? The second easiest place to do business on the continent? The safest to walk at night in Africa and fifth globally?

If you guessed Rwanda, you'd be right. Rwanda is a small country located in Eastern Africa bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Democratic Republic of the Congo.

For many foreigners, the country is still associated with the civil war that occurred in 1994. But Rwanda has done an exemplary job putting its past behind with a commitment to democracy, justice, reconciliation, and development.

Last month the World Economic Forum on Africa took place in Kigali, Rwanda's capital, and was focused on "Connecting Africa's Resources through Digital Transformation." It's no coincidence the event was located there, given that Rwanda is now known as a "regional high tech hub and boasts one of sub-Saharan Africa's fastest GDP growth rates."

Why Rwanda?

Walking the streets of Kigali, the city is clean and beautifully landscaped with new buildings are everywhere. When I spoke with is Abdul Musare Arsene, a young journalist in Kigali last month, I asked him what excited him most about Rwanda right now.

He said, "Rwanda is developing so quickly. Much more so than neighbouring countries – Burundi, Congo, Uganda -- if you leave Kigali for two months, you come back a stranger. There are new buildings everywhere and so much economic development."

Rwanda's progress is due to a very deliberate strategy. Enacted in 2000, Vision 2020 is Rwanda's strategy to become a middle-income country by the year 2020 and transform Rwanda into a knowledge-based economy that can compete regionally and globally.

Increasing the technology infrastructure is arguably the most important pillar to the success of Vision 2020 and cuts across all of the program's priorities such as good governance, a skilled workforce and vibrant private sector.

The government has been steadily dedicating funds and raising foreign investment for the ICT sector. The result: Rwanda is now a best practice showing how a nation can overcome historical trauma, forging a new identity as technology innovators.

An interim report on progress shows that since 2000:

• ICT grew at 25 percent, while the rest of the economy grew at about 7 percent.
• Phone and internet penetration is at about 70 percent and 28 percent respectively
• The country is well on its way to providing 4G LTE coverage for 95 percent of Rwandans by 2017.
• Over 5,000 kilometers optic fiber have been laid throughout the country

With 43% of the Rwandan population under 16 years, sustained growth depends on teaching young people technology skills and inspiring entrepreneurship.

Rwanda is truly an incredible story of transformation. Coming back from a genocide where extremis members of the Hutu majority ethnic group slaughtered approximately one million of their Tsutsi neighbors over only a few months, as well as moderate Hutus, the country is now well on its way to become a model for development and digital transformation.

When asked what other African countries could learn from Rwanda, Jean Philbert Nsengimana, the country's Minister of Youth and ICT, said the difference is making education a priority, even when it means sacrifice. "It's a complicated situation. You have to choose where to put that one dollar, which every sector is crying out for. Rwanda has done proportionally much more than other countries to prioritise education, to really invest in the next generation. That's what Rwanda is doing."

* By Robin Meyerhoff, Senior Director, Corporate Affairs, SAP