The forum took place on August 20, 2026, according to the Rwanda Development Board (RDB).
The event aimed to explore ways to further strengthen cooperation between Rwanda and Brazil while showcasing opportunities available in the African market.
Rwanda’s Ambassador to Brazil, Lawrence Manzi, said Rwanda offers Brazilian businesses seeking a foothold in Africa a strategic gateway.
“For Brazilian businesses seeking a foothold in Africa, Rwanda is the gateway of choice. Our ease of doing business and strategic location make Rwanda the perfect bridge to the continent,” Manzi said.
Claver Tuyishimire, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, said Rwanda’s small size does not limit its investment opportunities.
“While Rwanda is small in size, it is vast in opportunity. Positioned at the heart of Africa and connected through the AfCFTA and regional markets, Rwanda provides a gateway to over 1.3 billion consumers across the continent,” Tuyishimire said.
The forum comes as Rwanda continues to encourage international investors to take advantage of opportunities in the country and its position as a bridge to different African markets.
In 2025, Rwanda registered investments worth $2.62 billion across 799 projects, up from 612 projects in 2024.
The newly registered investments were concentrated in sectors including real estate, manufacturing and mining.
Rwanda has set a target of doubling private investment to $4.6 billion by 2029.
Rwanda-Brazil ties
Rwanda and Brazil established diplomatic relations in 1981, and the two countries have since signed several agreements to strengthen bilateral cooperation.
In 2019, the two countries signed a Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA).
In 2011, Rwanda and Brazil also signed an agreement on cooperation aimed at strengthening food security.
Brazil is the world’s leading producer of coffee, soybeans, sugarcane and oranges.
Since 2022, Rwanda has imported wheat from Brazil after imports from Ukraine declined. Rwanda also imports products including sugar from Brazil.
In February 2026, the governments of Rwanda and Brazil signed an agreement providing a framework for cooperation in promoting trade, facilitating investment and strengthening cooperation in various sectors.
More than 200 Brazilian investors have discussed how to tap into opportunities offered by Rwanda.
In Wednesday’s dialogue, Ugandan diplomat Olara Otunnu, who was nominated by his country, said the immediate priority must be given to the proliferation of increasingly deadly conflicts that threaten to engulf entire regions and the world.
He promised to support UN member states to end the Ukraine crisis, address the Gaza crisis, support the peace deal between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, work with the African Union and other global partners to end the conflict in Sudan, support ongoing diplomatic efforts to bring about a comprehensive peace agreement in the Iran conflict, and support a more coordinated and concerted counter-terrorism response in the Horn of Africa and the Sahel.
Otunnu also vowed to rebuild consensus on human rights, reform UN, alleviate the fiscal crunch and innovate UN financing, harness the unprecedented opportunities of artificial intelligence, deepen cooperation between UN and regional organizations, and reconnect the global public to UN.
In Thursday’s dialogue, Ecuadoran diplomat Ivonne A-Baki said she wants to be a leader rather than a manager, if selected as the next UN secretary-general.
“A manager is someone who follows a mission statement. A leader is someone who follows a north star,” said A-Baki, who was nominated by Tonga. “My north star for this world body is not necessarily reform. It’s renewal. Renewal of the promise of building peace and preventing war. Renewal of the promise to promote human dignity and social progress and renewal of the vision that the UN can be the one body where nations of the world can work together to achieve more than nations working alone.”
She promised to commit to direct and delegated peacekeeping and peacemaking, Security Council modernization, resolving development debt and unlocking finance, and safeguarding human dignity in the age of artificial intelligence.
The UNGA began to convene interactive dialogues with candidates for the next UN secretary-general in late April.
The other six candidates have attended interactive dialogues one by one.
Current UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ term of office expires at the end of this year. The next secretary-general will take over the role on Jan. 1, 2027.
Ecuadoran diplomat Ivonne A-Baki, a candidate for the next UN secretary-general, speaks at an interactive dialogue with UN member states at the UN headquarters in New York, Aug. 20, 2026. The UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Wednesday and Thursday held respective interactive dialogues with two candidates for the next UN secretary-general. (Loey Felipe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)Ugandan diplomat Olara Otunnu, a candidate for the next UN secretary-general, speaks to reporters after an interactive dialogue with UN member states at the UN headquarters in New York, Aug. 19, 2026. The UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Wednesday and Thursday held respective interactive dialogues with two candidates for the next UN secretary-general. (UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)
The warning came as the DRC government launched an emergency initiative Thursday to reinforce surveillance along the Congo River, seeking to prevent one of Central Africa’s busiest transport corridors from carrying the virus toward major cities, including the capital Kinshasa.
According to the latest figures from the DRC’s health authorities, as of Aug. 18, 5,208 confirmed cases, including 2,476 deaths, had been reported across six provinces, with a case fatality rate of 47.5 percent. Another 1,115 patients had recovered.
Hidden casses, missing transmission chains
The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said Thursday that modeling conducted jointly with the DRC’s National Institute of Biomedical Research and other partners suggested that the actual burden was substantially higher than confirmed figures indicated.
“We are detecting just 30 to 40 percent,” Kyeng Mercy, an Africa CDC official, said at an online press briefing Thursday. “If you have to look at the real burden, we should be over 10,000 to 15,000 cases.”
Mercy cautioned that the figures were model-based estimates and therefore subject to uncertainty, but said multiple indicators consistently pointed to significant under-detection.
“Models also have their caveats in terms of uncertainty,” said Mercy. “We are just saying that we are not detecting as much as we should, based on certain indicators.”
Yap Boum II, head of emergency preparedness and response at Africa CDC, said Thursday at the online briefing that based on the assessment, the outbreak could be three times the current size in terms of the number of confirmed cases.
He also said that fewer than 10 percent of detected cases are currently among known contacts, while fewer than 40 percent of cases have an epidemiological link to another confirmed infection.
The relatively milder and less typical clinical presentation of Bundibugyo Ebola, compared with disease caused by the Zaire ebolavirus, may also discourage some infected people from seeking treatment, further obscuring the outbreak’s true scale, he added.
Jean Kaseya, director-general of Africa CDC, told Congolese media Wednesday that the epidemic “is not under control,” warning that the outbreak could eventually surpass the scale of the 2014-2016 West Africa epidemic unless major changes were quickly made to the response.
“We may go further than what we’ve seen in West Africa,” Boum also warned, while stressing that a shift in response strategy could still bend the epidemic curve.
Kaseya has also said evidence suggests transmission may have begun around February, months before the outbreak was formally declared on May 15. The number of infections and deaths during that undetected period remained unknown and could substantially add to the current official tally, he added.
Congo River becomes new front line
Against that backdrop, the DRC government on Thursday launched the “Congo River Without Ebola” initiative, aimed at preventing the country’s main river transport artery from becoming another route for the virus to spread.
The plan is designed to block transmission toward major riverside population centers, particularly Kinshasa, a megacity of nearly 20 million people where no Ebola case has been confirmed, while reducing the risk of cross-border spread to the Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic.
The Congo River is one of Central Africa’s main economic and transport arteries, carrying thousands of passengers, traders and transport operators each day, according to the regional bureau of the WHO.
Health officials fear that such intense mobility could allow undetected infections to travel long distances before symptoms are recognized.
Measures under the initiative include reinforced screening and surveillance at ports and along river routes, community early-warning networks, expanded isolation and treatment capacity in key hubs, as well as mobile floating laboratories and preparations for the possible quarantine of vessels.
The initial intensive phase will last three months, focusing on equipping control points, strengthening local response capacity and raising awareness among riverside communities.
Body Ilonga, secretary-general of the DRC’s health ministry, said Thursday the priority is to rapidly identify suspected infections and break chains of transmission.
The initiative is supported by an inter-agency mechanism involving the WHO and several other UN agencies, with 9 million U.S. dollars in catalytic funding mobilized through the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The river plan adds a new geographic layer to an outbreak that has already expanded rapidly overland. Africa CDC said Thursday that growing transmission in the DRC’s northern Bas-Uele province, near the Central African Republic, has also made cross-border surveillance increasingly urgent.
“The entire continent has to be on high alert,” Mercy said, adding that the highest risks were currently concentrated in parts of East and Central Africa.
Response shifts to villages, vaccines
Health authorities are meanwhile seeking to overhaul the response after Kaseya acknowledged Wednesday that “the approach has not been the best.”
Africa CDC and the DRC government are increasingly shifting from conventional contact tracing toward what they call a “village-centered response,” particularly in hotspots where transmission has become too widespread for individual contact lists to capture.
Under the approach, village chiefs and community health workers would help conduct house-to-house searches, report alerts, identify suspected infections and link families directly with health facilities and response teams.
The strategy is also intended to address persistent distrust that has partly led to delayed treatment, community deaths and resistance to response teams.
Vaccination is also set to become a larger part of the response. An initial 70,000 doses of Ervebo vaccine would be allocated to the DRC, although the vaccine is licensed against Zaire ebolavirus rather than the Bundibugyo strain.
According to the WHO, the International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision informed the DRC government of the immediate release of an initial 70,000 doses.
The DRC authorities plan to use the doses both for research and among frontline and at-risk populations, based on emerging evidence that the vaccine may offer some cross-protection.
Kaseya said Wednesday that the first doses were expected to arrive within days.
“The current trajectory must change, and it should change,” Kaseya said.
“I think the population can hope that, with all the measures we are going to put in place, we will be able to stop this outbreak,” Kaseya added.
A staff member of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) takes temperature of a passenger from an intercepted boat outside Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Aug. 6, 2026. (Xinhua)Medical workers are pictured at an Ebola treatment center in Beni, North Kivu Province, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Aug. 16, 2026. (Xinhua)
But there is much more to the experience than the famous one-hour encounter. Rwanda’s mountain gorillas form part of the wider Virunga Massif, a transboundary ecosystem shared with different countries, meaning some of their characteristics and behaviours are shared across the population.
This article focuses on Rwanda’s gorillas while celebrating the country’s conservation success, brought to life each year through Kwita Izina, its annual gorilla naming ceremony that has attracted global figures and conservation champions since its launch in 2005.
Rwanda is preparing to name 22 baby mountain gorillas during the 21st Kwita Izina ceremony on September 4, 2026, in Kinigi, Musanze District, bringing the number of gorillas named through the annual ceremony to 460.
Drawing on decades of field research in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park, including the long-running work of the Karisoke Research Center established by Dian Fossey, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund and other scientific studies, here are 10 fascinating things you may not know about Rwanda’s mountain gorillas.
1. They rarely drink water
Mountain gorillas get much of the water they need from the plants they eat, meaning they rarely need to drink from streams, puddles or other free-standing water sources.
A study of mountain gorillas in Rwanda and Uganda found that the vegetation they consume typically contains 60% to 90% water. In Rwanda’s Virunga population, researchers observed gorillas drinking water on just 0.6% of observation days.
Interestingly, the study also found that gorillas drink more frequently as temperatures rise, suggesting that hotter conditions could increase their reliance on free-standing water.
Mountain gorillas are among Rwanda’s most remarkable wildlife treasures, offering visitors a rare glimpse into their complex social lives.
2. They can eat up to 30 kilograms of vegetation a day
Mountain gorillas spend a large part of their day feeding.
Tourism information show, an adult gorilla can consume up to about 30 kilograms of vegetation daily, including bamboo, leaves, stems and other plants.
3. Silverbacks are the leaders of their groups
The distinctive silver hair across an adult male’s back is where the term silverback comes from.
But a silverback is more than the most recognisable member of a gorilla family. Dominant silverbacks lead and protect their groups, while also playing an important role in maintaining social order.
Gorilla groups can also contain more than one adult male, making their social structures more complex than the typical image of a single male surrounded by females and young gorillas.
From their feeding habits to their family bonds, Rwanda’s mountain gorillas have many fascinating traits that continue to captivate visitors and researchers.
4. They build a new bed almost every night
Mountain gorillas do not have permanent sleeping quarters.
Instead, they construct nests from vegetation where they settle for the night. The nests are generally rebuilt regularly, meaning a gorilla family’s sleeping place can change from one night to the next.
For trackers, these traces can also provide clues when following a group through the forest.
5. Gorilla babies are tiny compared with adults
An adult male mountain gorilla can weigh well over 100 kilograms, yet newborns weigh only around 2 kilograms.
Young gorillas remain highly dependent on their mothers during their early years and gradually become more independent as they grow.
For visitors, seeing an infant clinging to its mother or playing around other youngsters can be one of the highlights of a trek.
6. They communicate in more ways than tourists might expect
Gorillas communicate through vocalisations, body movements and other behaviours.
Chest beating, for example, is one of the behaviours most associated with gorillas, but it does not always mean aggression. Depending on the situation, it can form part of social communication or display.
Experienced trackers become familiar with the different behaviours of individual animals and groups.
7. They are remarkably close to humans
Mountain gorillas share more than 98% of their DNA with humans, according to Rwanda’s tourism information.
That biological connection is reflected in behaviours visitors can easily recognise; mothers caring for their young, juveniles playing and members of a group interacting with one another.
It is part of what makes watching them feel so strangely familiar.
Gorilla conservation has become an important part of Rwanda’s tourism story, attracting visitors from around the world to Volcanoes National Park.
8. The gorillas tourists meet are still wild animals
The gorillas available for trekking have been habituated to the presence of humans, but they remain wild animals living in their natural habitat.
Rwanda therefore limits encounters to one hour, helping reduce prolonged human contact and disturbance.
Visitors are also required to follow strict rules during the encounter, making the experience as safe as possible for both people and gorillas.
9. Gorilla tourism has become a major part of Rwanda’s tourism story
Gorillas are not only a wildlife attraction; they are central to Rwanda’s tourism brand.
In 2025, Rwanda’s tourism sector generated a record $685 million, up from $647 million in 2024, while receiving about 1.49 million visitors.
RDB says the growth was supported in part by gorilla trekking and experiences in the country’s national parks.
The country is targeting $1.1 billion in annual tourism revenue by 2029, underlining the importance of high-value experiences such as gorilla trekking.
Mountain gorillas rarely drink water, yet they remain active in the dense forests of Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park.
10. Tourism money is also reaching communities around the gorillas
One of the less visible sides of gorilla tourism is what happens beyond the forest.
Rwanda’s Tourism Revenue Sharing Programme allocates 10% of national park revenues to communities living around protected areas.
Since its creation in 2005, the programme has supported projects including schools, health facilities, water infrastructure and livelihood initiatives.
By 2025, RDB reported that more than Rwf 18 billion had been invested in more than 1,000 community projects through the programme.
This means that the value of a gorilla trek extends beyond the visitor and the animal. The tourism generated by the forest can also contribute to the communities living closest to it.
Beyond the gorillas, there is even more to discover. A trek in Volcanoes National Park can be the beginning of a longer Rwanda adventure, with visitors able to add Big Five safaris and boat trips in Akagera National Park, forest experiences in Nyungwe, or relaxing escapes around Lake Kivu.
With the help of local tour operators and guides, travellers can combine these experiences into a longer itinerary and discover why Rwanda offers much more than its famous mountain gorillas.
An adult mountain gorilla can consume up to about 30 kilograms of vegetation in a day, making feeding a major part of its daily routine.Chest beating may be the behaviour most people associate with gorillas, but their communication goes far beyond this famous display.A gorilla trek in Rwanda offers more than a close encounter with wildlife, revealing the behaviours and social bonds that make these animals so fascinating.
Coffee was the country’s top agricultural export during the five-day period, with 816 tonnes shipped to international markets for $5.51 million, accounting for about 42.5% of total export earnings.
Other agricultural products generated $4.76 million from 7,404 tonnes exported, with major shipments destined for Bangladesh and several African countries.
Tea ranked third in export earnings, with Rwanda shipping 437 tonnes worth $1.27 million to international markets.
The country also exported 576 tonnes of vegetables, earning $563,649. The vegetables were shipped to markets in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, India, France and several African countries.
Fruit exports generated another $472,759 from 443 tonnes shipped to the United Arab Emirates, China and African markets.
Livestock products earned $349,313 from 220 tonnes exported to various African countries.
Rwanda also exported five tonnes of flowers, generating $30,938, with shipments going to Nigeria, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
The figures highlight the growing contribution of agricultural exports to Rwanda’s foreign exchange earnings, with the country continuing to expand markets for locally produced commodities.
Rwanda has set a target of generating $1.5 billion annually from agricultural and livestock exports by 2029, signalling ambitions to further increase production, processing and access to international markets.
Coffee was the country’s top agricultural export during the five-day period, with 816 tonnes shipped to international markets for $5.51 million.
The agreement was signed in Seoul, South Korea, on Thursday, August 20, by Rwanda’s Inspector General of Police, Felix Namuhoranye, and Yoo Jae-Sung, Commissioner General and Chief of the Republic of Korea National Police.
Rwanda’s Ambassador to South Korea, Nkubito Manzi Bakuramutsa, witnessed the signing ceremony.
The MoU provides a framework for cooperation in combating transnational organised crime, sharing information and expertise, and strengthening the skills and capabilities of police officers in both countries.
The partnership will also facilitate joint training and other capacity-building programmes aimed at enhancing policing capabilities and strengthening cooperation between RNP and KNPA.
Rwanda established diplomatic relations with the Republic of Korea in 1963.
The relationship grew stronger with the opening of a diplomatic bureau in November 2008 and later upgraded to an embassy in February 2009.
Rwanda National Police Chief Felix Namuhoranye and his South Korean counterpart Yoo Jae-Sung sign a police cooperation agreement in Seoul on August 20, 2026.RNP Inspector General of Police Felix Namuhoranye and Commissioner General Yoo Jae-Sung exchange documents after signing a police cooperation MoU in Seoul.Rwanda and South Korea have agreed to strengthen police cooperation in combating transnational organised crime and sharing expertise.
Fayulu made the remarks during a press conference in Brussels, Belgium, where he argued that the Banyamulenge are not Congolese.
He said ethnic groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have their own languages, but claimed that the Banyamulenge do not because they speak Kinyarwanda, which he used to argue that they originate from Rwanda.
“Which Congolese person does not have a language? Raise your hands. Is Kinyamulenge a language spoken in Congo? They speak Kinyarwanda,” Fayulu said.
He went on to question whether the Banyamulenge are among the ethnic groups that make up the DRC.
“Are the Banyamulenge Congolese? Look at the ethnic groups in Congo. There is no such ethnic group,” he said.
Amb. Nduhungirehe condemned Fayulu’s remarks, drawing a comparison with rhetoric used by a section of Rwanda’s political class in the years leading up to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
“Ethnic hatred, historical distortions and cynical remarks have reached a worrying level within the Congolese political class, including part of the opposition,” Amb. Nduhungirehe said.
“This strangely reminds me of a section of Rwanda’s political class between 1990 and 1994 which, as part of a genocidal process of delegitimisation, claimed that Rwandan Tutsi were not true indigenous people,” he added.
In the years preceding the Genocide against the Tutsi, extremist propaganda sought to portray Tutsis as foreigners who had taken control of Rwanda.
In November 1992, Léon Mugesera, a prominent figure in the then-ruling MRND party, delivered an inflammatory speech in Kabaya, in the former Gisenyi Prefecture, in which he called for Tutsis to be sent back to “Abyssinia” through River Nyabarongo.
Questions surrounding the citizenship and identity of the Banyamulenge have remained a longstanding source of political controversy in the DRC.
Human Rights Watch has documented how, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s, some politicians in then-Zaire sought to strip Banyamulenge of citizenship by portraying them as immigrants from Rwanda.
Amb. Nduhungirehe also criticised those who give platforms to politicians making such statements, warning that they could eventually be held responsible for doing so.
“At some point, those who roll out the red carpet for these unscrupulous politicians, instead of taking action against them, will also have to answer for it,” he said.
Minister Nduhungirehe likened Fayulu’s remarks on the Banyamulenge to rhetoric used by a section of Rwanda’s political class between 1990 and 1994 to delegitimise Tutsis.
The sharp increase highlights the growing financial contribution of Rwandans living abroad, whose remittances support households while also helping finance businesses, property purchases and other investments in Rwanda.
Investments by Rwandans abroad have contributed to projects such as Inn of The Lac on the shores of Lake Kivu, Isange Estate and Imara Properties, among others.
Another initiative, Girinzu, aims to help Rwandans in the country and abroad access affordable housing.
Speaking to Rwandans living abroad during a meeting on August 14, 2026, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Olivier Nduhungirehe thanked the diaspora for its continued contribution to Rwanda’s development.
Remittances nearly double in five years
BNR figures show that diaspora remittances to Rwanda have generally increased over the past five years.
In 2021, Rwandans living abroad sent $379 million to Rwanda up from $65 million of 2010. The figure rose to $461 million in 2022 and reached $505 million in 2023.
Remittances declined slightly to $502 million in 2024 before recording their strongest annual growth in 2025, when they increased by 27.3% to reach $640 million.
This represents growth of about 69% between 2021 and 2025, bringing diaspora remittances close to twice their 2021 level.
The continued increase underscores the growing role of the diaspora in supporting households and contributing to investment in Rwanda.
The 2024 FinScope survey found that 65% of adults in Rwanda had either sent or received money, with domestic transfers accounting for the largest share.
About 3% of adults received money from outside Rwanda, while 1% sent money abroad. The report found that, for both domestic and international transfers, the proportion of people receiving money was higher than that of those sending it.
Non-bank channels remain the most commonly used means of transferring money. Around 63% of people used non-bank channels, compared with 4%, equivalent to about 309,000 people, who used banks.
Mobile Money was the most widely used channel for sending and receiving funds.
For recipients, remittances are primarily used to meet everyday household needs. About 53% used the money to buy food and clothing, while 10% used it to start businesses.
Another 9% used the funds to pay school fees, 5% invested them, and 4% used them to pay for medicines and other healthcare-related expenses.
The figures show that while diaspora remittances remain an important source of household support, part of the money is also being directed towards businesses, property and other investments, strengthening the economic ties between Rwandans abroad and their home country.
Some remittances sent by Rwandans living abroad are channelled into investments in Rwanda.
The data shows that debt held by the public and intragovernmental holdings stood at 32.266 trillion dollars and 7.782 trillion dollars, respectively, bringing total public debt outstanding to 40.047 trillion dollars as of Tuesday.
The milestone, reached months earlier than expected, reflects the U.S. federal government’s persistent budget deficits, as spending continues to exceed revenue, adding to the national debt.
The federal government has spent trillions of dollars in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently pursued tax cuts and increased military spending. As a result, U.S. federal debt has grown rapidly in recent years, raising concerns in the bond market and pushing Treasury yields higher. Rising interest payments have further driven up the total size of the national debt.
A monthly report from the Treasury Department shows that the federal government recorded a fiscal deficit of 1.367 trillion dollars in the first nine months of fiscal year 2026, which began on Oct. 1, 2025. During that period, net interest payments totalled 827 billion dollars, exceeding defense spending of 713 billion dollars and ranking second only to social security spending, which amounted to 1.244 trillion dollars.
U.S. federal government debt surpassed 30 trillion dollars in January 2022, exceeded 39 trillion dollars in March 2026, and hit 39.7 trillion dollars in July 2026.
Local media described the national debt surpassing 40 trillion dollars as an ominous milestone for an economy resting on an increasingly shaky fiscal foundation.
Warning signs are flashing “with debt held by the public recently exceeding the size of our economy, the deficit-to-GDP ratio running twice as high as where it should be, and interest costs exceeding our national defense budget,” Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said Wednesday in a statement.
“Forty trillion dollars of debt doesn’t exist solely on the government’s ledgers; it is felt throughout the economy and finds its way to the pocketbooks of people one way or another,” MacGuineas said. “The more we borrow, the more we exacerbate inflation, squeeze out other priorities in the budget, and leave ourselves vulnerable to emergencies at home and turmoil abroad.”
“Our current fiscal trajectory is plainly unsustainable,” said Margaret Spellings, president and CEO of the Bipartisan Policy Center. “Even in the rosiest scenarios, we’re speeding toward a cliff and refusing to turn the wheel.”
“Federal debt is already raising the cost of living and choking out other spending and investment, threatening our economy and Americans’ long-term prosperity,” she added.
“Forty trillion dollars should be a wake-up call. But neither Congress nor the president have a credible plan to stop it from growing,” said Carolyn Bourdeaux, executive director of Concord Coalition and Concord Action Fund. “We owe the next generation better than this crushing debt and another hollow promise that someone else will deal with it later.”
In a statement responding to the troubling milestone, White House spokesman Kush Desai said U.S. President Donald Trump had pledged to clean up former President Joe Biden’s fiscal mismanagement. “That’s why the Trump administration has been focused on slashing waste, fraud, and abuse in federal spending while accelerating economic growth to get America’s debt-to-GDP ratio trending in the right direction again.”
This photo taken on Aug. 19, 2026 shows the U.S. national debt surpassing 40 trillion U.S. dollars, in New York, the United States. (Xinhua/Zhang Fengguo)
The event will take place at Umuko Lodge, bringing together enduro riders for a day of off-road racing designed to test their riding skills, endurance and ability to navigate challenging terrain.
Organised in partnership with the Rwanda Automobile Club (RAC), the competition will run from 8am to 3pm and form part of the national motorcycle racing calendar.
Riders will take on a demanding off-road course, with the competition expected to provide a test of both technical ability and stamina.
The third round comes as motorcycle sport continues to gain visibility in Rwanda, with events such as the Umuko Enduro Challenge creating opportunities for riders to compete while attracting spectators to scenic destinations outside Kigali.
Spectator entry will be free, allowing motorsport enthusiasts, families and adventure lovers to watch the competition and enjoy the lakeside setting.
The event will also combine racing with music and entertainment, with Rwandan artist OKKAMA scheduled to perform at an after-party at Umuko Lodge following the competition. A live DJ set will also feature during the entertainment programme.
Organisers say the combination of motorcycle racing, outdoor adventure and entertainment is expected to make the event a gathering point for the motorsport community and the wider public.
The challenge is supported by several sponsors and partners, including Keyrus Rwanda Ltd, Virunga Water, Balton Rwanda, Rwanda Motor, Suzuki, Sonatubes, Araka Digitalisation, Kabisa, Factory Link, Umuko Lodge, La Galette and Fenghao.
Virunga Water is among the partners supporting the event, with the company expected to provide refreshments for riders, teams and spectators.
The Umuko Enduro Challenge is part of efforts to promote enduro and motorcycle sport in Rwanda while creating opportunities for outdoor recreation and tourism.
The event will feature motorcycle racing, free entry for spectators and live entertainment.
The Umuko Enduro Challenge will bring together motorcycle riders for off-road racingMotorsport enthusiasts are set to gather at Lake Muhazi for a day of motorcycle racing, adventure and entertainment.The event brings motorsport fans, riders and adventure enthusiasts together for racing and entertainmentRiders are expected to take on challenging off-road terrain
